Importation from USA to Canada (Airsoft Gears)
 

Hi,

I know it's legal(I think it is??) to import camo uniforms and tactical vests over to Canada. However, I really don't know how to go about it, because these can be used with real steel firearms and I really wonder what I should do driving back to the border.

Should I just declare it: umm..I bought 2 things for airsoft to use myself. A replica camo uniform, and a replica tactical vest and the total is 100 dollars. It just sounds so weird and suspicious. I try to avoid bring airsoft related items across the border, but sometimes the deals are just too good in the US.

I'm going to portland for a few days and I sorta want to know if anyone had any experience with this. I know there are import topics, but they are mostly for guns. I'm well over the guns now..those damn cheap prices.

Thanks for any input.

That doesn't make any sense.

Uniforms are uniforms. Vests are vests. Why are you mentioning airsoft and/or firearms?

Declare them for what they are. They're legal, you shouldnt have to justify why you're buying them. If they're really curious, tell them you play airsoft or paintball or whatever. Case closed.

It is completely legal and they will not give you trouble on those items.
"Do you have anything to declare?"
"Yes I bought a tactical vest and camo, and some great porn and a bottle of bourbon"
"Whats the vest and camo for, and whats the total value of goods?"
"I play airsoft/paintball/whatever and value is [insert number below the personal exemption for however many days you're there]"

Done. The worst that happens is the agent asks you what it's for and if you respond truthfully, you're golden.

I believe its labeled as clothing, and not fire arms or sporting goods.

With the dollar what it is and Dave's in New West so handy why buy stuff in Portland?

If it has a problem are you going to ship it back?

As a side note if you are nervous about importing stuff'; no mater how legal it is and the CBSA agents sees that you're sweating and worried they're going to select you for secondary inspection.

Your answer if they ask, paintball/historical reenactment/halloween/cosplay costume. And of course fully declare the value and whatnot.

I don't think I've ever been asked what I'm bringing back in detail just what the value of the goods were and the general category. ie. Clothing from the outlet malls and whatever the personal exemption was.

I go back and forth a lot... just declare it as clothing as even the tactical vest is classified as clothing. Make sure you're under your limit or really close to it. They really shouldn't ask what it's used for, its not restricted so it's really none of their business. Obviously if they ask, then answer truthfully but they probably won't.

Normal civilian clothes 'can be used with real steel firearms' too, do you freak out like this when you buy a pair of khakis at the old navy outlet?

Ok, thanks for the answers.
In case you are wondering. Last time I came back from the USA i was asked: what is your job?..
I'm a POS/Database System manager for a local gun store located in Delta.
She sorta freaked out for like a moment, but let us through after 10 seconds of thought. Just because it had a little bit to do with guns. I don't even touch the guns..just managing database.

I mean some of these guys are really thinking hard..It's a good thing, but it is sorta frustrating at times.

What they sai. Soft gear is completely harmless. Obviously however, if that rig had plates in it, you're going to have a problem getting it over, but for $100 I imagine its an empty carrier, heh

apparently it has fake plate...But I don't care..if they wont allow it, I'll just throw it into the garbage..not like I need it lol.
if anything, that plate will only make me less aware of hits, rather feel a bit of pain

Hmmm, typically CBSA doesn't ask returning Canadian Citizens what they do for a living... that's pretty strange. Usually that's the question asked by US Customs when we enter the US to see if we plan on working there.

In terms of her reaction, that's also unusual, probably a new officer.

Last time I returned from the US I had $240, my friend had $205, the CBSA agent in the booth told us to go inside... we were really confused as we were so little over the limit but whatever, we went in. Went up to the cashier and gave her all our receipts... we had assumed, incorrectly, that we only paid duty on items over the allowance when in fact you pay for the entire amount if you go over the limit. The cashier also seemed confused, she asked us how long we'd been in the US, we replied about 32 hours. We're waiting for her to tell us how much we owe but instead she turns to the two CBSA officers sitting further down and says "I don't know what to do".... now I'm confused, I wasn't happy that I had to pay duty for the full $240 but was like whatever, if that's the rule then that's the rule. She tells them the amounts and the officers say, "oh they must have not been there overnight", but she tells them we were. So the officers ask to see the card given by the officer in the booth and it clearly says "24 hours"... the two officers look at each other for about 3 seconds then the one says to us "have a good day".

So basically, the confusion inside was because people so little over the limit don't get sent inside to pay duty, the officer in the booth was either new or just not having a good day, happens to all of us. So it's always a dice throw whenever you bring anything back from the US but most of the time I've found the CBSA to be fairly reasonable but as with any job involving the public, all it takes is some ahole ahead of you to make things difficult for the rest of us.

