No more business with Canada???

[Modifiedmark]

What everyone has to remember is the up front cost of shipping, is only part of the equation....Unfortunately there is an international border between us and ALL couriers UPS, Fedex, etc. broker shipments "in house" at the border, and charge for their services.....USPS and Canada Post include the brokerage in their price (other than a $5 handling fee, that is hit and miss if they ever charge it).

We Canadians have a federal sales tax as well as a Provincial sales tax in some provinces on virtually everything we buy and Canada post is supposed to collect that on all items we buy out of any other country.....Having said that, I can't remember the last time I had to pay any tax on anything that came in the mail, and I get a lot of stuff shipped to me..It's very hit and miss. I have been 100% raped by UPS consistently though.

There is one other thing I've been noticing. USPS is telling customers that packages over a certain weight MUST be shipped "Priority".......I have a feeling that's what happened with Mark's shipment. Maybe things have changed, but it used to be anything could be shipped up to 60 pounds "Expesspost" which still has insurance and tracking...........I think either things are changing, or there are a lot of untrained USPS employees, that don't know that there are other options.

Rob that is exactly what has changed my only options now are Priority or Express which was $50 higher even yet. This was checked at two different post offices and the USPS website verified it as well.

The USPS should be sued for even using the word tracking as they do not have tracking. They say they do but it's a joke. I was told up front that tracking or delivery confirmation was not available on shipments to Canada as well.

No delivery confirmation will stop me from shipping to Canada from eBay etc as the buyer now only has to say he never got his package and we have no way to dispute it.

I made this shipment to a AS member anyway as I believe that most are up and up straight shooters but it's still risky now.

I don't want my name ran through the muck either.

 

[ptjeep]

If you ship items with the USPS, dont bother paying extra for insurance, they wont pay. Just ask Mastermind.

 

[jockeydeuce]

I guess they are getting us both ways!!!

I just priced out shipping a typical saw to the USA and it was about $65 not long ago.........It's now $117.

That pretty much kills dealing on whole saws, unless it is for something VERY desirable!:msp_sad:

 

[zogger]

Does greyhound bus operate back and forth across the border? In the past I have used them to ship. Not recently though, but I know they used to ship stuff as long as the size of box or article was reasonable, and a box of saw would seem to be reasonable.

 

[psuiewalsh]

Does greyhound bus operate back and forth across the border? In the past I have used them to ship. Not recently though, but I know they used to ship stuff as long as the size of box or article was reasonable, and a box of saw would seem to be reasonable.

Greyhound Courier Express

???

 

[zogger]

Greyhound Courier Express

???

It appears to be just the US, minus alaska and hawaii. Still might be an alternative for domestic US saw shipping though, haven't run a theoretical rate deal through their system for pricing.

 

[Modifiedmark]

If you ship items with the USPS, dont bother paying extra for insurance, they wont pay. Just ask Mastermind.

Preston, you are so correct.

On another note I never seen why any one would use the USPS to ship a saw even for a domestic shipment.

Case in point a member shipped me a PHO from MA priority mail and it cost him I think it was $35 to IN.

I shipped the same saw back to him today for just a bit less then $20 with a online purchased UPS shipping label with $300 insurance and real time tracking. .

 

[7sleeper]

Similar situation here in Europe. It is cheaper to send an item in Germany from Munich to Hamburg (792 km) compared to Munich to Salzburg/Austria (145 km). As soon as it goes across the boarder the price triples to quadruples! This is our free boarderless economy! :msp_thumbdn: The same for regular food here in Austria, price difference typically ~20% higher!!!

7

 

[psuiewalsh]

Similar situation here in Europe. It is cheaper to send an item in Germany from Munich to Hamburg (792 km) compared to Munich to Salzburg/Austria (145 km). As soon as it goes across the boarder the price triples to quadruples! This is our free boarderless economy! :msp_thumbdn: The same for regular food here in Austria, price difference typically ~20% higher!!!

7

So it pays to eat out in Germany?

 

[Eccentric]

What everyone has to remember is the up front cost of shipping, is only part of the equation....Unfortunately there is an international border between us and ALL couriers UPS, Fedex, etc. broker shipments "in house" at the border, and charge for their services.....USPS and Canada Post include the brokerage in their price (other than a $5 handling fee, that is hit and miss if they ever charge it).

We Canadians have a federal sales tax as well as a Provincial sales tax in some provinces on virtually everything we buy and Canada post is supposed to collect that on all items we buy out of any other country.....Having said that, I can't remember the last time I had to pay any tax on anything that came in the mail, and I get a lot of stuff shipped to me..It's very hit and miss. I have been 100% raped by UPS consistently though.

There is one other thing I've been noticing. USPS is telling customers that packages over a certain weight MUST be shipped "Priority".......I have a feeling that's what happened with Mark's shipment. Maybe things have changed, but it used to be anything could be shipped up to 60 pounds "Expesspost" which still has insurance and tracking...........I think either things are changing, or there are a lot of untrained USPS employees, that don't know that there are other options.

I guess they are getting us both ways!!!

I just priced out shipping a typical saw to the USA and it was about $65 not long ago.........It's now $117.

