Gravity is your enemy

Everyone knows that pushing things up is much more work than down. That's why shipping to Mexico is almost free, since things tend to fall on their own.  Going to Canada you're fighting gravity all the way, and with fuel prices being what they are, that's an expensive fight.

What you need to do is to find a model railroad manufacturer/retailer based somethere north of you.  Preferably as close to the north pole as possible, so that the items will have enough time to really build up momentum and can thus coast all the way to your door.

Misconception

That's a misconception that north is up. Can you explain why north is up? It's not because when you look at a globe setting on your desk that has north facing up. (ROFLOL)

Bernd

Canada is definitely "up"

We always get cold winds blowing in from Canada.

It is a scientific fact that cold air sinks and warm air rises

Since the cold air comes from Canada, Canada must be "up" for the air to sink. 

Misconceptions...

Well, we do say UP North and way DOWN South... [wink]

As for the OP's statement, I have to disagree.

Having spent several years shopping both on eBay and with a number of US based vendors, I know that shipping charges can be a factor.  However, I also know that I can shop on eBay and pay less (including shipping) at times and I can offset shipping costs to a degree by changing how I shop.

Always communicate with vendors about shipping.  Many vendors like to ship using USPS Priority Mail International.  It's a great level of service but it is also costly.  I prefer to wait a little longer for my order to arrive and have the vendor ship via First Class Mail International whenever possible.

I avoid vendors who insist on using UPS to ship.  I have never been happy with the service I have gotten from UPS, whether in business or personally.  I have been gouged with ridiculous "brokering fees" applied for doing nothing more than collecting GST on an order and shipping is typically more costly with UPS, IMO.  Canada Post on the other hand IIRC does not even collect GST on orders of less than $100 and only charges a flat rate $5 to collect the tax.  I always choose USPS if I can when shipping from the US.

I avoid buying insurance if I can.  I have yet to be bitten by this practice really.  Most of the stuff I have shipped to me arrives in good shape and I have never had a package go missing.  Knock on wood.

Avoid small orders.  I find paper is expensive to ship.  I would never order two pads of track warrants to be shipped internationally.  I would pad the order out with other stuff I want or need to offset the cost of shipping, or better yet, print the track warrants at home and save shipping that way.

Vendors often have standard sized packaging.  I've found that a box half full, ships for about the same cost as a full box does, unless the weight is changed considerably.  Larger orders also spread the shipping costs over more items so the cost of the shipping does not double the price of one item.

Remember packaging for international shipping costs money too and an employee has to be paid to pack those orders.  Those costs exist when shipping in Canada too.  I actually feel that shipping across Canada is generally more expensive and takes nearly as long as shipping from the US to Canada.  Oddly enough, items I have had shipped to me from Hong Kong, the UK and Australia often arrive fairly quickly and for less than it costs to ship across the country or from the US.  Go figure.

On that bridge, did you communicate with Exactrail about the cost of shipping?  I have had several orders shipped to me from Dallas Model Works in Texas.  Craig has been very good working with me to reduce shipping costs.  Also, he can supply much of what is in the Micro-Mark catalog, often at a discount.  Scenic Express is also good about working to reduce shipping.  Micro-Mark will ship most of their items via USPS rather than UPS.  Communication is key.  I find most vendors are more than willing to adjust their shipping practices to save me money.  If they are not willing to help, I place them on my do not buy list.

I do agree that shipping charges add to the cost of items I buy from outside Canada but often the item is still cheaper, even with shipping included and in many cases I can't find the item I want where I am, so shipping becomes a necessary evil. Of course, mileage will vary but I have found that by working with vendors I can shop south of the border and be happy with what I pay for the items I order.

To show how good the MRH forum is

If you want to buy one of their great bridge kits from my Central Valley neighbors, I'll ship it up to you for my usual US domestic $6.00.

Andy

$6.00 To Canada Andy?

Do I understand correctly? Is this to ship it to Canada?

Kevin makes some great points

Yes

to CANADA!

Agreed, but...

I still have an Athearn crane on the way here from Florida for $5.75 shipping cost.  Pretty cheap if you ask me.  I doubt Canada Post could even come close to that.  I'll see what the actual shipping cost was when it arrives.

Dave, how many extra bags can you take with you?  Want to start a mail order business? [wink]

Very good!

Very awesome Andy!

It won't be right away, but expect to see an order coming...

I can manage

two check bags and a carry on by myself, provided both checked have wheels (which mine do).  The problem is my limitation on bringing stuff back duty free.  Last trip I had about $300 of unused room but my bags were bursting (it was my Scenic Express order and a smaller order from Fifer Hobbies). If I'm heading south and expect to have room, Kevin, I'll give you a shout.

Duty Free?

Is there duty on hobby supplies?  Are you limited to how much you can declare?  Is it costly to pay for the extra that one might bring back.  Having never been south of the border I am clueless about all this.

I'll admit it would be great to ship a suitcase full of hobby stuff to your hotel and have you bring it back with you but I was not being dead serious, though it struck me that maybe you could have a sideline mail order outlet and be competitive if you could bring back merchandise on business trips...

Stocking up on scenic express goodies similar to what you did would be cool...