In the end, you're not trying to bring back anything illegal and really only have to declare them as clothing.

Sure they do.

They ask you random shit to watch your reactions, both sides. US guy started out kinda surly towards me and when I said I worked on cartoons, he revealed that he was a closet nerd.

CBSA guys have always been jerks to me coming back when I'm alone.

I've been to the states probably 50-60 times in the last 20 years and can't remember a single instance when they asked me what I did for work. Hell, even when I went down for work (our Canadian company has offices in the US) they never asked me where I work or what I do. But ok...

I've been asked what I do for work before driving back from the states.

You know it is a nanny state when somebody comes on a forum and asks about the legalities of importing clothing.

Word of caution, unless you are traveling with the items and can complain to custom officials in person, you should buy it from Canada if it can be helped.

Getting stuff through customs is a dice game and their snatching practices are unbelievably arbitrary. Custom officials DO NOT know the law regarding importing specific "military...looking" paraphernalia and will seize if they feel like it. It is up to you to make the effort to "prove" that you are legally able to import the item and this mean waiting for the letter saying they have your stuff, then you phoning them and pleading your case. Can take months.

I know people that have had mag pouches seized, legal knives and swords seized, I have a gun sling seized from china. Cost 3 bucks. Seized. Yes some people import caches of Rap 4 replica firearms that are strictly prohibited into Canada all the time. Some people have switchblades mailed to them and some people might have a set of salad forks seized. It is all about the customs official that looks in your package...if they do at all.

It sounds really ridiculous but it is the god's honest truth.

I think I should also note that you should buy from Canadian vendors whenever possible. Airsoft is a niche hobby, meaning that businesses who cater to us have a very limited market and rely on us to stay in business. If everybody shops online in other countries, we have no local support to purchase things quickly when we need them. These businesses also support new players, who expand the market making it lucrative for fields to open. It is the same for any niche hobby. I mean, go on ebay right now, there is a decent cadpat set for 100 bones...shipped from Canada. Not saying you shouldn't ever shop overseas since much isnt available here but it is something to keep in mind.

Just so you know, RAP4 markers are legal in Canada what makes you think they're not? They're not replica firearms, they're paintball markers.

And businesses pop up and fold all the time. It's the nature of the free market. Why prop up a business that provides crap? There was a business that just folded a couple days ago even. Yet there are major players that are still alive and kicking and have been for maybe 10 years or more and have been mainstays in the community for as long as I've been playing (there are some that folded like Apec/Blue Seas and the like but some that are still around).

In another hobby of mine (MTB) I'm all for going to your LBS but if they provide good service. I had an amazing experience at the LBS near my parents place in BC and the one nearby my place in AB they definitely get about 50% of my business. What I can't justify though is the pricing comparison against some online retailers for things, they're always willing to work with me on pricing slightly and they've said that. But sometimes they tell me straight up, go online because we can't match their pricing and make the margins we need. I really like their honesty and the money that I do save from online purchases probably goes into their service department for the more advanced stuff that I can't fix.

I might have to agree with your last post but not this one when it comes to money..
I usually order from amazon.ca if the price is similar(usually $5-$10 difference), or else order from amazon.com. The problem with Vancouver, is that airsoft item prices are jacked up so much that I'm just like wtf..The same item can be 30-40 dollars cheaper in the USA..Even with conversion it's still worth the 20 dollars u save. I'm not even counting tax, cause I don't really have much against the 12% tax since it fuels our services. I don't know how much business pay to import all their stuff, since I don't do business importation. Either way it's expensive.

although $10 don't seem much, but when you buy like 10 items that are $10 more each, you lose $100 that could of been used towards something else. If local business cannot keep up to lower the price point, well, you lose the customer, that is business my friend.

Just look at milsig, trigger airsoft. These are really overpriced stores, even warface who doesn't really have a website is overpriced when I walked in. Badlands is okay, but they don't have enough airsoft stock to keep me there.

On the side note, milsig's "sale events" are a joke, a pistol priced at $499.99, drop the price to $99.99. A Google search that pistol is about 100 anywhere in Canada on regular price. All their sales make me laugh.

Most of the East coast guys here have access to more stores and better local pricing than us guys on the West coast. The mark up here is pretty significant, and selection somewhat limited, so I often end up ordering parts/gear from Asia or the States.

I'd like to support local stores like APS, Trigger and Milsig (Warface is shit and I won't shop at Velocity based on principal) but they're not at all competitive price wise. Hell, even the "deals" I get from some of the people I know in the local airsoft industry aren't really worth considering. My money goes to whoever can get me what I need/want at the best price, that and the local stores can make do with all the balling main landers in Richmond.

