I found a brand new set of Aeroski R2800's for my Maule, have been sitting in the box unopened at a guys house in Canada for a few years and he ended up selling his plane. I'm trying to buy them but the logistics of a canadian purchase and my schedule is slightly throwing me off. I'm generally planning to drive 15 hours to pick them up in person rather than dealing with shipping, which I can't do until January. Questions or areas I'm looking for advice...

1. Money.
They are around $10k USD, which is too large a sum to use PayPal apparently, which has poor conversion rates anyway. E-transfer that all yall canadians use apparently doesn't work from a US bank as far as I can tell? Any ideas on best way to get him money with a good conversion rate? I was thinking maybe order $CAD cash through my bank (Chase) then just take it with me. Never done that before. I've used foreign ATMs plenty of times but I imagine $10k is way past ATM limits. Can you walk in a Canadian bank and withdraw with a US Card? Similar to ATM transaction but at a teller? There's always an international wire as well I suppose.

2. Customs.
I will be entering Canada, buying the skis, and then immediately turning around and driving back across the border. Customs will be ripe to charge me taxes if I don't have an exemption. As far as I can tell, I am exempt for two reasons. First, the skis were manufactured in the US, and second, aircraft parts are exempt. Anyone dealt with this before, in terms of customs giving them issues?

Thanks for the help. Trying to make this as seamless as cross-border transactions can be.

-asa

I purchased a set of Federal AWB 4820 skis out of Canada several years back, picked up in Winnepeg. I simply sent the seller a check (figured if he owns a Beaver and a Lodge, he's trustworthy). The skis were waiting for me for pickup with no issues...yet. My mistake was not obtaining a bill of sale. US Customs agents at the Alaska border attempted to make a big deal of it, stating "how do we know these are aircraft parts?", pointing out the Federal Aircraft Works data plate did little to appease them. I also had a winter front and exhaust augmenter for the Beaver and of course they had no idea what they were. In the end, after several hours delay in the middle of the night, they filled out a "special form" and I was free to go.
My second purchase of a set of floats out of Quebec more recently went much better. I still had to go the "problem child" box, going through US Customs, however, with a bill of sale and proof these are aircraft parts (EDO floats), we were quickly sent on our way. So, the moral of the story is having your documentation in order describing exactly what all parts are and proof that you own them and there should be no issue. I take full responsibility for my first example difficulty as I did not have my documentation in order. I would certainly make a few phone calls to customs describing your scenario and document that as well, this can bolster your case.

TR

Can’t you just toss them in the back and drive across? Who’s to say your reason for travel wasn’t just spending a couple days enjoying yourself?

NineThreeKilo wrote:Can’t you just toss them in the back and drive across? Who’s to say your reason for travel wasn’t just spending a couple days enjoying yourself?

That is exactly what I thought as I was actually returning to my home in Alaska from a trip to the lower 48 and picked the skis up enroute. I was not trying to get away with anything, I knew there was no duty owed on these skis. Unfortunately, Customs knew I did not have the skis entering Canada, therefore they knew the skis were picked up in Canada. Easy for them to prove (they had photos of my truck crossing into Canada, no skis hanging out), tough to hide skis of this size as they are longer than the truck bed. Like most things in life, it is best to be truthful from the start.

TR

NineThreeKilo wrote:Can’t you just toss them in the back and drive across? Who’s to say your reason for travel wasn’t just spending a couple days enjoying yourself?

Maybe and I'm just speculating that the OP just wants to do it properly.

TR wrote:

NineThreeKilo wrote:Can’t you just toss them in the back and drive across? Who’s to say your reason for travel wasn’t just spending a couple days enjoying yourself?

That is exactly what I thought as I was actually returning to my home in Alaska from a trip to the lower 48 and picked the skis up enroute. I was not trying to get away with anything, I knew there was no duty owed on these skis. Unfortunately, Customs knew I did not have the skis entering Canada, therefore they knew the skis were picked up in Canada. Easy for them to prove (they had photos of my truck crossing into Canada, no skis hanging out), tough to hide skis of this size as they are longer than the truck bed. Like most things in life, it is best to be truthful from the start.

