What's the current deal with shipping cross border into the states? I have received packages via USPS without having any duty charged, but when I just shipped with Canada post I had to fill out a declaration with values for customs.
You do that for everything you ship abroad. Whether or not the receiver has to pay will depend on the declaration and its value.
For Canadians, anything valued at 20CAD or less is tax free, everything over is taxed. If you ship with anyone that does not hand off to Canada Post, be prepared to pay! If they had off to Canada Post, you may be lucky. I've had hundreds of dollars of product go uncharged, but paid for 12 dollars to ups for a 25ish dollar item...
BTW
netparcel isn't bad either and there's also the
costco option. I find netparcel is typically the cheapest, but Canada Post is still more convenient at times.