Sometimes shipping stuff from US is very expensive. Not to mention the fact that some stores do not provide you with the information regarding the shipment upfront (i.e. Wholesaletrains - I even mailed them, without any luck).
So I have a question for the Canadian [:D] MRs.
What Canadian online shops do you use?
Thanx,
George
The only shop I’ve personally bought anything from is Dave Cool’s Canadian Express Line in Quebec. He’s strictly a mail order seller, and does not have a website. His prices are usually pretty good. He often sends out newsletters with current specials, deals and upcoming models. Send him a note at d.cool@sympatico.ca and tell him I sent you. He does charge 15% HST and postage on his shipments, so keep this in mind. Expresspost parcels are usually a standard $10.00 or so fee.
One of the better shops with an online catalog is Central Hobbies in Vancouver, check them out here: http://www.central-hobbies.com/products/index.html Their prices aren’t all that spectacular, but they are likely to have what you want. Nice store to visit in person too.
Bob Boudreau
Try Canadian Model Trains Inc. at www.modeltrains.com Now for the Bad news: ALL their prices are in U.S. Dollars: go figure???
I’ve had good luck with George’s Trains of Toronto. They have shipped promptly and been quite helpful on the time’s I’ve actually visited the store. I wanted some Bombardier GO Transit cars and with shipping their price was just about the same as I’d have paid here in the US if I could have found them in the US at the time I purchased them from George’s.
Dale
My son works part time at Central Hobbies, they are good for detail parts if you are so inclined. If you are having DCC problems, particularly with Digitrax, Bill who works there is a trained Digitrax type and is very good. His shoulder is the shoulder everyone cries on here when they have DCC bad days.
I am in Canada. After much research I still order in the US. Shipping is $15USD at internettrains.com, $25 flat at trainworld.com. Also there are stores that pack your parcel so you don’t have to pay customs tax etc. (I won’t tell which one 
you’ll have to find it yourself)
As for wholesaletrains.com - they aren’t the best selection and prices.
And if you wanna know about shipping - call them, no point sending email.
Alternatively go to www.usps.com and see estimated shipping charge.
With US dollar so weak today I see no point ordering in Canada. Looking at their prices I suspect that canadian retailers still belive that 1USD=1.5CAD.
dimastep: Seems you are in the same predicament as I was with shipping to Canada. A seller in the U.S. got me to use U.S.postal service, since then my average cost to Calgary is @ $3.00 and NO customs duty (It’s called free trade), Private carriers by international law must fill out customs declaration forms and collect duty if required, their fee is very very high and they can collect duties if they apply, One seller says it is cheaper to send to Canada from Calif. than it is from Calif. to Kansas. And shipping $25.00 at trainworld??? I hope you ordered an anvil, that fee is preposterous, Some sellers make huge profits on shipping and “handling” ---- buyer beware.
True, 25 is 10 bucks extra than estimated USPS. But then trainworld is so cheap that I still win in the end.
The trick is to find a seller that charges true shipping and fills the paperwork properly for canadian sharks at the border.
Free trade my *** ! If you order from Canada to US, you pay no tax at the border. And if you order from US to canada - they tax you throuhg the nose just as if you bought it locally.
dimastep: Hmmmmm, I’ve never paid tax (what tax?) never paid customs duty, never filled out any Government form and the parcel is delivered right to my house, don’t even have to sign for it, the only drawback is it can take 7 or 12 days ( hey, where am I going anyway) I have no social life. I still shop in the U.S. ----by sheer size, most products are just not available in Canada, and generally the products are much cheaper even with our Hudson Bay Peso. I just heard the Canadian Government is changing the rules and the new standards are absolutely incredible,apparently they are already in place but they have no staff to carry out the new rules, also there is right now a 3 month backlog at Canada Customs.
Well, I am in Ontario and last I checked on CCRA they charge GST and PST on all purchases, plus 5 dollar duty fee. So they don’t give me parcel unless I pay first.
Which province are you in ? Ontario is pretty bad customs wise, but any province should charge some tax.
My only guess is where you ordered the parcel was marked as gift.
The $5.00 is not duty, it’s the Post Office’s fee for collecting the tax. It isn’t that bad when you consider parcels sent by UPS - they charge around $35.00 to process your tax. That’s why you should never accept an order being sent by UPS.
As to the Trainworld $25.00 shipping charge to Canada, I imagine its this high because they have to take the parcel to the US Post Office to be mailed. If they used UPS, the parcel would be picked up at their shop. So you gotta pay for someone to take it to the P.O.
Sharing orders from Trainworld is one way of saving on the shipping costs. $25.00 divided by four is cheaper than paying it all yourself!
Bob Boudreau
dimastep: Alberta- we have no tax here (just high prices) I just got out an old shipping box, on it is a small green label from USPS -it’s a customs declaration CN 22 PS Form 2976. It’s from Iowa, the seller describes the contents as: “brass railroad model parts” value $13.00 and his signature. it’s not marked as a gift, it’s marked “other” --the total cost for postage is $1.85 u.s. I have 3 other boxes, they all are about the approximate value and all arrived the same way to my door by a postman, not a truck. It’s so nice to live in a country that has 10 provinces that operate as 10 separate countries. Canada eh???
Hi guys,
This is what happened to me. I live in Toronto, and have ordered from hobbylinc some stuff. They have “properly” declared something like 10 bucks on the tax forms. But what happened was that Custom Canada opened (yes, you are not hallucinating, opened) the parcel, established the catalogue value of what was packed there, and charged me GST and PST on that !!!
Hence, not only that I paid a lot of tax, but also, if I wanted to return the package, I would not be able to do so (since the darn thing was opened). Waddayasay of these KGB-style methods?
George
Dimastep: Just a note, talk about coincidence, 1 hour ago a Canada post truck arrived at my door with a box–12"x8"x6’’ about 2 lbs with the little green customs sticker, it cost the seller $6.00 to ship it to me from Tennesse. No other fees were paid out, Is there something we are both missing here?
Modle train electronics and other parts are allowed into Canada DUTY free but are subject to PST and GST as appropriate for your province.