I was just about to “click” on order now for 6 decoders from a well known Vermont based train supply store… the order was for $104.00 worth of decoders, actually 6 pcs.The shipping to Canada via USPS was …get this $40.00?..uninsured. 40% of the value of the decoders???Whoa! 6 decoders could fit in an envelope. Geez that almost sounds like Fed Ex rates. I bought from them before but the shipping was reasonable. Have rates changed that suddenly with the USPS?
Tom
That rate is high…here’s a link for a 1 pound package to Canada from the US via USPS Priority Mail:
http://ircalc.usps.gov/IntlMailServices.aspx?Country=10054&M=2&P=1&O=0&sd=1
Don Z.
Did you talk about shipping before you placed the order? If not, the hobby store can ship it anyway they seem fit…expecially if you are foreign.
David B
The United States Postal Service requires a green customs form to go with the package and no insurance. They are usually pretty reliable anyhow… until a mail or package train loses two mainline tracks as happened in Indiana recently.
Everything out of the Postoffice is high, I quit looking at the exact cost long ago, I just swipe that bank card and sign it to see that little package on it’s way.
You can double check all the US post office shipping costs at http://www.usps.com/
The trouble with shipping to Canada using couriers such as UPS or FedEx is the enormous (and argueably bogus) “brokerage fees” that they stick you with to move your package through customs. And that’s not counting GST and whatever other duties you may have to pay.
When I lived in Canada, I once got charged a $50 “brokerage fee” by UPS for a $50 item I had ordered from the States!
Since postage is based on weight in most cases I think being charged $40 for six decoders is waaaaaaay out of line.
I would ask the store if they quoted you the correct rate. You might have been quoted the international rate rather than the Canada rate which is usually less. Ask them to double check, maybe it was a new guy who didn’t know the difference.
Maybe make sure that the rate isn’t for like overnight express or something, but for the slowest/cheapest way!
UPS tried that with me on a package coming into the USA from Canada. I tossed the notice in the garbage and haven’t heard anything about it since. 4 years and counting, many other packages arrived UPS in the meantime.
I’m guessing the OP is being charged for the privlage and ‘hassle’ of having that little green customs tag filled out (which can be done online btw). I’d shop somewhere else.
Would you consider annexation?That’s one way to get rid of that pesky border!
Are you saying you’ve seen the light and now wish to join Confederation as our 11th province, eh ?
And why not ? Here you get free health-care, cheap post-secondary education, a still-healthy economy, and election campaigns that last weeks instead of years. [swg]
Could be the seller was padding the shipping charges to make up for the low prices on the decoders? EBay bases their selling fees on the sales amount and not the shipping charges, so some have low selling prices and over the top shipping prices. I see this all the time from major eBay stores that sell camera gear from Hong Kong. $2-3 for a camera battery and $10 or so for shipping. They come in a small padded envelope. Don’t mind though, because similar batteries are $50-60 in North America!
International postal rates are set by treaty. But even then they are much higher than postal rates in the US. But even so, $40 for a one pound package is much too high.
Irv
According to the chart, the best rate should be $20 for Global Priority mail. But you should know that most places that sell merchandise over the internet usually rely on software to compute shipping rates and they usually will overcharge for it. But it appears as though they used the most expensive rate for what would most likely be a one pound package to begin with.
Irv
You may be correct. I haven’t spoken to anybody yet , this was done on line. It may be that the computerized ordering system doesn’t correct for multiple items and just adds on shipping as it were 6 different orders. They may make the correction when they ship out the whole order. I’ll phone them and find out. Thanks for the replies.
Tom
Good to see someone from the area, Im in Innisfil. I have been stuck with brokerage fees and all sorts of charges getting things across the border. GST and PST on things not produced or available in Canada sure ticks me off. I have always had to pay at the door for the charges, would be nice if they let you know ahead of time. That charge is way off, it cost me a lot less for stuff shipped from Texas. Call them first. A lond distance call is cheap if you save $30 or so.
Dave
Seems like a great idea to me - ESPECIALLY THE BIT ABOUT ELECTIONS!!![(-D]
Wasn’t a certain treaty supposed to have done away with all those duty charges and tariffs???[%-)] Doesn’t sound like trades very free to me…
I have been doing this ever since getting stung by Canada Customs/Symantic over a new license key for my Norton AV a couple years back.
Looked like a good deal, $25 to get an electronic key to extend my subscription but 3 weeks later what arrives in the mail but a bill for $45 duty/brokerage. The CD in Canada only costs $45, so I was not ahead.
Now I get in writing (e-mail is acceptable) exactly what the total price, with shipping, taxes, duty, etc will be before ordering anything from the States. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Oh and I am about to order a new laptop ($1,500 all in), shipping is only $20 to get it from Ont to BC, overnight no less. Go figure…
Do you get stuck with GST every time?
Most of our customers in Canada have reported that more often than not the post office or RevCan or whoever usually lets the package through w/o charging tax.
Of course, we also ship in the plainest-looking box possible! [;)]
They did. But what is charged is the sales tax on the value of the item and a handling fee. Canada Post charges $5 for handling plus the tax. UPS charges up to $80 for the handling fee (depending on value of the goods) and the tax.