wow, you took a chance there with the border. I haven’t always declared everything I brought in, but keep in mind that they know when you went into the USA. so if you only go for a few hours and they assume you went shopping, in fact you told them so, the likelihood that they would ask to see the invoice is very very high. at least here in Quebec…
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I picked mine up in Blaine.
Security Mail Blaine Wa.
250 H St.
Super easy to set up an account and have it shipped there. Only paid the tax. Bring your receipt and a copy of the manual (help the Customs guys figure out what you’re talking about)
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Thanks for the shipping drop point note, I will contact them.
However I got ahead of myself, I got a note saying it will ship on the 15th - then a few days later - moved to the 20th - then 2 days later to the 26th. I am now officially afraid to check my ship date.
I’m a patient guy and I run a global educational toy business, but seriously there is little worse than this constant slippage in promised dates. They know or they don’t - and in business if you don’t know then say it - and if it is going to be late tell me the correct date. I would never promise my clients product and then say, oh I really meant 3 weeks from that date - or is it 6 weeks, they’d stop doing business with me! (of course once we have the GF we will stop doing business with them I suppose).
Anyway, I am now ready to ship (to the USA! - hint hint in case staff is following this) and have a plan, now I just have to stop checking…
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I see where you’re coming from. And it is very frustrating. And it’s worth complaining about. But in my interpretation they’ve always said they don’t know. The email notification date on the account page is just an estimate, just as it’s titled: Estimated Shipping Notification Date. I’ve never seen them use the word ‘promise’ or ‘guarantee’ when it comes to when one will get their GF. Waiting for the GF allows us to practice our Zen, an equanimity one begins to embrace by the decision to look no longer at one’s estimated notification date.
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I just picked mine up across the BC border at Metaline Falls in Washington State, I declared the value and paid about $400 CAD in taxes - was less than I was expecting and once glowforge started working was more than I was expecting. So happy to have this beast up and running
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My shipping date has now been moved to September. I’m in Calgary. Seriously considering having it shipped to Montana and going to pick it up. What I don’t understand is how we as customers can get it across the border legally if Glowforge can’t ship them to us. I’m getting no answers from customer service … just going around and around in circles.
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Glowforge can’t really answer that kind of question - it could potentially place them in a bit of a legal bind. What they can say is we can ship it to any address in the US.
The answer to how is that there are gadzillions of products in the world, the vast majority of which are perfectly legal to import into Canada. The customs person can’t be expected to know which ones should be kept out beyond the expected ones (illegal substances, certain ag products, etc…), plus no one wants an irate Canadian yelling at them how they bought this in the US and I can’t take it home??? So it really benefits no one to learn the minuitiae of not yet approved electronic devices. Far better to ask what it is, collect the duty and wish them a nice day.
The main downside to importing it yourself is that if you ever need it serviced (under warranty) you have to drive it back to the US or pay for shipping yourself. IIRC, however, some warranty items you may have to pay for shipping anyway and from what I understand it may be cheaper to make the drive to the US.
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Ah ha! Ok so the answer is that bringing is across is not technically legal because it doesn’t have the certification blah blah blah. My concern is that the date is just going to keep being pushed out and out and then one day I’ll get a “we’re very sorry but we were unable to obtain Canadian certification so we will not be sending you a unit.” Meanwhile they’ve had a significant chunk of my money for nearly 3 years. Uggg. Seems like I’ll have to choose between the inconvenience and cost of driving to pick it up and maybe having to transport it again if there are warranty issues or waiting for another year or more to MAYBE get one.
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The other thing, if Health Canada were to ultimately decide “no, we are allergic to lasers” it would get confiscated at a border. If it were not delivered we could get a refund having never received it but if you do collect it in the US and bring it over you risk running the chance it be confiscated and not refunded.
I nearly picked it up in the US but if it’s broken the “make it right” policy means you have to drive back to return it. So check it on the US side at the holding or at a hotel close. If it breaks when you’re back home you have to drive back to the US to send it back and drive to the US for the replacement…
So the Glowforge doesn’t actually ship to Canada then…? Everyone here has gone across the border to get it and paid the taxes on it? Has anyone in Canada had it shipped via UPS to their actual address, and if so, what was that cost? Just weighing my options for when my email eventually arrives…
All reported Canadian receipts we’re via delivery to the border & a pickup. GF has not announced that they’ve overcome the regulatory hurdles yet that are required to ship for delivery in Canada.
