[lhartle1]

You should be able to dispute the duties you payed , in Canada there is no duty on bike parts . You can be charged GST and PST if applicable . Here is a list of Tariff codes and percentage of duty payable for certain items.
If you can, get the seller to label things very specifically, ideally with the actual customs tariff item number. Here are the numbers and their tax rates all together:

• 8712.00.00 – Complete Bikes – 13%
• 8714.91.10 – Frame lugs, bottom bracket shells, forks, fork tubing sets, fork bearing assemblies, hydraulic shock absorbing cylinders, spring shock absorbers, rear pivots, cable stops, cable guides and back, chain and seat stays – 0%
• 8714.91.90 – Frames and forks and parts thereof, OTHER than the above – 5%
• 8714.92.00 – Wheel rims and spokes – 0%
• 8714.93.00 – Hubs, other than coaster braking hubs and hub brakes plus free-wheel sprocket wheels – 0%
• 8714.94.00 – Brakes, including coaster braking hubs and hub brakes plus parts thereof – 0%
• 8714.95.00 – Saddles – 0%
• 8714.96.00 – Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof (I’d put chainrings in here too) – 0%
• 8714.99.10 – Bicycle wheels (I’m assuming assembled) – 6.5%
• 8714.99.90 – OTHER bike parts – 0%

Remember customs officers are at work just like the rest of us and the more you do to make their job easier the better! Obviously they’re still going to check your package but if you save them the time of having to figure out what everything is and what particular category it should fall in to then you’ll probably find you can get things through customs with a lot less hassle.
OTHER TIPS
UPS and Fedex-type couriers all charge a fairly hefty ‘brokerage fee’ for processing your package through customs. This fee is usually $30 or more. The postal service however does NOT charge these fees. If at all possible get your items shipped via the regular postal service. Besides the shipping charge being way less that brokerage fee disappears.

 

[lhartle1]

I just used the duty/tax calculator on the Canada Customs web site for importing personal items. They don't have a specific listing for brakes or components, just "bikes". I entered $380 and duty was calculated at $49.40 (13%) and taxes were calculated at $55.82 (13%). I'm going to see if I can't speak to someone. Where did you find those figures?

The tariff codes came from a long article written by a organization in Vancouver . I have ordered quite a few parts and frames and had the shipper add the tariff code and I have never been over charged on customs fees. Have been dinged by the cartage company a number of times though . Here is the link .terminalcityriders.ca/articles/importing-bikes-and-parts-to-canada

 

[lhartle1]

Continue updating us , I am interested in how this all turns out .