Attention Canadian COMC Shoppers!! Great News!

[oilerfan71]

Great news to all you Canadian COMC customers. COMC has upped their shipping charges to make up for a shortfall in duties paid to send packages across the border into Canada. I bought a bunch of cards last week, and paid $5.65 in duties. This week the duties were $35 for a similar amount of cards. My shipping went from $11.65 last week to over $50 this week (that's in US dollars). I spoke with COMC customer service, and was told that we Canadians have been "getting off easy" with the cheap shipping, and the cross border duties have been raised as of last week. They gave me a 'break' since I didn't know about the increase, and cut my shipping to $39 USD (how nice of them!). Apparently, their shipping software had a 'glitch' that wasn't charging adequate duties, and COMC was taking a loss on shipments to Canada. The 'glitch' has apparently now been corrected. Be aware, Canadian shoppers, that there is now a 5% duty attached to each card you buy on COMC, with no limit. This is tacked on when you request shipment, so you don't see it on your dashboard. With Ebay's recent announcement of charging Provincial taxes and GST on all sales, combined with this, I'm not sure if I can continue with the online shopping for cards. What's your take on this? Thoughts?

 

[Muir6]

I would not use them unless u have a us shipping address. Waste of money to get cards shipped to Canada.

 

[gomaz]

Cost of doing business is all it is. Can't blame COMC for complying with import/export laws and tariffs.

Also can't expect them to lose money shipping cards to Canadians. I just submitted an order for $665 worth of cards (well worth much more but those were the deals I got) and the shipping was $38.59 comc store credit. Much more than in the past but not enough to really bother me. That $38.69 was store credit I earned for cards I could care less about!

But if you are buying on COMC with cash deposits (not earned store credit), then I feel for your situation here and I guess you just have to factor it into your purchase decisions.

 

[jernst2]

Eh doesn't bother me, they have to tax what they have to tax.
At the end of the day the savings are still there with the whole combined shipping from multiple sellers & letting your shipments build up until it's a worthwhile size shipment.

 

[dahabsfan]

I had my shipment request submitted today as well for a large shipment. Amongst the shipment options was also an option for "Express" with no duties paid. I will take my chances with border services, if I pay I pay but won't willingly do it when given the option. Not sure how it's their responsibility to be collecting on behalf of the CRA anyways. If they wish to put a proper declared value on the package, I'm fine with that....then it's up to the postal service/CRA to do their job as far as I am concerned.

Darren

 

[piper1]

It's really simple, support your local LCS and shows.

 

[dahabsfan]

I would not use them unless u have a us shipping address. Waste of money to get cards shipped to Canada.

Very narrow view of things. I just finished selling almost $1300 (257 cards) during this weeks spring cleaning sale which I was able to parlay into some very very nice high end items. Paying tax on it certainly isn't the end of the world if I have to seeing as I would never spend the time required to scan, list, pack, and ship that kind of volume of lower end stuff that would otherwise just collect dust in a box.

Darren

 

[gomaz]

Not sure how it's their responsibility to be collecting on behalf of the CRA anyways. If they wish to put a proper declared value on the package, I'm fine with that....then it's up to the postal service/CRA to do their job as far as I am concerned.

Darren

I asked them about this. It is their responsibility because they drive Canadian orders across the border into Canada themselves, and ship them from here. So they follow the rules and declare what they are bringing in.

Very narrow view of things. I just finished selling almost $1300 (257 cards) during this weeks spring cleaning sale which I was able to parlay into some very very nice high end items. Paying tax on it certainly isn't the end of the world if I have to seeing as I would never spend the time required to scan, list, pack, and ship that kind of volume of lower end stuff that would otherwise just collect dust in a box.

Darren

Exactly my position on this too.

 

[kmitchel]

I'm not a huge fan of them collecting GST as some parts confuse me. Like Darren, I'd rather take my chances with Canada Post shipping.

However, do the cards shipped/delivered to the Canadian address stay in Canada or do they get moved to the US warehouse shortly after arriving?

So I send a card in to Burnaby and Gomaz buys it 2 months later. Does it get charged GST or has it remained in Canada the whole time?

Kevin

 

[ShutoutCards]

Great news to all you Canadian COMC customers. COMC has upped their shipping charges to make up for a shortfall in duties paid to send packages across the border into Canada. I bought a bunch of cards last week, and paid $5.65 in duties. This week the duties were $35 for a similar amount of cards. My shipping went from $11.65 last week to over $50 this week (that's in US dollars). I spoke with COMC customer service, and was told that we Canadians have been "getting off easy" with the cheap shipping, and the cross border duties have been raised as of last week. They gave me a 'break' since I didn't know about the increase, and cut my shipping to $39 USD (how nice of them!). Apparently, their shipping software had a 'glitch' that wasn't charging adequate duties, and COMC was taking a loss on shipments to Canada. The 'glitch' has apparently now been corrected. Be aware, Canadian shoppers, that there is now a 5% duty attached to each card you buy on COMC, with no limit. This is tacked on when you request shipment, so you don't see it on your dashboard. With Ebay's recent announcement of charging Provincial taxes and GST on all sales, combined with this, I'm not sure if I can continue with the online shopping for cards. What's your take on this? Thoughts?