I haven’t read of anyone doing this, but I have read plenty of posts about UPS and Canada and not one was positive. The general opinion is that it UPS wants a small fortune to ship a small box of feathers across the border.
Maybe I’m not interpreting this correctly, but if you’re in Canada and you get the email it will have already shipped - too late to change your mind. You need to contact glowforge and have your address changed to the US. At that point they will ship your glowforge to your US address and after that it is up to you. I haven’t paid attention to the import duties paid, but if you have it shipped to an address in the state of Washington you’ll pay their sales tax. Ship it to any other state and you’ll not be charged sales tax. I believe you can file forms with the state of Washington to have the sales tax refunded to you.
@caribis2, @jamesdhatch - I haven’t gotten my email yet, just anticipating one later in the fall. I am closest to Washington, and will probably have them ship it there.
I am still confused.
The part that is confusing me is why you would wait for your email, which could be months or years in the future and then have it delivered to a US address when you could have your glowforge delivered to a US address possibly next week. Also, if you’re in Canada and you ordered a glowforge it is my understanding you paid for international shipping, which is a lot more than US shipping charges. That international shipping does not include custom duties, you still have to pay those.
The Pros of waiting for glowforge to ship to Canada:
- It will have passed and be certified to all of Canada’s safety standards. It has already passed CE safety standards for Europe (except for Norway.) Some US safety standards are optional and last I read they have not certified to these.
- It will be delivered to your door.
- If it needs to be returned for warranty reasons the old one will be picked up at your door and the new one delivered to it. IIRC some warranty returns include international shipping and some do not. For those that do not you would probably be best off driving it over the border yourself.
The Pros of picking it up in the US:
- It will probably be delivered next week. If not the week after that. The last I heard they are shipping all models pretty much immediately to countries where they are allowed to ship.
- You can have your international shipping charges refunded to you.
The Cons of picking it up in the US:
- You either pay sales tax to Washington state or go through the hassle of having it refunded.
- You have to drive it across the border for warranty work.
- You need a decent sized vehicle, because the box it comes in is not small. You don’t need a huge vehicle, but if your only car is a Mini, or Yaris or something like that you’ll have issues.
I don’t want to talk you into doing something you don’t want to do, I just want clear up any possible confusion about your options.
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woo… Delivery delayed to February now… 
Edit: glad it was a typo actually only 1 month later to November… And here I was wondering how a site inspection would end up with such a ridiculous delay. 
Caribis2 I think you have all those points right. I had mine sent to Lettterlock Sumas (a UPS drop store) and the Canadian border is a km up the Rd. I found it pretty easy to bring across - have a look at some earlier posts for the harmonization code - makes it easier to process. I paid the duty - whatever - compared to the cost and the day travelling and the years I will use it it is pretty inconsequential. Have your Glowforge invoice and paperwork with you and it is all good. I don’t recall paying sales tax to Washington. I would do the USA drop point, you then have it - and a Glowforge in the hand is worth more than the email about delivery in the future. I have been using mine for almost a year now and I don’t remember the trip other than it was a beautiful day, - oh and they charged me money to cross the border going to the USA as I have a business, and said it was for business (which it is ) - so they considered my car a commercial vehicle - and charged me $35 or something - and I spent an hour and a half in a line at the border to pay the fee… In hindsight I may have said it was for fun… but again, that is all in the past and they have to pay for the border guards somehow…
I will say that when I got there ( the UPS store) the box was standing on its edge - precisely the way the arrows on the box said not to stand it, so for me the less anyone other than me handles it - the better. I ship with UPS every day and while I like them, sometimes they don’t pay as much attention or take as much care as we would like, so for me the less anyone other than me handled the boxes, the better.
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I’ll take this update without flinching at the delay, it comes with information. Like soothing aloe vera I spread a Guatemala inspection on my burning want for it now.
Damn Canada, being all “we want our citizens to be safe” and what not. We survive Bear, Moose and Beavers (they are NASTY)… we can certainly survive a bit of laser to the eye. 
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LMAO I’m pretty sure the lengthy delay process had nothing to do with the laser itself. I believe the enclosure is such that it’s not a problem. Probably something else to do with safety/ventilation whatnot. The CSA can be quite stringent with this type of thing.
In any case it appears the light at the end of the tunnel is actually visible now. 
Hopefully we’ve seen the last of the real delays.