Online Selling from Canada to USA

[angloman]

Hi,

I'm currently setting up an E-commerce website for a company in Canada.

We manufacture gourmet dried fruit and nut mixes and sell mainly to Canada. I am trying to open them up to US markets with their website, but we are stuck figuring out how to get it done.

Accepting US payments isn't so hard, it's more getting the product to the customer. Because we are shipping food there are many problems with customs. We don't want to charge rediculously high prices, have our customers potentially pay duty or any other problems like that.

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for how we can get our product out to the USA?

[holmpage]

I had a client who gave up after the new US regulations came in last year. He was selling small packages of spice blends, and the red tape required for each individual shipment made the whole enterprise non-viable. Free trade? Ha!

[carju1]

Originally Posted by angloman

Hi,
We manufacture gourmet dried fruit and nut mixes and sell mainly to Canada. I am trying to open them up to US markets with their website, but we are stuck figuring out how to get it done.... Because we are shipping food there are many problems with customs.

Drive them across a busy highway border in a car with your boot/trunk full of boxes. Store them in a little old ladies larder in the US, get her to make up and dispatch the orders by post from within the US and pay her 10 cents an order.

OK that probably isn't legal but then US customs policy is to fair trade what fast food burgers are to healthy eating and there probably isn't a legal sensible way. If there is a way to get it done legally you will find the FDA or such like will then hold up the shipments until they rot or send them back cos the packet labled MIXED NUTS doesn't have a nut allergy warning on it.

Julian

[Affiliate Boss]

Gotta to love the US

[big_harry]

carju1 is not far off the mark, if they are close to a border (which they probably are in Canada) then operating a warehouse out of a border town in the US as a Foreign company is probably the best way to start out. There is no way to avoid customs, duties, FDA, IRS etc. Find a good CPA in that little border town and they will help you to get going. Be aware that retail taxes and regulations vary from state to state so if you have a few to choose from, then check them all out. Then again each Province handles Retail taxation on goods sold out of province differently as well. Actually this question may be beyond the scope of a forum.

Harry