4noggins shipping to Canada

[rockynrobyn]

Hello everyone, I recently ordered from 4noggins. I can’t find the post, but I read that when ordering from Canada, I should select the cheapest shipping method because it doesn’t come with a tracking number which would attract more attention to it at customs. So I chose the cheapest shipping option and I when I received the email confirmation that my package had been shipped, there was indeed a tracking number. Was there once an option with no tracking ?
Thanks

 

[sasquatch]

Yes.

 

[ben88]

Option without tracking offered by Smokinh3Pipes. 4Noggins cheapest shipping option is First Class International. It comes with tracking.

 

[bluto]

Sounds like it came thru unfettered with the tracking
My guess is cheapest option , sans tracking , would be more likely subject to manual inspection rather than something which is scanned thru and cleared ..

 

[sasquatch]

I don't think it matters. I've had packages opened and taped back up by Border Services using regular mail, express mail, and private couriers. They can inspect whatever they want, however they want.

 

[ben88]

luck of the draw

 

[olkofri]

Yeah, luck of the draw. It might also help, in addition to keeping parcels small and light, to order at irregular intervals of several weeks. Bunch of parcels all going to the same address are bound to raise a flag.

 

[sparroa]

I can’t find the post, but I read that when ordering from Canada, I should select the cheapest shipping method because it doesn’t come with a tracking number which would attract more attention to it at customs.

That opinion is incorrect. Millions of parcels have tracking numbers.
They have offered tracking for about five years.
No tracking simply means you are receiving a lesser service.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Olkofri:You nailed it again, so true.

 

[bluto]

I usually address my parcels to ‘guy incognito’ and when I go to the mail box I wear a top hat , a monocle and a handle bar moustache

 

[olkofri]

All of the orders I've placed have had tracking numbers. This is a plus, as it allows me to see where they are and can thus time my next order so that they don't end up in the customs office at the same time. Overall, the MO is like this:

• –Parcels delivered by courier services (FedEx, UPS, et al.) will ALWAYS get opened; every time my mother sends me something by FedEx this happens (and no, she never sends tobacco and declares every single item on the customs form): sometimes this causes a delay and FedEx can't make good on their 'next day delivery' promise.[/*]
  
• –The same appears to be the case by parcels dispatched via USPS Priority Express Int'l and USPS Priority Int'l: they'll be searched. It appears that immediacy raises a flag.[/*]
  
• –Getting dinged is a coin-toss with parcels sent via USPS First Class Int'l, as they might or might not be opened. This is the preferred method: and it does include a tracking number.[/*]
  
• –Lastly, Super Saver, which does NOT include a tracking number, will probably be opened as its cheap price might raise a flag with customs just like expediency does.[/*]
  

 

[sparroa]

I think they open a hell of a lot less than you think they do.
I agree with the courier services and possibly Express but other than that it is more random IMO.
Each major postal sorting facility will process millions of international packages a year - they don't have unlimited manpower.
If Canada increases the limit you can import before having to pay duties higher than $20, online shopping with the US will explode and they will be even more swamped. This could possibly happen as a result of the new NAFTA negotiations unless Trump cuts the country out of the deal altogether...

 

[peckinpahhombre]

olkofri has it exactly right in my view, though I can't say for sure that Priority is worse than First Class, but I don't know why you would ever pay extra for Priority in any event (I never have). First Class is the best, in my view. The Super Saver option is an example of penny wise and pound foolish - myself and a number of friends have made a statistically significant number of orders using both First and Super Saver and we have all concluded that the Super Saver option is far more likely to get hit than First.

 

[sasquatch]

Btw there is no official tax exempt limit - the idea that 200 or 250 g is "allowed" is wrong. If you've been out of country for a few days, that is the tax-free personal allowance (200 g). But imports are just that - imports, and therefore taxable. Anything that comes through untaxed was either missed or just a "we'll be nice" on the part of CBSA. I do suspect that they probably are pretty unconcerned about a couple tins of tobacco - the smuggling thing where you bring a semi truck full of cigarettes up... that's a big deal.