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kevdog

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Joined
Dec 19, 2006
Messages
73
Location
Boston
I'm thinking of buying a guitar on ebay from a seller in Canada. I live in Massachusetts where the tax rate is 5%. Does anyone know if I will have to pay taxes if I have the guitar shipped to me?
 

TonyEVH5150

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Joined
Feb 6, 2006
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1,558
Location
Nashville, TN
No,

You don't have to pay tax on that. If you bought it from someone in Mass., you might have to. Some internet transactions, like eBay, don't have to charge sales tax.
 

GWDavis28

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Jun 23, 2003
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12,746
Location
Mass
KevDog, where you at man, I live in Marlborough out along Rt. 495 and at the end of Rt. 290.

Glenn |B)
 

73h Nils

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Aug 21, 2006
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2,237
Location
Nevada, USA
Someone jump in if I'm wrong, but I believe you will have to pay Customs. Unless you get the seller to mark the item as a gift, although border security can usually tell if it really is (a gift) or not.

Since Customs is usually fairly expensive, I avoided buying a Road King from Vermont for that very reason. :(
 

kevdog

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Dec 19, 2006
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73
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Boston
Hey Glenn, I live in Watertown but work in Franklin so I'm always driving right near Marlborough!
 

GWDavis28

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Mass
Kevdog, cool I work in Sudbury right next to Marlboro.

Rob, man you have friends in Southboro and Franklin, small world!!

Glenn |B)
 

beej

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Joined
Aug 16, 2004
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Location
Toronto, Canada
I've always wondered the same thing. We get dinged here as things come northward across the border but I wasn't sure how it's handled going south.
 

fsmith

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Oct 30, 2003
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2,297
Location
Halethorpe, MD
Beej,
Remember that Burnt Apple Silo you sold me? I ended up getting an invoice from UPS about 3 weeks later for about $25. Some sort of customs deal. That was a few years ago so it might be different now. It might be $125. :D

fred
 

brett8388

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Jun 15, 2004
Messages
283
I've always wondered the same thing. We get dinged here as things come northward across the border but I wasn't sure how it's handled going south.

I buy guitars overseas and from Canada often (most cool Jacksons seem to go overseas) and when getting them back into the USA, there is no import tax since they were built in the USA.

Just make sure your seller declares that the guitar was built in the USA. Don't ask him to declare it as a gift for you - you'll be asking him to lie and it could get you both in hot water. Do everything to the letter of the law and you should be fine.

Brett
 

silverburst

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Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
1,917
Location
Long Beach, CA
I ship guitars to myself from Japan (Made In Japan guitars), and I do not have to pay customs fees. If I bring them back on the plane I do have to pay customs if the value is over $1100 or $1200 (I forget how much).
 

Hookpunch

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2004
Messages
344
Fred- $25? I'll trade you customs bills anytime :D

Thanks for the explanation Brett.


Got that right, UPS once nailed me for $50.00 "brokerage fee" for something only worth $100.00, then Fed-Ex took notice and started doing the same thing.
 

58super

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Mar 20, 2006
Messages
532
Location
Mississauga, Ontario
There's free trade between Canada and the US so there shouldn't be any duty payable on a US/Canada made product however you'll likely get dinged by UPS for brokerage which is the fee to actually clear the package through Customs.
 

lumberjack

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Mar 2, 2006
Messages
2,987
Location
Toronto, Canada
There's free trade between Canada and the US so there shouldn't be any duty payable on a US/Canada made product however you'll likely get dinged by UPS for brokerage which is the fee to actually clear the package through Customs.

Agreed! See if the seller will ship Canada Post. The equivalent of USPS. When USPS ships into Canada the brokerage fees are next to nothing. Hopefully, it would be the same with Canada Post. The amount UPS charges for brokerage fees is a joke.
 

DoktorPete

New member
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
2
Location
Newfoundland, Canada
When I had my SRV strat sent up from the states it was $1200 Canadian and when it got here I had to pay $294 in customs fees. I'm not sure if it's because they thought it was made overseas or not but it was a pretty big kick in the nuts.
 
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