*We are currently only accepting captive bred animals produced in the USA. Also, no venomous reptiles permitted at any time!
Our fees for live, non-protected commercial shipments are:
$150 for the 3-177 US Fish and Wildlife inspection fee (you may have an unlimited amount of reptiles to be inspected per shipment as long as it's coming from the same source/breeder).
$200 broker fee. (This covers the use of our import/export license, filling out the 3-177 form(s), going through the USFWS inspection, going through Canadian customs, as well as bringing your reptile(s) onto Canadian soil.
Total: $350CDN
*Additional U.S. sources will be $200/source. This will cover the new $150 inspection fee and a $50 broker fee.
This amount does NOT include:
* The fee for your U.S. contact to ship the reptiles to our U.S. address;
* Any customs/duty fees incurred at the Canadian border;
* Reptile Express shipping the reptiles to your Canadian address
Keep in mind that if you're local to our North York shipping hub that you can always pick up Tuesday evenings and avoid the Canadian shipping charge.
**Please keep in mind that you and your U.S. contact have to work out the shipping payment yourselves with regards to them shipping to our U.S. address. We have no part in that. We simply let them know which U.S. address to ship to, as well as recommend which courier company to use under our certified account.
Procedure for IMPORTING reptiles from the USA
1) Contact us with your full name and address. From this we will determine if we service your area for delivery. If we do, proceed to step 2.
2) Provide us with the U.S. shippers information listed below:
- Full Name
- Full U.S. Address
- Telephone Number
- E-mail address
3) Provide us information regarding EACH of the reptile(s) being shipped:
- Common Name
- Scientific Name (Be accurate. Watch your spelling!)
- Captive bred or not
- Weight in grams or pounds
- Monetary Value ($USD)
- Number of boxes containing reptiles the shipper will be using
4) We will let your U.S. contact know which U.S. address to ship to and will recommend which courier to use.
5) The Canadian customer will pay Reptile Express our Non-CITES broker fee ($350CDN) as well as the taxes on the total declared value (13%). If Canadian customs didn't charge your shipment any taxes we will reimburse this amount to you. Any duty, and/or Canadian shipping fee (if needed) will be paid later once we have reptiles back at our Toronto hub.
6) The U.S. shipper MUST provide a professional receipt within the package making note of each reptiles common & scientific names, as well as their monetary value. This is extremely important information to have when we enter Canadian customs.
7) The U.S. shipper will ship the package off on Monday evenings ONLY. They will purchase a NEXT DAY PRIORITY SERVICE.
8) Reptile Express picks packages up at our U.S. location on Tuesday mornings ONLY, and are back in North York, ON, Canada around 5 or 6pm.
9A) If you're local to our North York hub, you can pick up your package(s) Tuesday evening at no extra charge. If your shipment incurred any duty fees you will settle that amount then.
9B) OR if you're not local to us, and you require us to ship it to you, we will keep your reptile(s) in comfortable enclosures overnight and will ship them off the following day (Wednesday) at 4pm sharp. You will receive them on Thursday between 9am - 5pm. Most often arriving before noon, however somebody must be home until 5pm to accept the package.
Please note: If your shipment incurred any outstanding (duty) fees, you will be settling the amount via PayPal or EMT (electronic money transfer) Tuesday night, in order for us to release your shipment to be sent off on the Wednesday. If outstanding balances are not paid for Tuesday night we will have to keep your shipment until the following Monday as we do not ship on Thursdays or Fridays unfortunately. You would therefore receive your package on the following Tuesday between 9am - 5pm. Reptiles staying over the weekend incur a charge of $50 boarding fee per animal, as they will be at our location for 6 days being fed, watered, provided with heat and/or UVB, as well as any other maintenance provided by our knowledgeable staff.
Therefore please make sure to be available Tuesday evenings to clear any fees, should there be any.
Since we won't know the dimensions of the box your U.S. contact will be using to ship the reptiles, your Canadian shipping fee will be provided to you on Tuesday evening as well. It usually ranges from $45 to $100 depending on the size of the box, as well as the Canadian destination.
You can also pay that via PayPal or EMT only.
In total you'll be looking at $450 more or less (not including any possible customs fees) to receive a shipment from the USA.
To sum it up our procedure from start to finish is outlined below:
Your U.S contact will drop the package off in the evening at their closest shipping hub and will purchase NEXT DAY PRIORITY SERVICE.
Reptile Express will pick up the package Tuesday morning at our U.S. location.
Reptile Express will have gone through USFWS inspections and Canadian customs in the early afternoon.
Reptile Express will be back at our Toronto location by around 6pm.
Reptile Express will contact you to inform you of any duty fees, and to let you know of your Canadian shipping fee (if you are not picking up from our location).
Reptile Express will clear your shipment to be shipped out on Wednesday afternoon once all outstanding fees have been paid in full.
If any outstanding balances are not paid in full, the reptiles will be kept in comfortable enclosures until the following week. A $50 boarding fee per animal will apply.
Reptile Express will re-pack and ship your reptiles mid-afternoon if all outstanding balances were paid in full the previous evening.
You will receive your shipment today! Delivery to your door is between 9am - 5pm. Most often before noon. Somebody must be home to accept the package.
