Many times the US vendor will take your money and ship your goods. And usually you know up front what the freight charges will be. They are typically added to your invoice. Sometimes these freight charges are considerable for a cross-border shipment, but at least you know what they are. So far so good.

Now here is where it gets interesting. The transport company has an obligation to collect PST, GST and/or HST and duty (up to 18%) as it applies. And sometimes the fees for doing so are considerable. To the right > > are some rates from UPS.

So at the end of the day, any savings you thought there might be are gone and in some cases your purchase actually costs you more.  When I quote a price, it is a "delivered price".  That is the way I do business.