Rules is rules, I guess...but, did they actually say you were "getting off easy"? There are so many different (aka better) ways to say something like this. It feels like this is another example of how COMC's attitude towards their customers is changing, and not for the better - they don't want to bother with any problems or issues, they just want people to keep blindly sending in their cards and not say anything else...like, we're lucky to have them take our cards and we should be glad to pay those processing fees, too...

I wonder if they're going to make any kind of announcement about this "glitch" or are they just going to let it slide, so their customers can figure it out on their own...

 

[dahabsfan]

I asked them about this. It is their responsibility because they drive Canadian orders across the border into Canada themselves, and ship them from here. So they follow the rules and declare what they are bringing in.



Exactly my position on this too.

That would explain that I guess. As I mentioned they must also ship from within the US as that was the option I selected and when highlighted it shows shipping via USPS Priority mail. All I care is I get my package as it was a priductive last submission of tradin' up.

D

 

[Craig2]

I keep hearing people use the term "duties," but there are no duties on cards. If you're being charged anything, it's a combination of GST/HST plus brokerage fees for handling cross-border packages. Duties exist, but not on trading cards.

I don''t like paying taxes on cards I bring to Canada, but it's sometimes a necessary evil in the hobby. And to be honest, even when I bring across lots of them from my mailbox across the bridge here, I very rarely have to pay anything...much more discretion in person, at least in my experience.

 

[quincy]

I spoke with the reps at some length about this at Expo. I did point out that the USPS first class to Canada is an option worth exploring - trackable, speedy, and most importantly not inevitably stopped for taxation.

 

[Craig2]

I spoke with the reps at some length about this at Expo. I did point out that the USPS first class to Canada is an option worth exploring - trackable, speedy, and most importantly not inevitably stopped for taxation.

Easily the best option. Very rarely taxed, and no heavy brokerage fees which are what really kill you.

 

[will-411]

I have no problem paying what I'm supposed to for taxes/ duties, whatever... I just want it to be clear what I am paying for when I do pay.

I like using it though - on Q's and Gomaz's recommendation I've been using it to 'trade up' and move stuff that has a limited market where I am... it's worked well for me!

Cory

 

[TanguayFan]

I would love to trade up, if it werent for the fact that there is only about four cards on there that even interest me, and all four are overpriced to the point of lunacy.

 

[newfiecomicguy1]

It's getting tough to buy singles on most sites. Seems like most cards I find from US sellers have shipping set at $23 to Canada, and that's basic shipping. Hard to justify buying vintage base cards that are a couple bucks and have to pay that much in shipping.

 

[RGM81]

If you use COMC right, it's an absolute blessing.

The ability to purchase cards on eBay from US-based sellers and have them shipped to my "Mailbox" there has saved me probably a couple hundred bucks since I started to use the service. Instead of paying $10US or the dreaded Global Shipping Program, being able to pay the "within US" rate (often free or only $2-$4) plus the $2 processing fee at COMC makes for stellar savings. Oh, and that's on top of already getting a discount on the actual sale because most Canadians aren't going to bid up a Price/Gorges/Weber/Gallagher card with that shipping cost.

My last COMC order of 31 cards included a bunch of stuff from ePack but also 6 physical cards via eBay. My total shipping cost for that order was $13.31. That's a single card on eBay nowadays from the US.

My not-so-total-shot-in-the-dark guess about why the costs for shipping to Canada from COMC have increased in recent months is that they got dinged a couple times. We were definitely getting lucky previously with the $3 flat rate. Think about that: as many cards as you want, COMC is packing them all up and driving them across the border, and then shipping them from Burnaby. They probably lost lots of $$ on that AND then to (probably) have gotten clipped by customs...yeah I don't mind paying a bit extra if it means they're doing it the right way now and I can continue to reap the types of benefits above.

Nothing is free, folks!

 

[will-411]

I would love to trade up, if it werent for the fact that there is only about four cards on there that even interest me, and all four are overpriced to the point of lunacy.

For me, 'trading up' has been about getting rid of 25 cent to $2 cards that had no audience sitting in my basement, and would take way too long to maintain on a tradelist. I then have used that money to purchase $10 to $40 cards that I know I can trade or sell locally. Obviously a bit different in my situation then yours Rob, but it's definitely helped me amalgamate nothing into something.

Cory