Calling all Canucks!

[Sugartune]

Having recently experienced a Hamer being confiscated at the border due to obscure import/exporting rules surrounding potentially protected woods (Lacey Act/CITES concerns), I am no longer keen to look outside the country for Hamers or anything for that matter.

So, who here is also north of the US border so I know where you're hiding the Hamer stashes?

[dgstandard]

Ummmm, I don't know what you are talking about

[cynic]

Having recently experienced a Hamer being confiscated at the border due to obscure import/exporting rules surrounding potentially protected woods (Lacey Act/CITES concerns), I am no longer keen to look outside the country for Hamers or anything for that matter.

So, who here is also north of the US border so I know where you're hiding the Hamer stashes?

I'm sure we'd all be interested in hearing these details if you're able the share them.

[Sugartune]

Sure, as much as I know is this...

I purchased a Newport Pro from a seller in the USA, a brick and mortar store through eBay. They used the Global Shipping Program, which is supposed to clear everything for customs. When the guitar got to that shipping centre in Kentucky, they determined that the guitar could not be shipped across the border due to potential CITES and/or Lacey Act contraventions. They were worried about the rosewood, that it might be Brazilian (wasn't). If there's no proof otherwise and they suspect it to be contraband, they will confiscate it.

In this case, because it was through ebay/paypal, it was protected. I got my money back from ebay, the seller got to keep what I paid him, the guitar went...somewhere.

I still have to receive a full report on it, two weeks later. Until I find more out and how to prevent something like that from happening again, I'm not going to go that route.

On a related note, I was so bummed about that Newport. Hard to find, especially here and at a price that I'm able to afford. I ended up plunging feet first on a Rickenbacker 660 6, Maple Glo I found locally. Turns out...not quite my cup of tea. Early, I know, but I really shouldn't have gone for it in the first place. Anyone have a Newport they'd like to swap for a 660?

[cynic]

Wow. From what I understand the Kentucky facility is staffed by eBay/Pitney Bowes employees, not customs. It sounds as if the guitar never made it to the border, which means it was likely one of the nobody eBay/Pitney Bowes employees that made the call to remove the guitar from the shipping pipeline.

I don't sell on eBay often, but thanks to your story I've opted out of participation in the global shipping program so I'll never have to deal with it.

I wonder if they destroy the guitar and write it off, or if at some point eBay will list it themselves for US only sale.

[Sugartune]

Ummmm, I don't know what you are talking about

What part? Canuck? Lacey Act? CITES? Border? Stash (????)

[zorrow]

It's the first time I hear about all this crap, but I'll be more careful from now on, that's guaranteed.

[Sugartune]

Wow. From what I understand the Kentucky facility is staffed by eBay/Pitney Bowes employees, not customs. It sounds as if the guitar never made it to the border, which means it was likely one of the nobody eBay/Pitney Bowes employees that made the call to remove the guitar from the shipping pipeline.

I don't sell on eBay often, but thanks to your story I've opted out of participation in the global shipping program so I'll never have to deal with it.

I wonder if they destroy the guitar and write it off, or if at some point eBay will list it themselves for US only sale.

You are right on the ebay/pitney bowes thing. However they take over as the exporter from there, not the originating sender. Whoever made the call likely did not want to risk being charged with the associated fines. Certainly it was an unqualified call and subsequent confiscation as none of the items are protected, though Honduras 'Hog and most types of rosewood are are on the watch lists, from what I gathered. So those could have further contributed to the decision.

The month earlier, I had a Standard 'hog shipped over no issues. No Global Shipping program either.

I too wonder about those confiscations. They probably aren't all that keen to eat up costs like these on a regular basis.

Glad to know it's not mandatory to participate in the program. I thought it might be. They over charge considerably on what we'd pay IF (that's a big IF) the Canadian Border Services even charges to cross, directly from a seller. That makes it even more prohibitive to buy from outside the country. Big boos!

[Sugartune]

Ummmm, I don't know what you are talking about

What part? Canuck? Lacey Act? CITES? Border? Stash (????)

Ok, the stash....you have it, don't you!?!?

[Ting Ho Dung]

There you go. Luckily I didn't get involved with the Global Shipping on ebay with my last sale. Something told me not to check the little box that sounded too good to be true. A year or two ago I sent a Hamer Studio up your way. Not sold on ebay. Shipped as usual (with a little added paperwork) via UPS. No hitches. Rosewood board and hog body.

Must be e-bay. I hope that Newport wasn't destroyed. I bet it's in a dorm room with one of the e-bay boys in Kentucky.

[Sugartune]

The Global Shipping Program is a huge turnoff. Adds anywhere between 200 and 400 bucks to anything, plus the already higher shipping fees. Doesn't provide us with any real benefit, other than the supposed advantage of not paying duties/fees when it arrives. It truly is another source of dollars to the ebay bottom line.

