The times they are a changing that’s for sure. Living where I do, the closest hobby shop is in Victoria, a two hour drive each way or Vancouver a $55.00 minimum and 1 1/2 hr ferry trip one way. So, order off the net from a well stocked supplier in the U.S. Which I just did. Unfortunately, a$52.00 order also cost me $30.00 shipping via regular USPS. Was I had ? Don’t know but I needed the product. Oh well and I thought Canadian postal rates were high. Looks like I will start to amass a yearly list and head off to one of my favorite cities, San Francisco, with my wife. If I am going to spend it we will both enjoy the time doing so.
Ouch. Yes, the USPS recently raised rates. Sometimes it pays to add on to an order, but sometimes the pocketbook can’t help you there.
As you note, gas to the nearest hobby shop may make that $30 seem not so horrible.
bruce22
You don’t mention who the U.S. supplier is, but $30.00 shipping is higher than you need to pay. Having said that, many U.S. sellers will only ship USPS Priority Mail (which is about $30.00+) because the shipment can be traced right to your door. Apparently there have been too many instances of people claiming that their shipment never arrived and asking the seller to make good on their loss.
I have placed many orders from suppliers in the U.S. and only rarely been stung with excess shipping costs, so I have a few pieces of advice to offer:
First, before you hit the “place order” button you should have been able to see exactly what the shipping charges will be. If you can’t find that information then cancel the order and deal with somebody else!
Second, you need to understand that Canada Customs will rarely charge duty on shipments valued at less than $100.00 even though the stated minimum is $20.00. So, if your source is suggesting that you need to pay duty in advance on items less than $100.00 they are full of pig droppings. The eBay Global Shipping Program plays that game all the time and they can charge as much as 33% for supposed duty fees and handling, none of which goes back to the seller. In fact, in most cases apparently the sellers are totally unaware of what the Global Shipping Program (eBay) is trying to soak their international customers for.
I have found that the least expensive and quickest way to get stuff from the U.S. that you cannot find in stock on line from a Canadian hobby shop is to go straight to Walthers. They will charge you a shipping fee plus a percentage of the value of the order, but in my experience the total cost going through Walthers is less than the U.S. on line discount merchants charge for the same product (including shipping), even when they are discounting the product price. Mind you, I never pay Walthers full price for rolling stock or structures. I will pay full price for detail parts and scratch building
Gidday Bruce, I feel your pain. Here in New Zealand offshore internet purchases over NZ$400 attract a 15% tax, so what I do is save up and wait til my shopping list nears that limit.
I see Dave has given a reason for the use of UPS, I had wondered if the suppliers hadn’t heard of the likes of DHL or Fedex. That said, looking at two similar size and weight parcels I have recently received, one from Model Train Stuff in the US and the other from Hattons in the UK, the one that travelled the furtherest, from the UK was NZ$ 18 cheaper, and quicker. Note: I should add that this should not detract from the excellent service I’ve received from both outlets.
This scheme I’ve adopted should be good as it should get me more disciplined and better in the forward planning department, so why is it that I invariably find that I’ve forgotten a key item, just after my order has been shipped? [banghead] [sigh]
For comparision NZ$1 = 91 Canadian cents.
Cheers, the Bear.
Well in Australia we are lucky for the time being, its anything over 1000 and we pay 10% GST, I purchase a lot from the US but never of any ebayer that uses Global shipping. Biggest rip off ever
$30.00 shipping sounds like the seller was recooping some of his e-bay and pay pal fees. We have to watch for too here in the U.S.
As a exaple…One seller want $54.95 for a Atlas SCL RS11 and $15.95 shipping from a Eastern state…That’s way to much espically since I bought a P2K SCL GP38-2 and the shipping was only $6.95 from Texas.
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. Think I will try express -line next time. Incidentally the vendor was a reputable on-line hobby shop which advertises no handling fees.
Part of it may be what you ordered, for instance if it was a box of flextrack or roadbed, USPS would charge extra for the ‘oversize box’, i.e the length. Charges are based on both weight and container dimensions for shipping by USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc. I have seen a number of vendors charge extra for long boxes or those that contain certain chemicals like solvent paints
And for other items there’s if it fits it ships at a fixed rate…
I urge everybody to use caution if the shipping charges looks to high more then likely they are.
The sellers I buy from has very reasonable shipping-as low as $3.95 for one car and all will combine shipping.
As a side note even with my large orders at MBK I have never paid over $10.00 for shipping.
I’m just curious…how did that car come packaged? Was there just brown paper around the car box with a label on the outside? Or was the car box shipped in another box with peanuts or other material as a softener? Like I said, this is a curiosity question.
Last real train hobby shop in San Franhcisco closing.
The car arrived safely in a small brown shipping box wrapped in bubble wrap.Inside the car’s box the car was cushion with paper towels…
As a matter of record I loath shipping peanuts but,they’re a necessary evil people use in shipping so,I grin and bear it…
BTW…It was one of my missing Bev-Bel/Athearn road names-Erie Western.
When i order from Clines they charge me 13 dollars UPS.
Hi Bruce.
Have you heard of these guys.
http://www.pacific-western-rail.com/main.php
They are the in the top five MRR shops in the world by volume shipped. They are a warehouse in Surrey close to the border and have another warehouse 3 miles away in Blaine, Washington, U.S. of A. They ship all over the world and depending on the country they ship to, it either leaves from the U.S. or Canada.
I have the luxury of them being ten minutes from my house, so I can pick up my orders. I have spent thousands there and never have had a problem.
I have a U.S. Dollar credit card, so depending on what I am buying I may order it and take the 5 minute drive over the boarder to grab the stuff in the U.S.
They have a Porters club you can join if you wish. It’s like a frequent flyer club and every once in a while I’ll order something like a switch from Walthers and it will be free because I have earned enough points.
I have never paid duty or taxes on anything in my life when driving back over the border. I recently spent $900.00 on stuff for a bathroom reno at Lowes in Bellingham. I told the border guy I spent $900.00 while holding up the bill for him to see and all he said was have a nice day, and away I went.
So if you’re driving to San Fran, you will probably get lucky with your trunk load of train stuff on the way back.[(-D]
Yes, the peanuts are a pain, but also very effective. I save mine in a small, drawstring trash bag, use them for whatever I might need to ship and give the rest of them to my LHS so he can ship things. Saves him a little cash and gets the things reused not in the landfill. Costs money to put it there.
Only problem is one cat loves to tear open the bag. Bag now hangs high, meybe it should be the cat.
Have fun,
Richard
Yes,UPS rates are higher then USPS.
I usually order on Sunday evening and have my order by Friday-averages 4 days from shipping to my front door.That’s not bad between Maryland and Bucyrus,Ohio.
We sell hand made soap from our website, and I just checked the pricing to Canada.
USPS rate for 6 to 60 bars of soap is just over $27.00
ROAR
And how much Cat Hair will we find in it???[swg]