Buying gear from Europe

[robertv19]

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The waterproofing is built-in, non-removable. I haven't been caught out in the rain wearing it, so I can't comment on its performance yet. It's got huge ventilation zippers on the sides, but doesn't flow as much as full mesh. After seeing my tattered up textile sleeve from my last (and first) street accident, I decided I wanted something with leather at least in the common abrasion areas.

Cool. That's what I assumed.
Often those with built-in liners are far too warm. But I would be looking at this for spring/fall riding as I have mesh jackets for the summer.
I have a Rev'It jacket that is part mesh, with leather patches in similar locations to the Proton, but doesn't have the waterproof liner.
@Relax How about fit?

 

[Relax]

Cool. That's what I assumed.
Often those with built-in liners are far too warm. But I would be looking at this for spring/fall riding as I have mesh jackets for the summer.
I have a Rev'It jacket that is part mesh, with leather patches in similar locations to the Proton, but doesn't have the waterproof liner.
@Relax How about fit?

Typical Euro fit like other Alpinestars and Dainese jackets. I bought it because it's Tech Air compatible and the textile portion is supposed to have some stretch, but it doesn't feel like it when you just pull at it. I'm a 39 chest and got size 50. With the thermal liner removed and a medium Tech Air 5 vest under it, it's pretty close to race fit. I think it may have stretched a little since new, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.

 

[oioioi]

Order arrived into Canada yesterday (Sunday).
Tracking info indicated it was waiting for payment at customs.
I notified DHL via their website that I want the "self clearance" option and I received the paperwork today via email.
I also called DHL and asked how much the duties and DHL fees were. They wanted $42.xx in total.

I headed over to the CBSA office near Dixie and 401 handed in my paperwork.
The gentlemen at the counted entered it into the system and said the tariff was coming up as 6% duty on top of the 13% tax.
A minute later he says "I didn't charge you the duty, just the tax" . Pleasantly surprised, I paid $18.46 in tax on $142 CAD value. (This value did not include the 20 EUR in shipping as indicated on the sellers invoice). So I saved approx. $24 by complete the clearance myself.

I emailed the proof of payment to DHL and waiting for them to release and deliver the package.


In total, I paid $171.37 for the items (with shipping) plus $18.46. Grand total of $189.83

Locally I this items would have cost me $256.26 (tax included) so about a $66 saving. Not huge but its "$66 doesn't grow on trees"

As for CarpiMoto
Smooth transaction with quick shipment. Good selection and good pricing.
I think the item was shipped out the same day that the order was placed or the following.

The only "gripe" I had was that my order status was not updated on the CarpiMoto website. I ended up emailing them asking when the order will be shipped. They replied that it was already shipped out the previous day and provided my with the tracking number.
Checking my order status on my CarpiMoto account today, it still says

'Confirmed - Payment Method OK
As soon as we will ship, we will send you a tracking confirmation e-mail.
Payment method of this order has been set."

Not a huge issue but just wanted to provide full feedback on my experience.

Item delivered today as scheduled even my my self clearance . Mind you I was on top of it as quick as I could have.

 

[Relax]

I ordered a diagnostic cable from England on Sept 12 and got it today. 10 days were spent crossing the ocean according to tracking. Not as good as the last time (only 4 days), but at least no tax or duties. Seller declared value at 13 GBP, which is probably their cost to replace the items.

 

[Lightcycle]

I ordered a diagnostic cable from England on Sept 12 and got it today. 10 days were spent crossing the ocean according to tracking. Not as good as the last time (only 4 days), but at least no tax or duties. Seller declared value at 13 GBP, which is probably their cost to replace the items.

So much better than my 9/15 Fortnine order that just got shipped on 9/25 and which CP claims will arrive on 9/29. Not holding my breath...

 

[robertv19]

I ordered from FC Moto on Sept 28. The package arrived in Toronto on Oct 3 and has been sitting in customs since. This is not my normal experience. Also, it appears it’s being handed off to Canada Post.

 

[EX500R2001]

I ordered from FC Moto on Sept 28. The package arrived in Toronto on Oct 3 and has been sitting in customs since. This is not my normal experience. Also, it appears it’s being handed off to Canada Post.

FC Moto shipping is quite slow. My recent order took 3 week - 1 week until FC Moto shipped, 1 week to reach Canada and another week @ Customs. And I still was charged taxes.
I prefer to buy from ChromeBurner now. They ship FedEx, usually same day, and arrives in 4-5 days. Yes, you pay taxes (but CP charges taxes as well, at least 9 of 10 times) and brokerage is only $10 more than CP. But you receive an order in a week or less

 

[Baggsy]

Thinking about getting a helmet, but wondering how well the package will be protected.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

Thinking about getting a helmet, but wondering how well the package will be protected.

Mine was double boxed same as helmets from NA retailers and arrived in perfect condition.

