SHIPPING TO CANADA FROM THE STATES- SLOT MACHINES AND POKERS?

[GOS]

What are the procedures for shipping gaming devices to Canada?   I know shipping to Europe etc requires special treated wood crates and a Freight Forwarder on this end and a broker on the receiving end. Does this apply to Canada as well? 

[bigdps]

I had a machine shipped to me from Detroit to NB and it was lots of $$$$$. The hard part is to get a broker that will do the paperwork to go through the lines. All in all, it cost me almost $700 US to have everything to my house. I used U-Ship as they were the least expansive. As for the brokers, I used a company called Livingston. They are found at just about every entry point in Canada.

Reason is so expansive also is the damn crate they need to build. We pay for weight that we get nothing except to protect the machine. The guy that built my crate used way too much wood IMHO so I could have saved a few bucks there I'm sure.

If you have more questions, I'll try to help you with what I did.

Do I regret it? I would if I would have to do it now as our dollar value VS the US is ridiculous. Whereas last year, we were still in the 90cent area.

[GOS]

that's what I thought - the issue of pressure treated wood - 4 times heavier than regular plywood - tough to make a crate out of (which they require) so bottom line - shipping to canada or international is to costly unless you ship a container. 

[bigdps]

It doesn't have to be pressure treated, as long as it won't move, then you'll be alright. If you live near a border, you can use the Konect Point system which a US sender will transport your item (way cheaper than for us in Canada) to one of these points near our borders and you just have to  pick it up with a trailer.

 You will be the broker in this deal and you just have to fill in the paperwork yourself and you save big. If I ever buy another machine, that is what I will do.

[jay]

I live in Canada. We call the 49th parallel the $49 parallel as no envelope shall pass for less money. I will buy a $9 item off of ebay and easily have a $28.00 shipping bill if I am not careful. It all comes down to the experience of the shipper.
 I concur the cheapest solution is to have the US item shipped to a US address - lots of border companies that receive and hold goods for Canadians.
Importing to Canada is not a big deal. You fill out a 3x4 green form at USPS that says who the sender is, and who the receiver is. A description of whats in the box (about 2" of the form is dedicated to this so you don't need to (or get to) be too verbose. You then check off that the goods are not illegal, and you check off that the goods are not hazerdous or flamable. Finally a estimated value of the goods.
If you ship via Fedex or UPS they send the parcel to a Customs broker - who fills in the same form. Charges a min fee of $35 and if the goods are over a certain $$ you then pay a percentage of the value of the goods on top of that. Then there are shipping fees, oversize fees, etc etc etc.  Its a scam. You can hire your own custom broker but unless you do a lot of shipping and receiving its not going to be worth it.
If you find a shipper and there are lots of companies that will ship goods on the back of a truck (reality show shipping wars) you create a document called a proformia invoice. The trucker gets to the border, the customs guys goes through his shipping ledger which includes your proformia invoice. This is in replacement of the 3x4 USPS form.
A Proformia Invoice is nothing special - You just write on a piece of paper "Proformia Invoice" , lists the contents of box, country of orgin (where its made), serial number, model number etc and a value. Of course the From and To address as well.  I suggest printing at least 4 copies of this and taping to each side of the box. The shipping company will likely take one, US customs takes one, Canadian Customs takes one, etc....
 
 

[GOS]

back to a slot machine/gaming device - what if - machine is shipped by truck to truck depot in the US - the canadian resident drives accross boarder - picks up at the truck company dock and drives it accross the boarder himself?   Does he still need an invoice? 

[jay]

No. But you should have an invoice for the goods as the border guys are going to want to know what you are bringing back and what its worth.
You are allowed $200 duty free 24hrs or under, and $800 after 48hrs.
http://www.crossbordershopping.ca/duty-tax-import-guide/personal-exemptions
If you lie there are concequenses. You can be fined for misleading the agents, they can also seize your goods. One dude was brought in a used BMW M3, claimed he paid 18k for it. Kelly book said it was $34k for the year and condition. They took the car, and fined him $10K and barred him from entering the US for 7 years.
Sometimes the dolts at the border have no clue as to the value of stuff and don't believe that the invoice you show them is real, so if you are bringing in a slot, I would get on ebay and print out 3 or 4 adds that show the value of a similar unit. Just to susbstantiate your claim. In this case they can hold your goods while they investigate. I don't know about you but I have better things to do with the next 72hrs-96hrs.
Other times they say have a nice day and don't ask anything at all. I picked up 3 x 32" Samsung TVs in Montanna last time I was there at $165/ea. I had my best buy receipt at the ready - they didn't ask but the boxes were clearly visibile in the back of the cross over. The only thing I was asked is how long I had been gone, where I had been and if I had any alcohol and tobacco, and that was it.
In my experience people are all freaked at the thought of paying duty - generally its quite cheap, and the tax on the over amount (HST is usually the biggest pain).