cr8nA4

Are these Chinese knock-offs?

7.5 17 B7RS4 = $211 Cdn<ul><li><a href="http://www.replicawheelscanada.com/">http://www.replicawheelscanada.com/</a</li></ul>

RSS

Have only seen them at a Concept-1 in calgary and for that price it makes you wonder.

Tanner

The latest RS4 replicas made by Strat are $199US and made in Thailand. The replicas from Hartmann are $250US and are made in Italy.

Now there are some very small visual flaws with the Hartmanns but I think it's to be expected with any kind of replica, unless you go big with forged replicas which are like $800US.

There hasn't been a single report of either of these replica rims bending yet.

Oh yeah one more thing.

I emailed Replica Wheels Canada a while ago inquiring about the rims and where they are made to confirm that it was in asia or not.

They never emailed me back.

Wheel and Tire Zone in Toronto can bring in these rims also if you want and then have the tires mounted then installed.

And the guy there never got back to me either.

At least with Stratmosphere and Hartmann, both of the contacts there got back to me promptly.

cr8nA4

Mike pointed me to a dealer in Quebec that carries this brand.<ul><li><a href="http://grandpriximport.com/html/home.htm">http://grandpriximport.com/html/home.htm</a</li></ul>

Tanner

Grand Prix Import = Relica Wheels Canada

[KRAFTIG]

You can get them in the GTA @ www.qmrmotorsports.com

Skyler@Achtuning.com

Plus with our current shipping carrier they seem to not be charging any duties, brokerage or taxes.

cr8nA4

I assume you are not using UPS to Canada.

Tanner

This was from a post on another forum here in the GTA.

<i>UPS does not insulate you from duty, if it applies. They may appear to insulate you from brokerage fees using their expedited service, but they just embed the cost in the bundled price.

If a broker is charging you differently based on the cost of your goods (other than the LVS/HVS divide, mentioned below), run. There is no difference in the amount of work required to clear goods of $300.00 vs goods of $1200.00, or for that matter goods of $10,000 and goods of $1MM. Granted, the GST and/or duty owed will be greater, but UPS usually requires COD, so this doesn't come into play as an additional cost. In fact, UPS won't have to pay the gov't the money it collected from you until the end of the month, so they get to use the Duty and GST/PST you pay as float. Nice, eh?

There are two major package streams when considering brokerage. The first is called the "Low Value System", or LVS. It applies to goods with a CAD$ value of less than 1600.00. These goods can be released at the border and accounted for later, and represent the bulk of courier shipments.

High Value Shipments are accounted for differently (&gt; $1600 CAD), and require much more rigorous documentation and reporting. Brokerage charges are often higher for these type of shipments due to the additional administrative effort required.

When figuring out the value for customs, Canada Customs prescribes a daily rate that bears only tangential relation to the rate you hear on the radio. The rate used is the rate effective the day the goods start their journey to you (called the Date of Direct Shipment). For daily rates over the last 30 days, you can check out
this site.

GST is charged on the value of the goods in CAD, plus any customs duty and excise tax (charged on jewellery, among other things). If the goods are not imported for commercial purposes (and the couriers rarely assume it is), you will also be charged PST.

If you are doing repeat importing as a business, my suggestion would be to learn how to fill out this documentation yourself. UPS and all the other carriers are required to allow you to do your own customs reporting, and the people at customs are usually pretty helpful. If you have your own importers number (which is like a GST number, and takes 5 minutes to get by phone if you have a GST #), you do not have to pay PST (although are required to self-report [wink!]) later.

Asking for people to write "gift" on a package is just asking for trouble. If your goods are inspected and found to be worth more than $60.00 (the max amount for a gift, I believe), the goods could (worst case) be confiscated, or you could be hit with a small fine.

I'm not going to pimp my own company here, but there are smaller brokerages whose bread and butter are small businesses, and who do provide pretty decent service for a reasonable price. With the Canadian dollar at a 15 year high, it makes sense to look to the US to source stuff. If it's a casual importation, USPS is indeed pretty good. If it's time critical and small, using the couriers is probably the easiest way (but the most expensive - FedEx is better than UPS). If it's time critical and large, consider arranging the freight yourself - there are much better deals than the couriers for moving large packages.

In summary, if you do this regularly, especially if its for your business, learn how to clear the stuff yourself or initiate a relationship with a smaller third-party customs broker. They'll hold your hand a lot more than a Livingston or a UPS, and will really go the extra mile to keep your business. They will also often help arrange the freight for larger shipments and get you a great shipping quote.</i>