SBARC Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 here's 2 slightly related points on this topic of shipping to Canada. NEVER ship by UPS (United Parcel Service) to Canada...they tack on a brokerage fee of something like $35 to move the package over the border....the customer in Canada pays this...on top of the shipping costs the US seller already paid. I live on the west coast of Canada in Victoria and sometimes I buy something big that would be a fortune to ship by air.....heavy car parts. The stuff could be shipped by truck...sometimes for free in the USA.....but the shipment gets messed up when the truck hits the border. I use a service with a Canadian company with a warehouse on the US side of the border. This business takes the item across the border and delivers to their other warehouse at the airport in my city for a small fee. I simply go to their office at my local airport and process the paperwork through Canada customs.....then pay the Canada customs fee. So here the cost savings. I bought some car parts that would have cost US$250 in shipping if mailed to my house in Canada. Instead I paid zero shipping in the US (because I spent over a certain $ amount and the car parts company offered free shipping for larger orders) and I then paid this this company CDN$20 to move my package across the border to the Victoria airport. On top of that I paid the required customs and taxes to the CDN government. For 1 model kit this is not worth doing.....but if you have a larger shipment....then this begins to save you huge money. Here is their website address. http://www.seawings.ca/ I have no idea if other brokerage business in other provinces offer this service...but it might be worth looking into. For me....the package is shipped to Blaine Washington and I pick it up at the Victoria airport....they drive it by truck from Blaine to Victoria. One final bonus to this....many Americans do not ship to Canada....you see this in e-bay ads all the time......but in this case I get them to ship to "my address" in Blaine.....which is actually the Seawings warehouse. So I can buy items that only ship to the USA. For heavy items like a transmission etc.....this sort of service saves a huge amount. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phasephantomphixer Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I learned this Months ago when I sent a small resin replacement part from Washington State to Canada and I had it in a regular business mail envelope. Still cost me $6.00!! I have a hobby connection in Vancouver, CN that will ship from either side of the border depending. But if I find a deal within Canada, I just have the package sent to him and he will bring it down with him on a visit. All this while fuel prices are so low! I've seriously curtailed my shipping. Have you tried the USPS "Flat Rate Box"? I thought local USPS had note of same cost to Mexico/Canada. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I used to buy Matchbox kits from the US on Ebay, but the prices people are quoting on there are ridiculous ($30+Aus for a pissy little kit that weighs nothing to post to Oz). I emailed one Ebay shop seller directly, and he could send me 6 kits (1kg) for about $34Aus - sounds reasonable. Seems to me many individual US sellers on Ebay are just taking the piss (I've even seen some quote post to Oz over $100Aus - get forked!) Had a bloke in California send me some quite heavy exercise bands (nothing to do with Ebay) last week - $33US = $45Aus priority post and it would have weighed about 1kg (far more than a Matchbox kit). Postal costs from UK are far more sensible (though they too have doubled at least since I started my Matchbox buying spree 8 yrs ago). I don't think it is US sellers screwing with the shipping cost, I think it is the US Postal service who jacked the prices. It must be killing their mail order and online exports. I only found out it wasn't the individuals when I started attempting to buy from a few honest ARC members, the rates I was being quoted were accurate. I was looking at a 1/48 Tamiya Corsair, it was $23.00, shipping was $50.00 US. That killed the thought of purchasing. Last night I was looking at a weigh scale, it was $75.00 US, shipping was $125 US, not a chance was I buying that! I recently bought a AK paint set for $23.00 US from Poland. Shipping was $2.00. The same set was on eBay from a US seller for $23.00 too. But his shipping was $26.00. I went with the $2.00 and received the set in less than a week. And don't even get me started on eBay shipping. It's a farce, through the roof in the charges and they have fictitious custom and import charges. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Which is why I do keep most of my deals here. Every once in a while I'll pay extra postage within the country just for something I want. Got some great deals off Scooby and Tilt recently. But my main trades are very local within the mafia. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Long live the mafia!!!! Hey Elmo, have not seen you in a while!