I have to say that if my local store... and there's really only 2, are within 10% then I'll typically buy local depending on the items. Problem is that there's not much stock. So when I put an order together for about $1000 worth of stuff and just the gun alone is $200 cheaper in the US and the rest of the stuff isn't even available or way over priced (LM4 mags) then I'll buy in the US. I'm all for supporting local shops and have spent thousands at mine but in one order I paid $1000 after taxes, shipping and exchange rate on stuff that would have cost me $1300 in Canada (not just local but any online retailer in Canada) well sorry, I'm just not going to pay $300 more when that's almost another gun!

Looks like we feel almost the same way lol..

ridiculous mark ups loses business..although I'm guessing it's because the importation fee is up there somewhere..

Funny I barely run into any good deals on local craigslist either for airsoft things..sometimes the prices are even bolder than airsoft stores LOL. When I wonder where these ridiculous prices come from, I just look at the local airsoft shops and go like..oh..I see why it's so high..cause people bought it hella expensive here..

Not sure what east cost you have been too but there are certainly not an abundance tactical gear oriented stores. The few that are around are either costly and 100% legit like CP gear and 5.11 (and they are 5 hours apart) or just plain ol' surplus stores :P

Maybe not the East Coast but Toronto itself has better "airsoft" stores.

Vancouver retail airsoft is still ten years behind.

For real tac gear you're well covered out here and the prices aren't jacked. If you run the exchange the prices are in the range of the USA.

I think if that was the case, we would see more of them, there is definitely a market. From my understanding, their pistols are prohibited. Canada's Rap4's website SOMETIMES has their pistols in stock, but rarely ever. They don't have a lot of their rifles either like the MP5. That is because their FPS is way below the legal minimum and they look and function like real firearms. From an airsoft perspective, take pistols from the US. Check out their FPS in the descriptions of US websites, now look at the Canadian websites for the same brands. Somehow in Canada, they fire an additional 80+ FPS. Must be the weather. The thing is, you just can't BS as much when it comes to paintball. Everybody knows that paintball marker is not firing at 366 out of the box so they are instantly seized.

Check out toronto airsoft. They seem the cheapest. I bought a ton of stuff there. You are right, milsig.ca is ridiculous beyond all words and badlands is OK, but limited everything. Airsoft businesses have difficulty importing, and have to jump through legal hoops to get their stock in. They also run the risk of having shipments upright seized. I am not saying that you should not spend your hard earned money wisely, I am just bringing up something not a lot of people consider.

That's not exactly the case.... Tippmann has the TPX. Empire has an M4 and MP5 lookalike, Dye has some, I'm sure I've seen a JT marker that looks like a pistol or rifle etc.

And where does this magic number come from? If you got hit by a .68 cal. ball and a .43 cal. ball going at the same speed, which will hurt more? And do you honestly believe that fields will allow a "366" FPS .68 cal marker on the field? Velocity is only one part of the equation, mass is the second component which allows you to get an energy otherwise I could use .40g BB's to bring down the velocity of my rifles to pass chrono. There's a reason why everyone uses a standard .20g to chrono.

You would never be able to old up a 7-11 with a Delta elite or a tpx. Unless is is 2998 and you are robocop. Airguns, .43 cal markers included need to fire at a velocity over 366 fps and hit with adequate force out of the box otherwise they are considered replicas. Rap4 pistols are practically identical to the real things. They are training weapons for law enforcement and do not meet the FPS requirement and look and behave too much like real firearms. These guns simple fail too many categories to be considered legal in Canada.

Interesting opinion piece

http://www.greyops.net/2011/01/rap4-...ng-record.html

RCMP press release

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/f...me_air-eng.htm

That's as lame as telling your online girlfriend you can't get a boner because she's not dressed like Liberace.

EBR = Enhanced Battle Rifle

Do not ever on pain of satire take an existing alphabet soup word and re-purpose it unless you have Travis Haleyesque market penetration.

I bought my stuff from toronto airsoft before. But thats an 300 dollar order which granted me free shipping. Without free shipping, it's like 20-30 bucks just for shipping. Buying from USA most of the time free shipping for orders around 100 bucks, and that comes in 10 days or so. It's weird when the shipping is fast and cheap that came all the way from a warehouse in Texas up to the canadian border. I think the only canadian airsoft shop that got my business are mostly toronto based stores..

I never buy guns from down there..even tho a lot of people have told me that's fine when you are certain it's more than the legal fps and j..but the risk sometimes are just not worth it. Unless Evike or other airsoft sites are doing extreme discounts that basically isn't worth much to began with to test your luck. I never go pick it up tho, only gears and report them as clothing which they are; rather not lose my nexus and get listed. Working fine so far, and saved a bunch of money this way