 

[Relax]

FC Moto shipping is quite slow. My recent order took 3 week - 1 week until FC Moto shipped, 1 week to reach Canada and another week @ Customs. And I still was charged taxes.
I prefer to buy from ChromeBurner now. They ship FedEx, usually same day, and arrives in 4-5 days. Yes, you pay taxes (but CP charges taxes as well, at least 9 of 10 times) and brokerage is only $10 more than CP. But you receive an order in a week or less

Which shipping option did you choose? They took 11 days to process the sale, but only 5 days to get to Canada customs and then I got it 2 days after that. No taxes or anything. I chose DHL.

 

[robertv19]

FC Moto shipping is quite slow. My recent order took 3 week - 1 week until FC Moto shipped, 1 week to reach Canada and another week @ Customs. And I still was charged taxes.
I prefer to buy from ChromeBurner now. They ship FedEx, usually same day, and arrives in 4-5 days. Yes, you pay taxes (but CP charges taxes as well, at least 9 of 10 times) and brokerage is only $10 more than CP. But you receive an order in a week or less

I checked with Chromeburner and they didn’t have what I was looking for.

 

[Chris-CJ]

I bought a resistor plug (in a bubble envelope) costing $25 from a vendor in Greece, the default shipping method was DHL. The DHL shipping cost was $35 plus they charged me another $35 for customs and clearance formalities.
The only good thing is that it took a week to arrive.

 

[oioioi]

I bought a resistor plug (in a bubble envelope) costing $25 from a vendor in Greece, the default shipping method was DHL. The DHL shipping cost was $35 plus they charged me another $35 for customs and clearance formalities.
The only good thing is that it took a week to arrive.

Try doing the clearance yourself next time.

I did mine and it was super simple. Saved about $20.

 

[Chris-CJ]

Try doing the clearance yourself next time.

I did mine and it was super simple. Saved about $20.

Will follow your example the next time.
Is there a link for customs procedures and paperwork to be submitted?
Thanks!

 

[EX500R2001]

Which shipping option did you choose? They took 11 days to process the sale, but only 5 days to get to Canada customs and then I got it 2 days after that. No taxes or anything. I chose DHL.

DHL as well, but Canadian Customs is unpredictable - may take anything between 10 min to 10+ days. You never know. And there is nothing you can do about it. Depends on how lucky you are

 

[robertv19]

And just like that, boom! It arrived. $64.95 customs and tax. Kind of what I expected


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[Baggsy]

Bought something on Black Friday, but it wasn't on sale, Selected post office for shipping.
Got a phone call from FedEx while I was driving about paying some taxes/fees, and asking me to press buttons.
It was difficult to track down, but I finally found the fees/taxes they were talking about and paid them today.
Shipment is due to arrive on Friday. FedEx charged $10 to clear it through customs.
With the price of the items, that works out to about 1%, but I'm not sure why it wouldn't come through Canada Post.
With the weather getting colder, it doesn't really matter if it comes on a slow ship in a month or two.

 

[WestBrantKid]

Bought something on Black Friday, but it wasn't on sale, Selected post office for shipping.
Got a phone call from FedEx while I was driving about paying some taxes/fees, and asking me to press buttons.
It was difficult to track down, but I finally found the fees/taxes they were talking about and paid them today.
Shipment is due to arrive on Friday. FedEx charged $10 to clear it through customs.
With the price of the items, that works out to about 1%, but I'm not sure why it wouldn't come through Canada Post.
With the weather getting colder, it doesn't really matter if it comes on a slow ship in a month or two.

I never trust those automated calls. In those situations I hang up, call FedEx (or the bank, or however is calling) and access it that way. There are a LOT of scammers that pretend to be legit businesses. They spam everyone one with "You need to pay a fee for FedEx, press 1 to continue, now give us your banking info to pay this small fee." Next thing you know, your account has been cleaned out.
It paid off once. I got an automated call from my bank. I hang up and call the bank, and asked to be directed to the stated department, and they had no idea of the issue that was mentioned in the call I received.
Most of the time it's obvious because they don't sound legit, or you aren't expecting a delivery, or whatever, but when they spam 100,000 people with something like "This is FedEx", there's a very good chance that many of those people are expecting a package.

 

[Ash]

My last purchase from the States shipped via FedEx. The item was listed at about $75 USD, plus something like $30 USD shipping. Weeks after the package was delivered, I got an actual snail-mail letter from FedEx demanding an additional $57 CAD for "disbursement fee, HST on disbursement fee, clearance entry fee and Canada HST".

And after all that, it was the wrong part.

 

[Baggsy]

Package was scheduled to arrive between 11 am - 3 pm, but before 10 pm yesterday. Time went by and package never arrived. Was still showing as being in Paris. Update later showed it as delayed and being in Fort Worth, TX. Now it's in Memphis, TN. Looks like it's coming the long way round, or they shuffled it onto the wrong flight, as there are direct flights from Paris to Ottawa.

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