Canadian Secret Santa 2018

[lachaton]

**Sign-ups are closed**

Hi everyone! Since dyslexia cannot organize the exchange this year, I'm willing to head up a Secret Santa. I made a few changes to her rules, so please review this post carefully before signing up. 

Rules for 2018:

1. Open to both Canada & US. If in US, you must be willing to ship to Canada. If in Canada, you can specify that you want to only ship within the country.
2. Active BIC participant: Must have have a minimum 600 hearts and must have posted at least once within the last 3 months (since July 10, 2018). Since this is my first time running this exchange and we've had the recent change from BT to BIC, I'm going to be strict with this requirement.
   You can check your hearts by going to your profile at https://www.sephora.com/users/[YOUR USERNAME HERE] scroll down to posts, and click on "view all" - top right will show your total hearts received. 
   It isn't intended to reinforce a clique at all, but since we are exchanging some personal information, I want to ensure that the people who sign up will follow through. One of the ways we do that is by selecting an eligibility requirement based on activity and involvement in the community. If you don't meet the requirements this year, please be encouraged to continue to participate in the community in the future! 
3. Exchange will run via Elfster -- when you sign up please PM me with your email address so I can send your invite.
4. Deadlines:
   Sign-up cut off date: Friday, October 26, midnight EST. 
   Matching day: between Saturday, October 27 and Monday, October 29 Please also have your Elfster wishlist(s) up to date by then.  
   Ship-by date: Tuesday, December 11th (based on Canada Post shipping guidelines for 2018). Feel free to send sooner!
5. Spending minimum is CAD$50. This is a minimum, not a maximum. You may go over the minimum limit, but there is no expectation nor is it necessary for you to do so. This is a total, so it can be made up of either one bigger item, or a few smaller items.

Participants:

• lachaton
• bakeamuffin
• GG84
• myxducky
• Kim888
• Indy701
• Guessgal
• shopaholic15
• melissapurple22
• Aaliaa
• scott1201
• seymore3
• Nickelliebear1

[Nickelliebear1]

Do we have any word on this years gift exchange? 🤔😊💖

[melissapurple22]

Question. I received a bill from FedEx for the Christmas gift I received from my  Secret Santa. Has anyone else had this happen? They are charging me $36.50 haven't had this before so not sure 🤔 if this is right. Thanks in advance 

[Kim888]

@melissapurple22 Oh No! I can't believe that happened! I am in the USA and I shipped it fedex because I was afraid with the strike it would be an issue I said the value was under $50  and that it was a Christmas gift like the instructions said and I paid all the shipping costs! They didn't say they were going to charge duties. If you talk to them let me know if there's anything I can do on my end 

[melissapurple22]

It's no problem @Kim888 I just wasn't sure if it was a real fee or not because I hadn't ever gotten before ☺️ Just luck of the draw! thank you for your offer of help 💜 And Merry Christmas 🎄 

[veronika23]

@Kim888@melissapurple22. sorry to butt in but saw this from the feed. 50$ USD converts to just over 67$ CAD and in order for someone to not pay fees the package needs to be marked as gift and value under 60$ CAD. Which is like just over 40$ USD. Because they check the conversion rate the day they receive the package that amount always fluctuates. I know that's how it works with USPS/Canada Post but it should be the same for couriers too. The US is lucky because you guys can receive a gift up to 100$ USD.

@melissapurple22  they should be providing you with a breakdown of the fees... but what I find weird is that they usually don't deliver unless those fees are paid. I think I once got a bill after the fact but I can't recall for sure. A huge chunk of that amount will be brokerage fees. I call it double dipping.

[melissapurple22]

Thanks @veronika23 looked at bill it's because it changed me HST, than a clearance entry fee of $15.45. Than a $10 for a "Advancement fee"? Anyway it's okay 👌🏻 paid it. Just a first time fee for me. Thanks for all the info ☺️

[veronika23]

Aw sorry to hear that @melissapurple22. 😞  Never heard of that advancement fee... just another reason why I hate FedEx so much.  

[GG84]

@melissapurple22 Ahh the "Advancement Fee" was you not paying it straight away. So you werent home when they delievered and they left the package. 

[melissapurple22]

They did leave it on my front door 🤔 It was delivered when I was at work. Thanks for the  exclamation @GG84 

[lachaton]

I've had this happen a few times in the past, I think only with Fedex, where they send me a bill after the fact. 

I find UPS more convenient since I usually get a notice in advance.

[GG84]

@melissapurple22 Was your secret santa from the USA? It could be duties? That's all I can think of, though I'm not sure.

[melissapurple22]

They where from the states but I didn't order anything and it was a gift sent to me can they charge the person  receiving a gift extra money and duties on it? Just a little confused 🤷‍♀️ 

[lachaton]

@melissapurple22 Yep, thy can because it’s still considered an import charge. There was a discussion about this really early on in this thread, but unfortunately it can happen. 

(I am sorry that it happened, and unfortunately it’s one of the risks with cross-border shipping. I got hit with it, too; definitely can happen!) 

[melissapurple22]

Okay. Thanks @lachaton I don't order from the states so I a little new to this but I guess it's a luck of the draw and it happens.  Thanks for your help ☺️ @lachaton and @GG84 

[GG84]

@melissapurple22@lachaton If I'm correct, it can be avoided if they ship through USPS and not a Courier service. 

[lachaton]

It can still happen with USPS, but the main difference is that most couriers will charge a brokerage fee on top of the taxes/duties owing. If you receive a bill from a courier, the total is usually broken up into a a couple (or more charges) - which shows the breakdown between taxes/duties and brokerage fees. 

[veronika23]

@lachaton  USPS/Canada Post also charges brokerage fees if you have to pay duties/taxes... I think it's a flat rate at 10$ or something.

[lachaton]

Has everyone now received their gift? I took a quick look over my list, and I think everyone may now have their gifts...? If you haven't received one yet, please PM me so I can look into it for you 🙂

Thank you to everyone participating!! I hope you all had fun shopping and sending out gifts ❤️ This is one of my favourite events on the boards here, and has been for years, because of how it brings posters together. 

[Seymore3]

@lachatonThanks for organizing, this exchange is always so much fun.

[Nickelliebear1]

@lachaton thank you so much for organizing!  ❤️  It looks like we all had a great time.  Also, thank you so much for the goodies @shopaholic15 - I thought I took some pics to do a proper unboxing but it looked like for whatever reason they didn't stick around in my gallery.  This has been one of the roughest months and everything was so thoughtful.