What will my Canadian customer pay on a Printify or Printful order?
It depends on where the order is printed, where the blank was made, how it ships and the order value. Here is how to work it out, and how to keep it at zero.
By the Othermile team
Short answer: if the order is printed and shipped inside Canada, your Canadian customer pays nothing at the border. If it ships from a US print provider, they may pay sales tax and a fee at the door, and sometimes duty, depending on the value, the carrier and where the blank product was made.
The four things that decide it
- Where it ships from. Printify and Printful let you choose print providers or locations. An order printed in Canada for a Canadian customer never crosses the border.
- The order value. By courier from the US, no duty is charged up to C$150 and no tax up to C$40. By mail, both start at C$20.
- Where the blank was made. Customs asks where the product was made, not where it was printed. A shirt sewn in Honduras and printed in North Carolina is a product of Honduras for duty purposes. Goods made in Canada, the US or Mexico can qualify for CUSMA.
- Mail or courier. Canada Post adds a C$9.95 handling fee when it collects duty or tax. Couriers charge their own clearance fees.
A typical example
A C$60 hoodie printed in the US and sent by courier to Ontario owes no duty, because it is under C$150. It owes 13% HST, about C$7.80, plus the courier's clearance fee, collected at the door.
How to keep it at zero
- Route Canadian orders to a Canadian print provider when one offers the product.
- Charge the tax at checkout and ship duty paid, so the customer is never billed at the door.
- Hold costly orders before they go to production, so you can switch the route first. Othermile does this for Printify and Printful orders.
Check your own numbers
- One parcel: the free border fee checker.
- Your store's last 90 days: the free border cost audit, which reads your orders export in your browser.
- Every order, before it ships: Othermile checks each one against your limits and holds the costly ones for your OK.
These are estimates from the official rules, not customs advice.
This guide explains public rules in plain language for general information. It is not customs, tax or legal advice; the exact tariff code, your paperwork and the carrier decide the final amount.
See what your own orders cost at the border.
Start freeOr try the free checker, or get an email when the rules change
Keep reading
How do I charge Canadian duties and taxes at checkout?
Collect the duty and tax with the order and ship duty paid, so your customer pays nothing at the door. Here is how it works, what it costs you, and how to price it per cart.
My customer refused the parcel because of the fees. What now?
A refused parcel usually comes back to you, sometimes with a return charge, or is abandoned. Here is what happens next, what to tell the customer, and how to stop it happening again.
Print on demand across the border: where it is made matters more than where it ships from
A shirt sewn in Honduras and printed in North Carolina is usually still a Honduran shirt at the border. Why origin decides duty, CUSMA and tariffs, and where to find it for your products.