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 I don't think it is US sellers screwing with the shipping cost, I think it is the US Postal service who jacked the prices. It must be killing their mail order and online exports. I only found out it wasn't the individuals when I started attempting to buy from a few honest ARC members, the rates I was being quoted were accurate. I was looking at a 1/48 Tamiya Corsair, it was $23.00, shipping was $50.00 US. That killed the thought of purchasing. Last night I was looking at a weigh scale, it was $75.00 US, shipping was $125 US, not a chance was I buying that! I recently bought a AK paint set for $23.00 US from Poland. Shipping was $2.00. The same set was on eBay from a US seller for $23.00 too. But his shipping was $26.00. I went with the $2.00 and received the set in less than a week. And don't even get me started on eBay shipping. It's a farce, through the roof in the charges and they have fictitious custom and import charges. So who is setting the postal costs from the US that are quoted on Ebay? Are they estimates given by US Postal online? Are they estimates calculated by Ebay online? Or does the individual actually go to the post office, get the item weighed and get an accurate post cost (which is what I do when selling on Ebay) Or does none of that matter - US Postal costs are just BS high no matter how you get a quote? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Ah, now the Ebay shipping is a totally different ballgame. More than once as a seller I've started an auction, and not specified any international shipping....but would get inquiries from potential buyers asking why the international shipping was so outrageous on my auction??? :unsure: Well, it was a surprise to me too...and I'd check and it wouldn't be visible to me. Turns out there's a default on the seller page for each auction, by international shipping, an option called "Send your package to the US Shipping Center and the rest will be taken care of for you." I vaguely knew of this since I would sometimes get international buyers, but I'd just ship to an airport address in Kentucky from whence it would be routed to its destination; I'd only pay domestic shipping, wouldn't worry about a customs form, nothing....no problem I thought.... Turns out, I think, that Ebay is getting a ton off the difference that we sellers never knew was being charged to the buyer. Really sneaky. So now these days I've been selling off decals which can fit into a regular legal mail envelope, which is just a single stamp domestic or $1.20 international....so I've been nixing the US shipping center option and selecting my own shipping as $1.20. Solves nothing for packages, but it's a start. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 So who is setting the postal costs from the US that are quoted on Ebay? Are they estimates given by US Postal online? Are they estimates calculated by Ebay online? Or does the individual actually go to the post office, get the item weighed and get an accurate post cost (which is what I do when selling on Ebay) Or does none of that matter - US Postal costs are just BS high no matter how you get a quote? The seller enters the weight and dimensions and as long as that is correct the shipping is correct. I know I do that with my auctions in Canada and the calculations on eBay via Canada Post are near perfect. I suspect some US sellers are not properly weighing and measuring their packages. What troubles me is a lot of packages don't show the shipping costs. It is just a barcode. I feel the high cost of US shipping has really helped my auctions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RiderFan Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Turns out there's a default on the seller page for each auction, by international shipping, an option called "Send your package to the US Shipping Center and the rest will be taken care of for you." I vaguely knew of this since I would sometimes get international buyers, but I'd just ship to an airport address in Kentucky from whence it would be routed to its destination; I'd only pay domestic shipping, wouldn't worry about a customs form, nothing....no problem I thought.... Turns out, I think, that Ebay is getting a ton off the difference that we sellers never knew was being charged to the buyer. Really sneaky. :angry:/> Yes, it's their Global Shipping program and as much as I think the word is over used to describe things, this program is a scam. The bigger issue I have is that program is that they charge a 'Customs Brokerage Fee' to ensure that all paper work is properly filled out and submitted and that customs fees are paid in advance. The fee seems to be a flat fee of about $10 (how do they calculate that?!). The problem is, it doesn't take into account excemptions. Hobby kits and hobby supplies are except Canadian duties. Used goods are also excempt from duties. So if a Canadian buys a model kit from an American clearing his stash, eBay charges $10 to fill out paperwork and pay up front for duties when there are in fact no duties to pay and no paperwork to fill out. I've even gone so far as to FAX ebay's legal offices the documentation from Canada Customs which has a very clear list of items that are excempt from duties and taxes. But obviously they just want to pocket that $10. There's no paper work to fill out, and there's nobody to give the money too. So where does it go? It goes to buying Devin Wenig (eBay's president) a new boat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Definitely. And it makes we sellers look bad for charging things we're not even aware of in the first place. I'm not allowing that option at all anymore; I won't do that to anyone anywhere. I guess I'll just select "No international shipping," but put in the auction text that international buyers may inquire what actual postage would be. Really great tool around the house is the postage scale :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mercury Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Yep. The exchange rate and the stupidly high USPS rates have curtailed my on-line shopping Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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