The Ultimate Toronto Thread

[SFA_CA]

I tried to get duty/taxes on a pair of incorrectly sized EG that I returned. Had to mail the receipt, shipping documents and everything, 4 months later they mailed me back saying they refused the duty/tax refund saying I had insufficient proof. It's pure BS & money grab.

Similar experience here. Ordered from The Armoury (paid duties), returned said items. Applied for the refund - a good 3-4 months later it is denied.

What happens is DHL (or whoever the carrier is) acts as your broker, so DHL is the one who should be submitting the refund on your behalf and afterwards remitting the funds back to you.. now good luck calling DHL explaining this to them. After numerous calls and letters I gave up.

The agent at CBSA did admit this is known issue but no one cares to rectify it.

Your best bet is honestly absolutely ensuring what you order you don’t expect to return.

 

[ComplexSir]

Where’s a good re some service

 

[induere_to]

We had a little gathering yesterday for a little over half of the members of the Toronto Tailors Association.

Not as luxurious as one may presume. We ate three XL pizzas, watched the movie The Outfit, did a group fitting session and shared a lot of industry gossip.

For those that haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the movie The Outfit. They consider it a Thriller-Crime, but I never recall much of the plot.

The actor that portrays the protagonist, apprenticed at Huntsman for a year prior to the role and the movie exhibits a pretty accurate day-in-the-life-of perspective of the latter-day tailor. There’s commentary and glimpses into the work showed that impress many tailors.

Believe it or not, the gossip contributes just as much to the group as does methodology brainstorming. Tailoring is a small industry, and getting to know the stories of other cliques that participate is one way that helps us all feel involved. Sebastian spent time relearning the craft on Savile Row, and has come to know many of the people that are constantly talked about on the Ongoing Bespoke Thread; he spent some time earning a living as a sales associate where he became really good friends with guys like Michael Browne.

Winston Diamond attended the Maurice Sedwell school in Trinidad and is involved in his vast group of alumni.

Me, I’m a schmuck that travels to Italy thrice a year to have coffee with and dine in the homes of some of these guys I’ve been talking to on social media for ten years. My wife finds it ironic that as anti-social as I say I may be, I’ve now dragged her to breakfasts and lunches around the world with people I once idolized.

Overall, it was a pleasant meeting. Hopefully it makes everyone realize how easy it is to plan these get-togethers and we can start planning them more frequently.

We’ve been in the talks of hosting a public event, most likely sometime in Autumn. A meet-and-greet of sorts open to anyone curious to see what the Association is up to and where we plan to exhibit our diverse aesthetics.

I’ll keep those interested in the loop as these plans progress in more concrete detail.

———

If anyone has any experience in event planning, feel free to reach out. We need all the help we can get.

 

[Simon Chambers]

We had a little gathering yesterday for a little over half of the members of the Toronto Tailors Association.

View attachment 1980289



View attachment 1980285

View attachment 1980291

View attachment 1980287

Not as luxurious as one may presume. We ate three XL pizzas, watched the movie The Outfit, did a group fitting session and shared a lot of industry gossip.

View attachment 1980295

View attachment 1980293

For those that haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the movie The Outfit. They consider it a Thriller-Crime, but I never recall much of the plot.

The actor that portrays the protagonist, apprenticed at Huntsman for a year prior to the role and the movie exhibits a pretty accurate day-in-the-life-of perspective of the latter-day tailor. There’s commentary and glimpses into the work showed that impress many tailors.

View attachment 1980297

View attachment 1980305

View attachment 1980299

View attachment 1980301

Believe it or not, the gossip contributes just as much to the group as does methodology brainstorming. Tailoring is a small industry, and getting to know the stories of other cliques that participate is one way that helps us all feel involved. Sebastian spent time relearning the craft on Savile Row, and has come to know many of the people that are constantly talked about on the Ongoing Bespoke Thread; he spent some time earning a living as a sales associate where he became really good friends with guys like Michael Browne.

Winston Diamond attended the Maurice Sedwell school in Trinidad and is involved in his vast group of alumni.

Me, I’m a schmuck that travels to Italy thrice a year to have coffee with and dine in the homes of some of these guys I’ve been talking to on social media for ten years. My wife finds it ironic that as anti-social as I say I may be, I’ve now dragged her to breakfasts and lunches around the world with people I once idolized.

