Awhile ago I had mentioned to someone in another forum that aside from the sponsors, RockAuto.com was a good place for parts. Now that I have tried it, I would like to retract that for all the canucks in here. I ordered 3 parts totalling $12 US and in the end, with all the taxes, duties, conversions and shipping, the actual cost to me was $65 Can. So I guess it's buyer beware again. I'm sure other people have good things to say about them, but I guess it depends on where you live. So much for free trade, and if this offends anyone, my apologies, that's not the intent.

CHIMO

 

Well, we can't really have a discussion about it because there is a 2nd side to the story we cannot hear (their's). But the taxes,duties, fees for shipping products from the US to Canada are a given, they're always there and are assumed to be known. It's also a given that they'd be shipping charges (unless they advertise free shipping) for sending a product to a customer. A company in their position has no idea what the taxes, duties, etc etc are going to cost (I am a supervisor for a mail order company which sends products to Canada). I would not hold anything against this company from what I hear in your story, it sounds to me like you didn't realise there would be taxes/duties..etc etc and are upset about it. When you buy something for 12 bucks in the US, you have to factor in the conversion rate (about 1.3-1.5 times more) so that 12 bucks will be almost 20 (give or take depending on the rate of the day). Then 5 or more bucks for a processing fee at customs, 6-7 bucks for duty fees, couple bucks for taxes.....etc etc....sounds like you should be complaining about the Canadian Customs Service rather than the company you purchased from. Sorry but...I had to say it..I am in the same position at work that company would be in and I don't like it when customers get angry/upset with companies for stuff that isn't totally their fault. But like I said, there's a 2nd side to the story we can't hear so we can't really discuss this on FTE.

If you felt the company should have explained this to you....think about it from a business perspective. To sit there and explain all the fees and conversions, where they come from, what they are for, what they cost..etc etc...takes a few minutes. Then the customer is going to chip in with what they have to say, either complain, ask questions, etc etc. This could eaisly turn into a 10 minute conversation with every customer. It would cost a company thousands of dollars to have these 10 minute per customer explanations and is not worth the effort. 99% of the time customers know about it and never complain to our company about getting products from us into canada (about 1/6th of our business goes to canada). Therefore, we'd rather deal with the 1-2 people every couple months that really complain about it vs spend all these resources in preventing it.

In businesses it's all about "is it worth it" and it's the only way to keep a business running, if everything you do is "worth it" (there are a few exceptions though). I hope I have shed some light on your situation.

 

Point taken and you are correct. I should have elaborated a little. I knew there would be extra costs associated in respect to conversions, taxes and duty. What I wasn't expecting was the latest bill I received from the courier, which was the choice of the company. Probably their regular shipper. I had expected the cost to be around $50 Can, which is what I paid. The other cost came as a surprise as it showed up in the mail a week after the products were delivered with nothing mentioned by the delivery person. I've ordered ofther stuff from the states without a problem, and usually pay at the door when it arrives, but this time I got tagged twice for taxes. Once for the items ordered (as expected) and the second time for the processing fees by the courier.

Come to think of it, it's starting to sound like I should be po'd at the courier.

Anyway, thanks for setting me straight. I do like the companies web site and availability of parts, but I guess I caught off guard.

Regards

 

I've found that as a general rule of thumb when ordering from the States is to
plan on paying double the price once the exchange ,duties,taxes, brokerage, etc is figured in. IMHO Its best to stay away from companies that add handling charges rather than including them in their markup.

I've also found EBay Vendors who list items as located in Canada, but ship from US.

 

Double ?

I have seen stuff cost triple.

The best way for freight I have found is USPS (mail service) not any of the well known couriers,especially UPS as they tack on a $45.00 USD handling fee for expedite charges.
Canada Post charges $5.00 Cdn

 

I use to ship a lot of stuff to Canada and the broker fees can be a killer. As others stated, USPS is about the only way to go, though it tends not to be as reliable.

I would like to add, for a shipper it may not be possible to guarantee S&H costs and a ball park figure is all you can come up with because on some items it all depends on how is going to inspect the package once it comes into the country.