Shipping to Canada

[ccbesq]

I've had an inquiry about my wheels from someone in Canada. Has anyone shipped something as big and heavy as wheels/tires to Canada, and if so what should the buyer and I know or guard against? I know that there are at least a few issues:

1. I'm told that shipping tires and wheels across the U.S. would cost between $200 and $250. I don't know if shipping to Canada would be more (it might not be, if the distance is less than across the U.S.), but there are the added issues of duties, tariffs, taxes and/or customs clearance fees. I assume that the U.S. imposes no such charges, but I'm sure Canada does.

2. Obviously shipping the wheels alone would be a lot cheaper, and that may be the sensible way to proceed. The buyer might also look into having them shipped to somewhere in the U.S. near the Canadian border, and then bringing them into Canada himself. I'm told that can work and often save a fair amount of money.

3. The other thing we'd have to work out is how the transaction would proceed financially. I wouldn't be comfortable shipping the wheels until I've received good funds - probably by a bank wire transfer. The buyer probably wouldn't feel comfortable sending money until he's received the wheels and is satisfied with them. I suspect that we could find a way to use an escrow agent to handle this. If nothing else, it happens that I'm an attorney in Connecticut, and I could probably find an attorney in Canada who we'd both trust to hold the money until he's got the wheels. I don't know if that would work - I'm really just thinking out loud. Of course, we'd have a problem if the buyer wouldn't accept the wheels for whatever reason.

I can't think of anything else, but if there are other issues or pitfalls, I'd appreciate hearing about them.

T.I.A.