Is there sales tax (GST/PST) on used items if buying from USA and shipping to Canada?

[soccerdude]

I am interested in buying a used launch monitor from someone in the USA on eBay. Given that I live in Canada, would I be charged sales tax when the item crosses the border into Canada? I have read that it's best to use US postal service and not UPS because UPS charges insanely high brokerage fees. Again, not sure if those charges would apply on used goods bought from private individuals as opposed to from a business. Any advice/info on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[mthunt]

They automatically charge the tax based on the value. You're right about usps. I used to buy clubs from the U.S.

[soccerdude]

Thanks mthunt. It doesn't surprise me that if you buy used goods from a business that sales tax is charged, but I was hoping that no sales tax would be charged on used items shipped person to person. How would they (whoever they is) know what's in the package and how much to charge sales tax on? i.e. we have gotten say Christmas packages from family in the US, and there is never any sales tax charged on the contents of those packages. What is it that triggers the sales tax, and how/when is it collected and by whom? Thanks.

[mthunt]

No tax on gifts. They base the tax on amount insured. UPS is the worst. USPS usually gets things through but do you want to ship a launch monitor via postal? You can try it as a gift but if it's insured for 6 grand, red flags go up.

[soccerdude]

Okay, make sense. Thanks mthunt for the info.

[Dax]

I'm not a customs expert, but I'm pretty sure if the contents of the package are not properly described/disclosed then they could seize the goods at the border.