At 10:28 AM 25/09/2008 -0700, Brian Samson wrote:
>That sounds very strange to me. I've received probably 200 parcels
>from the US over the past 7 years and only one went missing - a small
>item worth about $5. I've had no damage problems except in a couple
>of cases where the item was poorly packed. I've also never heard
>anyone say that shipping to Canada is a challenge, although you do
>have to fill out the little customs form, same as shipping from Canada
>or anywhere else. I always request USPS, as UPS tack on an
>unbelievable assortment of additional charges and don't provide good
>service.
<snip>
>Brian Samson
>Vancouver, BC, Canada
>
>
>On 25-Sep-08, at 6:32 AM, wheelman@nac.net wrote:
>
>>
>> Shipping to Canada from the US has always been a challenge.
>>
>> Ray Homiski
>> Elizabeth, NJ USA
I've also never failed to receive items from the U.S. The only purchase that failed to arrive was from France. However, I didn't pursue it further after contacting the seller because it was only worth $16 and turned out I didn't really want it.
But shipping to Canada apparently has to be a big PITA for a lot of people in the U.S., even though it only requires filling out a simple customs form. In industry I found that there were U.S. parts suppliers who just couldn't get that figured out and employed intermediary agents to do the paperwork and shipping. This is ironic, because most of our customers were in the U.S. and ended up eating the extra cost because we were the only game in town.
Whenever I buy parts on-line from the U.S., shipping USPS is seldom an option. For some reason they use some high end method for that, costing a lot more, sometimes as much as $25 or $30, making it futile to buy a $10 part. Even when they use USPS, the rate charged is at least double the actual postage, as if they employed unionized packers at $40 an hour who individually went out and purchased the materials.
Even USPS isn't totally safe. Quite often Canada Post will collect local taxes and a $5 brokerage fee upon delivery.
Maybe all these hurdles to receiving goods from the U.S. have a purpose. When the Canadian dollar was at par or better, some cars built in Canada were still priced up to 40% more here than in the U.S. Neither the politicians nor the manufacturers have an explanation. It's just pure greed. Same as the price of gasoline here. Even though Canada is the biggest oil supplier for the U.S., our gas costs a lot more than it does in the U.S. When Huricane Ike was approaching the Gulf Coast, our gas prices immediately shot up by 10%, long before they went up in the U.S. So long as cross-border commerce is hindered by tax collectors and profiteers, we Canadians will continue to pay through the nose and accept it.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada