Do the CBSA ever ask for CSA compliance on electronics goods or does that not apply for personal imports?
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iâve literally never had this be an issue when i crossed. they might take more notice for a 5000$ laser. iâm also not entirely convinced itâs required if youâre importing for âpersonalâ use.
this thread, man. iâm not sure why op insists on bringing up canada as being âjust like the usâ when theyâre in mexico, so shipping should effect them similarly.
shipping a product domestically first isnât USA / protectionism, itâs just easier. are you saying that all domestic customers should just sit and twiddle their thumbs until international orders get delivered? is that what would make you happy? because i donât think itâs remotely reasonable.
with a product this big and expensive, and full of safety concerns, shipping internationally is a huge, complicated effort. i can tell you right now that if dan were just shipping a board game internationally, you wouldnât see such a clear delay between foreign and domestic deliveries.
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Bravo!!!
FYI Canada is not at all equal to the States when it comes to online shopping and shipping.
As a Canadian, I am very often frustrated by the price of shipping things to Canada from the States. Companies that offer free shipping to the US will often charge us an arm and a leg to ship to Canada (like $80-$100 for medium size items). Shipping the GF to Canada is several $100s of dollars more than the US.
I recently wanted to buy some laser-safe safety goggles, and the shipping was about $80 on a $90 pair of glasses.
Itâs probably even worse in other countries than in Canada. But shipping costs very often limits what I buy online.
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Not sure if it got lost in the weeds here with so many replies, but the plan is not ship every US order first then ship international. Itâs weâve got all the certifications and itâs easy to do so weâll start shipping to the US and as soon as we can get approvals and certifications and shipping costs negotiated for other countries add those countries to the current shipping list. So while the US getâs a head start itâs most likely not expected the final US shipment will happen before the first international.
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Over all I can understand what you are feeling. Yet another delay Sigh.
Now as thing get shipped in US they can make sure the packing and protecting of the Glowforge is good. I have thing get delayed as the packing was not up to par for the 1st 100 shipped and lots of damaged goods.
also they will likely ship as a container or pallet to a location in the country that can ship out the units from a DC there. its cheaper to send a large shipment over seas vs a single item so they can build in order just might get held up on filling the container.
CAD comic shipped this way over seas and only after making sure there was enough people wanting his book and finding a place to ship from.
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Yes, Americans donât spend any time thinking about Canada as a separate country. Obviously it is. But honestly, itâs just wishful thinking. Most Americans would gladly trade an existing state or two for any given Canadian Province. We might have more in common.
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Hi
Itâs funny. Everybody is argueing about the delays.
As an international customer, Iâm not very surprised about this new delay and I can deal with it.
The point that I might take issue with is much the other point of the first post : warranty.
If I have well understand, in case of problem with the glowforge, only US customers will have a waranty with shipping included. So, if a problem appears, I should expect a outward and return shipping cost about 1000 dollars.
At this point, I should consider, that I canât count on a real warranty. And it is for me much more an hot topic than a few months delays. I will think hard to decide if I take the risk or not. And you know what? Delays offers that time for further reflection.
Itâs quite the same dilemna as for the shipping for tube replacement, except that I can expect a machine without problem and I couldnât expect a machine without tube replacement.
So, I donât know. will I take the risk or not? I have to think hard.
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Good question! It depends. I imported these Chandeliers from the states before and CBSA didnât care but Iâm wondering if they will if itâs a laser? I will find out!
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Do the CBSA ever ask for CSA compliance on electronics goods or does that not apply for personal imports?[quote=âpalmercr, post:41, topic:8450â]
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Oh that is a good question. Importing as a business expense versus personal is different. I know that a basic will be easier then a pro. Iâve imported many sensitive equipmemt for work and as long as the company is register and meets the USA regulations its usually is okay (exceptions do occur)
However this is a personal purchase - (now off to researching importing pewpewpew machine)
Donât call it a laser or a laser cutter, call it a 3D laser printer.
That might just help! 
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Ah good pointâŚyou wouldnât technically be lyingâŚlol
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Yeah â really steep costs. I remember sending packages to my parents up near New Denver. The postage/shipping often times was more than the value of what I was sendingâŚ
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Good idea! Hereâs hoping that I get a really nice CBSA personnel who will just wave me through! hahhaa
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âThis isnt the laser you are looking forâŚyou can go about your businessâŚMove alongâŚâ
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Oh man⌠I have from now until the shipping notice to prepare my âChatâ with CBSA
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Yea, weâre cousins, not siblings, people donât need to make this weird 
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The short end of the stick again
So⌠I was curious and went looking at a few of their competitors. I did not find a single other laser cutter manufacturer that covered shipping of the unit for repairs at all. (I looked at FSL, Epilog, and Boss.) Some covered domestic ground shipment of replacement parts under warranty.
Glowforge is doing things no one has done before in this industry, and their warranty seems to be another way they are leaving other companies in the dust.
The way other expensive electronics are sold internationally is often by the means of Authorized Importers/Distributors. These are companies in the target country that buy the product at wholesale, market and sell the product in the target country, and provide warranty service for the units they sell, with the repairs being reimbursed to them by the manufacturer.
Several years ago I was purchasing a digital sound system for live concert mixing. The system was made in the U.K. and had a US distributor. Street price (I.e. What I could buy it for online with discounts) in the US was about $18,000. These all were sourced from the authorized dealer.
I found a seller in the U.K. selling the identical system for much lessâŚaround $14k after currency conversion, customs duties and shippingâŚbut the warranty would not be valid for me in the US because it wasnât imported by the Authorised Dealer. The U.K. seller offered to reimburse to me the costs of repairs that would have otherwise been covered by warranty. I went through with importing it and never had a problem with it.
Such Authorized importers, however, are relationships that came about by having a significant marketplace for the type of goods, and those importers effectively do a lot of the ground work to offer the product in their country and they are expecting to make a profit from it. Glowforge is taking all of that work and risk on themselves at significant expense to enable international sales worldwide.
In certain large regions, it might make sense for them to partner with a repair service in the locale. For example, they might partner with a company in the EU that already has the expertise and logistics to make repairs and warehouse spare parts to be able to offer an EU warranty similar to the US warranty. But that is something that would come later and only if it made financial sense to everyone involved.
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We call it âThe Australia Taxâ here.
Before Adobe moved to their monthly subscription platform it used to be cheaper to buy Return Business-Class airline tickets to Los Angeles, to stay in a Hotel over night and buy the Adobe Suite there that it was to buy in Australia itself.
You read that right: adding 2 International Flights and a Hotel Room to the software package was cheaper than buying the identical item in Australia
When the Oz Media recently pointed out how much more we had to pay than anyone else the Adobe CEO avoided the question as much as possible.
It is not shipping or distribution costs (though in the case of physical objects that does add some cost) nor is it our GST (Goods & Services Tax) which is only 10%. It is basically âsuck it up or p!ss offâ.
⌠and then these companies wonder why Australians are one of the biggest users of pirated software (and movies/TV shows) in the world
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