I haven’t purchased much on ebay, and everything I have purchased has been from Canadian sellers.
Now I’m looking at buying something from a US seller, and I’m curious as to how it clears Customs and what kind of duty (if any) I’ll have to pay. Specifically, I’m looking at purchasing a humidor, and I’m also wondering if I’m going to be hit with the crippling Canadian tobacco taxes, since a humidor can potentially be qualified as a “tobacco product”.
I shipped once to a Canadian buyer. He insisted that I mark the item as a “Gift” (it was a poster). This must be why - although I suspected this, it’s confirmation.
-B
Yep, things listed as a “gift” don’t get charged duty when coming over the border. Items with a small listed value rarely get checked. Items with a value of over about $20 get checked about half the time, in my experience. You’ll probably end up paying more in customs fees than actual duty, annoyingly enough. And if you do order something expensive and/or bulky, and would prefer using a courrier, I’d recommend using anybody but UPS. They don’t cover duty in their fees, and will hit you with additional surprise fees for a customs broker. I’ve gotten charged $23 dollars in fees for a $20 package…
I’ll second Belrix and xnylder. I ship eBay purchases to Canada all the time from the U.S. Just ask your seller to mark it as a gift on the customs form and to ship it via USPS.
Marking items as ‘gift’ when they are not in fact gifts, but purchased goods, is fraud - at least I’m certain that’s how Customs & Excise here see it.
Is the humidor empty? Then it’s just a wooden box. It is not a tobacco product.
But will it arrive full of cigars? Then it contains tobacco products that will be subject to excise duties. And PST and GST also, I think.
I’m curious though…why do you think that an empty box made of wood would be classified as a tobacco product?
Customs tariff classifications are an absolute nightmare of complexity; the construction and material of the product is one consideration, but its purpose is also a factor; rubber balls for human play are subject to a different tariff classification to rubber balls for dogs - even though they may come off the same production line.
Spot on. I’m not sure that it would be, but it wouldn’t surprise me. And no, I’m not ordering any cigars. But I’m probably going to bring a $#!tload back with me from Vegas in September. 
When dealing with US sellers there are a few things I’ve learned.
Duty is charged seemingly at random; some packages clear without duty (or even being opened) and some don’t, regardless of what the customs document says it is, what it’s for, or how much it’s worth. I’ve had $200 packages clear and $30 packages get hit.
The exemption limit for tarriffs is C$20. Anything valued below this will not be charged tarriffs.
Tarrifs are charged on the Canadian-converted declared value of the item(s), in the amount of provincial and federal taxes (14% in Ontario) plus a $5 “processing fee.” There may be additional fees for items that fall into other taxable categories, but as the stuff I’ve bought off of eBay is relatively mundane (though I’ve bought a hell of a lot) I’ve never encountered such.
If no value of the item is declared on the form and it is opened and inspected at the border, they may assign an arbitrary “market value” of the item(s) and charge duties based on that.
You may be charged duty even if the item is marked as a gift. This seems to be completely random and arbitrary, but if I could discern any common theme it seemed to happen most on packages that contained brand new, factory sealed items.
If the item is shipped by UPS, you will also be charged an $18 brokerage fee, since they pay duties for you at the border and collect them from you, with their exorbitant fee tacked on. Items shipped by UPS exceeding the exemption value seem to always be charged duty. Some other carriers have their own brokerage fee, and some carriers do not charge one at all. (DHL I believe is one that doesn’t)
Here’s what I ask that sellers do as a courtesy:
Mark the item as “gift,” “other,” or “repair” on the customs form. (I don’t think “repair” is an option on USPS forms though)
Because 1) may still subject the package to duty, forcing you to have to fight it with Canada Customs, I request that the item be marked with a value at or under US$15. That puts it under the exemption level so even if Customs doesn’t believe it’s a gift, it’s still exempt from duty.
Almost all sellers are more than happy to agree to these requests, but some are reticent to do so, particularly registered businesses.
I will admit I asked obliquely because E-bay sellers of cigars often use the “you’re paying for the packaging” ruse to get around E-bay’s prohibition on selling tobacco. For all I knew from the OP, you had bought a humidor full of cigars. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however.
That being said, I also have to wonder if this question couldn’t be answered by a call to your friendly local tobacconist. I’m sure he or she could tell you if tobacco excise taxes have to be paid on humidors, as well as other tobacco-related items (ashtrays, pipes, etc,). I’ve never paid tobacco excises on my pipes, my humidors, or my cigar/pipe ashtrays, and while I could say this over and over, this is the Straight Dope after all, and the plural of anecdote is not data.
Anyway, it’s good to know another tobacco aficionado on the Straight Dope, Dante, and perhaps we can compare notes on cigars sometime. Whatcha looking forward to bringing back from Las Vegas?