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I tried to buy some paint by mail from a Canadian shop but it refunded my money. I got the reply below. Why must all mail be flown to the US? 

Unfortunately, due to the fact that all mail is now flown to the US, I cannot ship this product across the border. I can send it by ground trsnsport anywhere else in the world, but cannot ship to its country of origin.
  
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Contacting US Custom's won't help it's Canada Post's regulations.

 

All packages sent to the US by Canada Post go by airmail so no hazardous materials (paint etc) they could send it by UPS or Fedex ground but then you would get nailed by US customs for any fee's. Canada Post has changed a lot of their shipping procedures at the retail level ex.the first question they ask before even weighting the package is if it contains hazardous material.

 

The shop you contacted is right they could send paint to Australia but only by ship not air. 

 

Don

 

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The US Postal Service eliminated international surface mail back in I believe 2007.  So my guess is Canada Post reciprocated.  The Canadian shop is obeying the laws/rules/regulations as any haz mat type materials are not allowed to be mailed via a method that could be flown (doesn't matter whether it actually flies or not).  For example, in the US, we cannot use Priorty Mail even if we are mailing to an address in town that we know will not get on an airplane.  But, because of the method (that it could be flown), it cannot be used.

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10 hours ago, Space Tiger Hobbes said:

... so if the plane goes down six bottles of Model Master paint  - and a planeload of jet fuel and lubricants - won't spoil the natural environment. 🙄

 

Not to mention all those dead bodies....  :485c3a61:

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12 hours ago, DONG said:

Contacting US Custom's won't help it's Canada Post's regulations.

All packages sent to the US by Canada Post go by airmail so no hazardous materials (paint etc) they could send it by UPS or Fedex ground but then you would get nailed by US customs for any fee's. Canada Post has changed a lot of their shipping procedures at the retail level ex.the first question they ask before even weighting the package is if it contains hazardous material.

The shop you contacted is right they could send paint to Australia but only by ship not air. 

Don

 

IIRC, US customs doesn't care about small shipments, like less than $800.

Edited by Helmsman
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4 hours ago, gkwan said:

The US Postal Service eliminated international surface mail back in I believe 2007.  So my guess is Canada Post reciprocated.  The Canadian shop is obeying the laws/rules/regulations as any haz mat type materials are not allowed to be mailed via a method that could be flown (doesn't matter whether it actually flies or not).  For example, in the US, we cannot use Priorty Mail even if we are mailing to an address in town that we know will not get on an airplane.  But, because of the method (that it could be flown), it cannot be used.

I didn't understand that. I can order paint domestically and it ships surface mail. Could explain a little further?

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1 hour ago, Space Tiger Hobbes said:

I didn't understand that. I can order paint domestically and it ships surface mail. Could explain a little further?

 

Yes and I can order paint from anywhere in Canada and it will ship to me by surface mail as well.  Paint of any kind whether bottle or spray can't be shipped via airmail just surface and since there's no surface mail between our countries anymore no paint.

 

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This was the part I didn't understand: "For example, in the US, we cannot use Priorty Mail even if we are mailing to an address in town that we know will not get on an airplane.  But, because of the method (that it could be flown), it cannot be used."

 

Paint can't be mailed Priority from US to US location because it might get airmailed? 

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According to the USPS website Latex or other water based paint can be shipped by Priority mail inside the US with no restrictions but any other paint ( laquer or aersol) has to go by surface mail. So I'm assuming Priority mail is concidered airmail in some instances (distance between states ?) .

 

 

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5 hours ago, Space Tiger Hobbes said:

I didn't understand that. I can order paint domestically and it ships surface mail. Could explain a little further?

 

There are certain USPS shipping methods that an airplane COULD be used to transport that class of mail - such as Priority Mail and First Class Mail.  As a result if it possibly flying, nothing considered to be hazardous for shipping can be shipped via an "Air" method.  Hazardous could something that is defined as hazardous (usually not modelling paints) HOWEVER a modeling paint\glue\etc that has a hazardous characteristic (such as being flammable) would cause that item to be considered hazardous for shipping.  Not to pick on this brand, but it is a really go example, is Tamiya acrylic paint.  Even though it is an acrylic paint, it is still considered hazardous for shipping because of its flammability characteristic.  I hope this makes sense.  There is a lot of stuff out there in shipping that has gotten fairly complicated.

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3 hours ago, DONG said:

According to the USPS website Latex or other water based paint can be shipped by Priority mail inside the US with no restrictions but any other paint ( laquer or aersol) has to go by surface mail. So I'm assuming Priority mail is concidered airmail in some instances (distance between states ?) .

 

 

 

Please note that just because it is a water based paint does not mean it is not considered hazardous for shipping.

 

There are certain USPS shipping methods that an airplane COULD be used to transport that class of mail - such as Priority Mail and First Class Mail.  As a result if it possibly flying, nothing considered to be hazardous for shipping can be shipped via an "Air" method.  We are not allowed to assume that a package will be trucked to destination based on its destination and origin.  If it is a method that could fly, that method cannot be used legally even if it is going across the street.  As we have seen plenty of times, packages get misloaded all the time, which is why they do not allow you to assume a Priority Mail package to your neighbor won't fly to it destination.  I have never looked it up, but I have heard (I guess here I am being a rumor monger) that the fine for shipping a hazmat item improperly/illegally can be $10K to $50K.

 

Hazardous could something that is defined as hazardous (usually not modelling paints) HOWEVER a modeling paint\glue\etc that has a hazardous characteristic (such as being flammable) would cause that item to be considered hazardous for shipping.  Not to pick on this brand, but it is a really go example, is Tamiya acrylic paint.  Even though it is an acrylic paint, it is still considered hazardous for shipping because of its flammability characteristic.  I hope this makes sense.  There is a lot of stuff out there in shipping that has gotten fairly complicated.

Edited by gkwan
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At work we ship Hazmat packages air with UPS but it has to be small quantities and packed/labeled a certain way and with proper paperwork and the people doing it have to go through special training. If I remember right the fine a few years ago started at $7K. It could be more now.

I ship pallets of Hazmat air packages every Tuesday and Friday to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan.

 

For a hobby shop I don't think it would be worth the hassle and risk to do it.

 

Mike

 

Edited by P-38 guy
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