That pretty much kills dealing on whole saws, unless it is for something VERY desirable!:msp_sad:

Rob when I shipped you that saw (via USPS) they told me the 'break' was four pounds. Everything over four pounds weight had to go priority, which doubled the cost over parcel post (which is now 'standard post'.....and also more expensive). Also took the 'long' customs form, while the under four pounds parcel post package took the 'short' customs form. It was in the $60-$70 neighborhood to send that saw and bar (an 'average' size 60cc class saw) to you a couple years ago. Bet it's almost twice that now...

 

[Bill G]

Do any of the other carriers do better (DHL, FedEx, ???)

I know for one thing I get USA to Aus, DHL are amazing in price (and service?). It is dry food though.

I have tried DHL and FedEx to Canada they are both much higher. Including the brokerage/duties fees UPS is the cheapest from my location to the location I normally send saws. That however is not true for other locations in Canada. UPS sets their rates based on the pickup and delivery location. In other words Illinois to Regina SK is $75 for $70lbs. If I was sending that to BC it would be a whole lot more. Now USPS on the other hand has one rate. 66 lbs from Illinois to SK is the same as if I was sending it to BC or even I believe the Yukon.

Now you say you are getting dry food from the USA to Aus via DHL. I have tried sending DHL to Aus as well as most of Europe and it has been two to three times USPS. Are you buying this from a established business in the USA and shipping it to an established business in Aus? What I have ran into is that they do not want to deal with private individuals. They only want to deal with business. About 5-6 years ago I sent a wooded crate of two man saws to Amsterdam. I sent it UPS GSCS. It was under $300 for the 4ft by 2 ft by 2ft crate and it got there in 4 days. I live by a international airport so it was loaded on the plane before I even got home but the point is it was cheap. I am very interested in how you get stuff through DHL. I have been told that Schenker is another option. I do see that they now have a sign up by the airport so I need to investigate

Bill

 

[7sleeper]

So it pays to eat out in Germany?

A lot of people in the boarder region do that regularly. What is funny is that fuel is cheaper here. So a lot of germans drive over for fueling.

7

 

[jockeydeuce]

Rob when I shipped you that saw (via USPS) they told me the 'break' was four pounds. Everything over four pounds weight had to go priority, which doubled the cost over parcel post (which is now 'standard post'.....and also more expensive). Also took the 'long' customs form, while the under four pounds parcel post package took the 'short' customs form. It was in the $60-$70 neighborhood to send that saw and bar (an 'average' size 60cc class saw) to you a couple years ago. Bet it's almost twice that now...

You're right, Aaron.....I had my names for services backwards....Anything over 4 lbs or over 12" wide in any direction has to go priority. It's obviously the price for that service that has jumped. I tried some other weights and 21 lbs is still $70, but over 25 lbs is well over $100.

It's all a bummer, but I guess the postal services have seen an opportunity to make some big $$ with Ebay freight moving at a rapid pace, etc.:msp_sad:

 

[jerrycmorrow]

sounds like an opportunity for someone living near the border, eh?

 

[DSS]

I was shipped some stuff UPS. Shipping was $80. When it got here I had to give them another $90 some dollars "brokerage fees" and tax. My $200 purchase cost me almost $180 in shipping thanks to UPS.

Anyone who gets stuff sent UPS to Canada is asking for it.

 

[deepsouth]

BillG

Yes the goods were going from an established business in the US (online store of certain health related foods and supplements) to any address in Australia (was in fact my work so it could be signed for).

I've seen IT gear get moved by Schenker into Aus, local delivery is by other carriers here.

 

[Bill G]

BillG

Yes the goods were going from an established business in the US (online store of certain health related foods and supplements) to any address in Australia (was in fact my work so it could be signed for).

I've seen IT gear get moved by Schenker into Aus, local delivery is by other carriers here.

I believe the local delivery is the same in Canada. I send saws to Canada UPS but once they land it is Puralator that delivers them with the fees and no vaseline.

Bill

 

[Pijetro]

Yea, where‘s the “free trade“ deal signed by the governments
Fortunately, people who live near the border get things shipped to adressess in the border towns. Heck, i think UPS has a holding box for minimal cost. Sorry to hear about this..
Sent from my LG-C800G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Modifiedmark]

Yea, where‘s the “free trade“ deal signed by the governments
Fortunately, people who live near the border get things shipped to adressess in the border towns. Heck, i think UPS has a holding box for minimal cost. Sorry to hear about this..
Sent from my LG-C800G using Tapatalk 2

Yeah I agree, I never did understand why things could get shipped here tax free but taxes/duties or whatever they call it is charged for things going into Canada...

Not starting anything or whatever, and maybe I don't understand things but that's how it appeared to me.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

When I first started selling a few saws on ebay I looked things over and decided to not ship anything international because of all the red tape and to use USPS because it was cheaper at the time. Being retired and not trying to make a living doing this I mainly tried to not lose money on this project. It's getting harder and harder to do this with the increase in ebay fees and postage increases, plus where I've been getting the saws it's harder to get them cheap because so many people are doing the same thing. In the near future I'll have to re-look this process over and decide if I need to change a few things around or just forget about it altogether..