TR

Curious how did they know?

Going through customs a ton with a non US registered car I have seen the US customs workers try to play word games to get themselves some sweet fees.

As far as payment is concerned, you can either do a wire transfer or, if the seller agrees, just pay by check (cheque in the great white north) drawn on a US bank in USD. He’ll have no problem depositing that at any Canadian bank. He can leave it in USD or have the bank convert to CDN. His choice.

For customs, if it were me I’d engage a broker. They’ll want a bill of sale with a product description and serial number and will probably charge a couple hundred bucks. They won’t do anything you can’t do yourself, but they’ll likely get it right and things will go better at customs. I guess it depends on what that’s worth to you.

Or, have them shipped and let the carrier do the import customs clearance. They’ll probably charge less of a brokerage fee.

If the skis are being purchased from a business rather than an individual they’ll likely have to charge GST (5%). There’s a way to get an exemption and provide the exemption documentation to the seller so they can avoid charging you, or you can apply for a GST refund after the fact. Having only been on the seller side of international transactions I’m less certain of how that all works, but pretty sure a customs broker can help with that as well.

Enjoy your skis!

Probably worth using a Forex broker for 10k, the rate will be better. You might save 300$.

If you are happy to wire to seller you can simply wire to broker and have them wire the CAD to the seller. The rate is very good right now.

Same story for me... I've bought 3 pairs of skis from CA over the years. The first time I had a laissez faire attitude and figured because they were clearly a US made aircraft part I'd have no issues. Drove up and back in the same day... Crossed back in the middle of the night and got held up by customs for a long while. In the end, I had to pay a couple hundred dollar fee which I had no idea how they came up with the number. Next two times I had my paperwork and it was no biggie.

Good luck!

fly your plane up here, clear customs. well help you bolt em on. fly home. clear customs after a weekend of ice fishing.

98% chance no one bats an eye.

2% chance they notice and throw the book at you..


Id recommend getting a bill of sale for an Amount and declaring it when you cross the border... or hire DHL of Fedex and get a broker

Ya I'd agree that its easy to send a wire transfer. I've also had guys send me cheques in USD and I just deposit them, bank has no problem doing that. Have a bill of sale and you shouldn't have too much trouble crossing back into the states. Or, Just call Troy and he'll build you a new set in 3-4 weeks and it will be very similar cost to these by the time you factor in your driving time, fuel, and hassle at the border...

Thanks everyone, this has been very helpful. I ran the numbers of all the options and sending a wire using the service "Wise" is by far the best deal in terms of conversion rates and fees. Saves about $400 over the bank conversions.

Got my customs paperwork in order with the help of Troy at Aeroskis. He was very supportive. I'm saving just about $3100 by not buying new, and I'm unemployed in January so my time/hassle to drive and get them isn't worth too much. Troy is also allowing me to swap out some parts to some custom ones that'll make it work better on my extended gear. I like him.

Thanks again,
-asa

I nearly suggested Wise but it’s a bit more hassle to set up. I just did a trip to Japan and it worked flawlessly. You can change between any currency at mid market rates though they do charge a fee. Great if you travel a lot.

asa wrote:Thanks everyone, this has been very helpful. I ran the numbers of all the options and sending a wire using the service "Wise" is by far the best deal in terms of conversion rates and fees. Saves about $400 over the bank conversions.

Got my customs paperwork in order with the help of Troy at Aeroskis. He was very supportive. I'm saving just about $3100 by not buying new, and I'm unemployed in January so my time/hassle to drive and get them isn't worth too much. Troy is also allowing me to swap out some parts to some custom ones that'll make it work better on my extended gear. I like him.

Thanks again,
-asa

Awesome. Troy is great to work with.