View attachment 1980303

Overall, it was a pleasant meeting. Hopefully it makes everyone realize how easy it is to plan these get-togethers and we can start planning them more frequently.

We’ve been in the talks of hosting a public event, most likely sometime in Autumn. A meet-and-greet of sorts open to anyone curious to see what the Association is up to and where we plan to exhibit our diverse aesthetics.

I’ll keep those interested in the loop as these plans progress in more concrete detail.

———

If anyone has any experience in event planning, feel free to reach out. We need all the help we can get.

Thanks for sharing this! I'm really glad there's a group of you who are able to meet together and share in community and skills sharing . Definitely interested in a public event if I'm in the country when it happens!

 

[KWang94]

We had a little gathering yesterday for a little over half of the members of the Toronto Tailors Association.

View attachment 1980289



View attachment 1980285

View attachment 1980291

View attachment 1980287

Not as luxurious as one may presume. We ate three XL pizzas, watched the movie The Outfit, did a group fitting session and shared a lot of industry gossip.

View attachment 1980295

View attachment 1980293

For those that haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the movie The Outfit. They consider it a Thriller-Crime, but I never recall much of the plot.

The actor that portrays the protagonist, apprenticed at Huntsman for a year prior to the role and the movie exhibits a pretty accurate day-in-the-life-of perspective of the latter-day tailor. There’s commentary and glimpses into the work showed that impress many tailors.

View attachment 1980297

View attachment 1980305

View attachment 1980299

View attachment 1980301

Believe it or not, the gossip contributes just as much to the group as does methodology brainstorming. Tailoring is a small industry, and getting to know the stories of other cliques that participate is one way that helps us all feel involved. Sebastian spent time relearning the craft on Savile Row, and has come to know many of the people that are constantly talked about on the Ongoing Bespoke Thread; he spent some time earning a living as a sales associate where he became really good friends with guys like Michael Browne.

Winston Diamond attended the Maurice Sedwell school in Trinidad and is involved in his vast group of alumni.

Me, I’m a schmuck that travels to Italy thrice a year to have coffee with and dine in the homes of some of these guys I’ve been talking to on social media for ten years. My wife finds it ironic that as anti-social as I say I may be, I’ve now dragged her to breakfasts and lunches around the world with people I once idolized.

View attachment 1980303

Overall, it was a pleasant meeting. Hopefully it makes everyone realize how easy it is to plan these get-togethers and we can start planning them more frequently.

We’ve been in the talks of hosting a public event, most likely sometime in Autumn. A meet-and-greet of sorts open to anyone curious to see what the Association is up to and where we plan to exhibit our diverse aesthetics.

I’ll keep those interested in the loop as these plans progress in more concrete detail.

———

If anyone has any experience in event planning, feel free to reach out. We need all the help we can get.

You already know I'm always happy to help out (however I can).

 

[hysteria]

You can use a re-shipping service, like ReShip. You can have the UK package shipped to the UK re-ship address; you then set the declared value yourself and have the re-shipper send you the package. You have to pay the shipping from the re-shipper and their fee. But if you set the declared value low, you usually save significantly on the duties. Though it requires you to be comfortable with setting the declared value low. Happy to send my referral code (we each get a $10 credit).

I recently pulled the trigger on Luxire since so many people seem to have a good exp with them. I figured if I can nail my meaurements, they can be my go-to MTO shop. However, my first two items just got shipped last week, combined value of $250, and the duties on it was $90!!!!

Items ship from India, and sadly, Luxire will not declare any other value for the items even thoguh they don't come w/ tags.

Seems like I can no longer shpo from there, or I might have to resort to a Re-ship type service if I'm getting multiple orders done at the same time.

REally annoyed about this

 

[Spaghettimatt]

I recently pulled the trigger on Luxire since so many people seem to have a good exp with them. I figured if I can nail my meaurements, they can be my go-to MTO shop. However, my first two items just got shipped last week, combined value of $250, and the duties on it was $90!!!!

Items ship from India, and sadly, Luxire will not declare any other value for the items even thoguh they don't come w/ tags.

Seems like I can no longer shpo from there, or I might have to resort to a Re-ship type service if I'm getting multiple orders done at the same time.

REally annoyed about this

Drive to Buffalo.

