living in canada 20 mins from the US border here is what i have to contend with
1. buying from the UK, i dont pay VAT, i get the seller to list on the package that it is "motorcycle parts over 25yrs" so i dont pay duty although sometimes customs charge it anyway and i have to pay it to Fedex/canada post etc then reclaim it from the govt.
tax is always due but mostly they never charge it, its up to them i guess
2. buying from e bay in the US, if i have it sent to a shipping/recieving company on their side of the border then e.bay adds the US tax, i then cross the border to pick it up and when i cross back into Canada they collect the Canadian taxes/duty if they feel like it, mostly under $200 they let it slide, depends on: how you look, how they feel, which way the wind is blowing, what their spouse did last night, etc etc. they have guns and attitudes to go along with them.
3 buying from e-bay in the US and getting it shipped to Canada, ebay does not collect the tax they leave it up to customs again, mostly they dont charge.
Almost never, the few that there are just see Joe public going to look or buy stuff, it seems that the US customs are nice to their citizens going back with their bits but the Canadian customs not so much, most i think just want to avoid the hassle
Within a 2-3 hr drive either way i know of only 2 Cdn and 2 US yearly swap meets
i have about 30 Brit bikes and am so jealous of the whole vintage bike scene you enjoy in the UK, even the support getting rare parts made for example, it is so hard here to get a machine shop to make something for you, they only seem to want to make 900 aluminium brackets at a time, i recently found a large shop that will do anything i want and thats because the owner is from coventry and got his C&G their, of course it costs an arm and a leg, it seems that if you guys break a rocker arm on your 1914 Triumph then theres a guy in the next village that will whip one up for you lol
cheers
Kevin
