Amazon to CSV

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Cross-border shoppers

This section of the doc is for Canadians who make shopping and parcel pick-up trips to the US, and need to accurately document the goods they are bringing back to Canada.

This document helps cross-border shoppers:

Get a view of the parcels you’re picking up so you’re sure you’ve got everything

Keep track of same-day purchases manually (so they get added to your totals)

Provide a summary of all your purchases when you return to Canada

Note: This document has not been reviewed or approved by the Canada Border Services Agency, Amazon or anybody else. It’s just my personal system for keeping track of my purchases.

Here’s how to use this document:

Use the Firefox extension to save each of your

Amazon.com⁠

purchases to the

Amazon purchases⁠

table. Make sure to look at

Start here⁠

so that you know how to setup the Firefox extension.

⁠

1. Adjust purchase and CBSA categories⁠

so you can categorize your purchases for your border report. You don’t have to adjust this list, but if you do, make sure that every single purchase category is included in a CBSA category, too.

Optional step:

Match discounts to purchases⁠

. Use this if you want your CBSA category totals to more accurately reflect the final purchase price of each item; otherwise the total value of all your Amazon discounts will be deducted from your non-food total, regardless of category.

⁠

2. Assign categories to all purchases⁠

. Right now you have

0

⁠

in uncategorized purchases. Once you’ve completed categorization this will display as zero; otherwise, you’ll have a line item for “uncategorized” in your border report.

⁠

3. Pick up your parcels⁠

. This view organizes your parcels so you can check off each item and make sure you’re not missing anything. The view is organized by location: Since I split my pick-ups between an Amazon hub counter and a parcel delivery service, I find it useful to see these checklists separately.

If you decide to return any of the items you’ve picked up before you come back to Canada, check the “returned” checkbox so they’ll be dropped from the totals shown in

5. Declare to CBSA⁠

⁠

4. Record other purchases⁠

if you are picking up non-Amazon parcels, groceries or doing any other shopping. You’ll need to do this manually so your purchases are included in your border totals, but you don’t need to compile an item-by-item inventory, as long as you write down the total from each store or shipment.

⁠

5. Declare to CBSA⁠

is where this all pays off! All your Amazon + other purchases will be summarized into a tidy report for the border officer who wants to know what you’re bringing back to Canada.

TIP: Print out your CBSA report in advance, and then make any corrections on paper.

That way you’re not handing your unlocked phone to a border services officer who hasn’t even requested it. (Though note that

CBSA says⁠

they can examine any digital device.)

⁠

Print before leaving⁠

walks you through the process of creating a print-out that will be easy for you to update and hand over at the border.

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.