 

[capua]

What are people generally paying for duties/taxes from Cavour? Maybe I'll use one of these re ship services.

I'd be happy to save the duties/taxes but even happier not to give any money to our border racketeers.

 

[FreshSalmon]

Starting to think an annual trip to London might be easier than dealing with duties and customs.

 

[Spaghettimatt]

Starting to think an annual trip to London might be easier than dealing with duties and customs.

Now we're talking.

 

[KaleidoscopicK]

I recently pulled the trigger on Luxire since so many people seem to have a good exp with them. I figured if I can nail my meaurements, they can be my go-to MTO shop. However, my first two items just got shipped last week, combined value of $250, and the duties on it was $90!!!!

Items ship from India, and sadly, Luxire will not declare any other value for the items even thoguh they don't come w/ tags.

Seems like I can no longer shpo from there, or I might have to resort to a Re-ship type service if I'm getting multiple orders done at the same time.

REally annoyed about this

Having a USA address via Cross Border Pickups and Shippsy would be handy in situations like this. The USA's import threshold for packages is $800 USD: even though you'd still have to pay HST, the fee to use their service and NY state tax (if applicable), you'd still come out ahead assuming you're not buying small items. And you'd only have to drive to Mississauga instead of Buffalo/Niagara Falls NY to pick up your package(s).

Another perk is that you'll now qualify for free US returns/exchanges (if stores you shop from offer that) by using CBP to ship your package back. (Shippsy doesn't offer shipping for return packages.)

 

[capua]

Having a USA address via Cross Border Pickups and Shippsy would be handy in situations like this. The USA's import threshold for packages is $800 USD: even though you'd still have to pay HST, the fee to use their service and NY state tax (if applicable), you'd still come out ahead assuming you're not buying small items. And you'd only have to drive to Mississauga instead of Buffalo/Niagara Falls NY to pick up your package(s).

Another perk is that you'll now qualify for free US returns/exchanges (if stores you shop from offer that) by using CBR to ship your package back. (Shippsy doesn't offer shipping for return packages.)

This is amazing info. Thank you

 

[hysteria]

Having a USA address via Cross Border Pickups and Shippsy would be handy in situations like this. The USA's import threshold for packages is $800 USD: even though you'd still have to pay HST, the fee to use their service and NY state tax (if applicable), you'd still come out ahead assuming you're not buying small items. And you'd only have to drive to Mississauga instead of Buffalo/Niagara Falls NY to pick up your package(s).

Another perk is that you'll now qualify for free US returns/exchanges (if stores you shop from offer that) by using CBR to ship your package back. (Shippsy doesn't offer shipping for return packages.)

Very helpful.

I have another question for the group here.

I just got a shipment from Luxire via FedEx. FedEx sent me a text saying I owe $90 in duties but when I click on the llink, I just get an error. Surprisingly, the package was dropped off at my building and I see a pink customs and duties receipt for the $90. But...I haven't paid anything. When I go to fedex.ca/dutyandtax and enter the tracking to see if there's an option to pay, I just see that hte item is delivered with no prompt/option to pay the fee.

I'm happy to not pay it lol, but just wondering how to make sense of this. Usually, UPS or DHL will not even deliver until you pay. I dont' want to find out 3 mo from now that I'm supposed to find some magical backdoor to pay this fee, and now FedEx is charging me late fees for it.

Anyone have dealt with this in the past?

 

[Omega Man]

FedEx will send you a bill separately for this.

 

[Simon Chambers]

I recently pulled the trigger on Luxire since so many people seem to have a good exp with them. I figured if I can nail my meaurements, they can be my go-to MTO shop. However, my first two items just got shipped last week, combined value of $250, and the duties on it was $90!!!!

Items ship from India, and sadly, Luxire will not declare any other value for the items even thoguh they don't come w/ tags.

Seems like I can no longer shpo from there, or I might have to resort to a Re-ship type service if I'm getting multiple orders done at the same time.

REally annoyed about this

I had a similar experience with Luxire. My duties were close to 50% of the value. Same thing with an order from Justin Fitzpatrick from New York- a $330 pair of shoes with over $167 in duties owing. From now on I'm just visiting Justin in his shop when I go to NYC. And Luxire I will only order keeping in mind the extra 50% I have to pay for it. I'm not interested in driving to Buffalo every time I pick up an order.