[Armitage]

I may be unloading 50 or 60 guitars in the next couple years... might even be a Hamer or two... don't know, but I'll post'm here on the forum.

[Tres Aardvarks]

I may be unloading 50 or 60 guitars in the next couple years... might even be a Hamer or two... .

50 or 60? You gonna hire a shipping department?

[gtone]

Armitage - keep us posted if/when you lighten. More than a few of us HFC'ers have been drooling over your collection for a long time (after all, scammers on CL and Kijiji'ers have been using pics of your stuff for years, it seems...). As a fellow Canuckistani, it'd be nice to have a chance to pick up a piece or two without worrying about crap like the GPS that E-Bay is using.

[chromium]

Wow- crazy. Thanks for sharing this. I've sent tons of stuff across borders without a hitch, always via USPS/EMS, and have been trying to ascertain what the real value add is with this EBay global shipping service thing. After all, it's really not that difficult to fill out the CP72 customs form and send a package on its merry way...

Glad you got reimbursed.

[zorrow]

I guess the program was designed for the hundreds of illiterate/subnormal sellers out there that aren't able to fill out just one simple form.

And yes, USPS is the best to ship guitars from the US to up here.

[Armitage]

A guy on the Dean forum had a bass grabbed because it may have a Brazilian board. What's with this? How do they test it? These are pre existing products made when it was a legal wood. Are they going to bust into grandmas house to get at her old piano because it has real ivory keys?

[Sugartune]

They don't test, but if they did, it'd be a core sample, which would be no good either. They rely on you having the documentation to prove it's not. If you don't and think it's a controlled item, they'll confiscate. They likely won't storm grandmas house for the ivory on her piano, but itd be a different story if it were to be exported.

[gtone]

If the Feds are stepping in by way of the handover from seller to Pitney-Bowes via the Global Shipping Program arrangement, it might be best if we all boycott the GSP. We could do so in a couple of steps:

1) Bad mouth the program and give it the dirty reputation it deserves (money grab for E-Bay/PayPal). It's a bad deal for the buyer and sellers should be aware that there's going to be considerably less demand if that method is used.

2) Routinely ask foreign-based sellers in advance if they'll avoid the GSP and ship directly. The downside is that the seller has to take the extra 30 seconds to fill out the customs form, but the upside is that there will be much more of a market for the item if the GSP is avoided.

[cynic]

I've also read where GSP adds duty and sales tax on items under $20 headed for Canada, when it's quite common for duty and sales tax to be waived on items less than that amount. Lots of stories online about GSP requiring an additional $9 to cover those fees when it's unlikely they'll ever be charged.

[Sugartune]

I've had many items range from $200 to $1000 shipped through USPS with importing fees all waived. Get hit every time through a courier and even harder with GSP. They add fees on top of fees, oh and the tracking is shite. The tracking you get from the seller has the delivery for the sorting centre. Once it leaves the sorting centre, a new tracking # is implemented, but you don't get an update, usually until delivery day and it's lagged anyway.

But yes, GSP sucks. Try not to participate in it. I won't be buying anything from a GSP seller at all, aside from the whole importing wood issue. Apparently it's time to ween myself off the Ebay. It's just so hard to find anything good anywhere. It's all about timing too, which just never seems to work in my favour. Boo hoo!

The closest thing I've seen to a Hamer in the wild, other than my own, was a guy who called himself Hamerman, had all the shredders and was doing recordings at the studio I was co-op'ing at the time. AAAND, about a month ago in Toronto, at Long & McQuade on Bloor, there was an Artist Korina HB. Were asking 1800 CAD for it. Over 2K with taxes. Too much.

Maybe I should just be happy with what I have and play the f*uck*ing things with the time wasted scouring the net for guitar porn and bloating my appetite and GAS pains. Still looking for that Newport though...

[gtone]

Sugartune - I feel your pain as it's so bloody hard to find US Hamers in Canada, although every pawn shop in the country seems to have it's share of the cheap-ass Slammers!

Many of our stateside HFC compadres here are knowledgeable and understanding when it comes to shipping arrangements as such, so have had many great deals here over the years. Unfortunately, E-Bay is becoming less and less of an option, especially with this GSP business.

Oh well, how the hell am I gonna find a decent metal plate JMP 50 head now, d'ya suppose?...

[carfish7]

Who is this Lacey fucker and what, exactly, are they trying to prove/accomplish? Wait, YOU have to prove it ISN"T some sort of prohibited species?!? How many manufacturers supply certificates of ANY KIND with their new stuff, much less detailing the specific point of origin for the woods therein? Insanity.

This seems like another example of a governmental action that maybe, at some level, has good intention, but is, in practical terms , virtually IMPOSSIBLE to implement fairly. Meanwhile, people be snatching up Hamers and holding them ransom. "F" that 100 x over. There is something else at the core of ths. There must be, because it is too convoluted to make any rational sense.

Bastiges!!!