Duty free

Generally I believe there's no duty, but there's GST or HST, and if you're not careful, the UPS "brokerage fee". 

My latest horror was an $8.00 charge from one federal government department for collecting less than that amount in HST.

David

I think it depends

I've never gone over the limit, so I don't know for certain what the fees are now, but I thought products originating in China (like most of the stuff we buy), was subject to duty plus applicable taxes, in our cases PST and GST, which on $700 is $70 - still not cheap.

Shipping charges misconception

Hi,

From time to time we (Fast Tracks) get feedback from customers about the shipping charges and it always strikes me as odd that some believe that we are the company that is actually doing the shipping.

When you make a purchase online, the vendor will arrange shipping on your behalf from another company, and what that other company charges (be it USPS, FedEx, UPS etc) is pretty much out of their control.  Unfortunately it is usually the vendor that gets a blast about the extensive shipping charges and not the actual company that is charging it...

We underwrite a huge amount of the shipping fees.  If our customers, which are mainly in the US, actually knew what the shipping charges were they would have a fit.  For most of the items we ship to the US, we pay the majority of the shipping fees ourselves to shield our customers from the gouging that the shipping companies charge.  Any we almost always recommend not using UPS.  When a customer selects UPS as a shipping options, we are pretty much guaranteed to get a nasty email from them complaining about a fee that UPS charged (brokerage), and that has nothing to do with us!  We lose business because of the behavior of the shipping company we are held hostage to...

This is almost exclusively an issue with US customers.  Europe, Asia and Australian customers almost never complain about shipping charges as they are well used to the reality of what it costs to ship.

Keep in mind, if buying online, the shipping fees are *usually* coming from a third party service and not from the vendor you are dealing with.  The smart companies will eat as much of the shipping fees as possible...

Actually...

Actually when arranging shipping from a vendor, the vendor is arranging shipping on your behalf with one company, and in the case of international shipping, that company arranges shipping with another company.  For example, you purchase from a company in Canada, they arrange to ship your items with Canada Post, Canada Post will arrange to ship the item to the USPS, who then will arrange to ship it to you.  All these services coordinate with each other on your behalf, usually in real time, to get something to you for $20.  The reality is, they are working pretty cheap for what you get.

If you are willing to wait a week to 10 days to receive your items, it will be a bit cheaper.

As I mentioned earlier, we offer a shipping method for free, on orders over $100.  Typically that will cost us anywhere from $10 to $20 to ship the order, and we eat that completely.  In the end though, it is worth it for us as it does increase the volume of orders we process because free shipping is such a nice perk!

Going the other direction though, from the US to Canada, very, very few companies are willing to eat the cost of shipping to Canada to lure such a small market, so we, like most international customers, have to cough up whatever the shipping company wishes to charge.

Duty

The are not Duties on "Model Railroad Kits and Parts" coming into Canada. Previous to the efforts of Promotex Inc. in the early 90's there were significant duties on these items coming from various parts of the world.

From the 2012 Tarif: 9503.00.90.20 - Electric trains, including tracks, signals and other accessories therefor - Duty: FREE

- Bill

Loopholes

So, live steamers are not duty free? < eg>

there's more

If you look into the tariff, there is more. Basically all scale models for hobby purposes are now covered.

Declaring items as "model railroad kits and parts" is sufficient for exemption. PST/GST/HST of course still apply.

What most Canadians traveling

What most Canadians traveling back into Canada refer to as "Duty Free" is in reality a duty AND sales tax exemption. Due to various free trade agreements, there is very little consumer goods that are subject to duties. However, all goods are subject to sales taxes (GST and PST (if applicable) or HST.) Depending on how long one has been out of the country, the duty and sales taxes are exempted. If out of the country more than 24 hours, it is $200. If out of the country more than 48 hours, it is $800. Be careful with the 24 hour $200 exemption, if you have more than $200, all of it will be subject to duty and taxes. That does not appear to be the case with the 48 hours $800 exemption.

For complete official information, see this page: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/media/facts-faits/060-eng.html

As mentioned, this is for Canadians returning to Canada.

Thanks for the clarification Jim

I didn't explain it very well, so thank you for making it more clear.  You really are only tax exempt as there is no duty on model trains.

update

In the interest of fairness Exactrail has introduced a USPS parcel rate that brings this cost down to $7.40 so I ordered a bridge.

Cost

I was looking around today on that auction site to buy a couple of sets of the JL Innovation gasoline pumps. The first set I found had a buy it now price of $12.00 for a pair. The shipping to Canada was indicated at $21.00 for Priority Post.

I dropped him a note asking if the S&H was correct. It was correct. He will only ship to Canada with Priority Post, even little items that fit in an envelope. Most merchants when contracted in a situation with a small item will ship it regluar mail.They only use Priority Post for more expensive items.

I found two sets of the gas pumps, each listed at $6.00 and paid $4.35 postage.

dave1905, It's not uncommon

dave1905,

It's not uncommon where I live in Canada for a cold front from the U.S. ruining our warm day, but keep in mind, the cold front originally came from another area in Canada.

Another interesting fact is there are cities in Canada that are much warmer in the winter than that of American cities situated east of the Rockies near the 49th parallel.

The average high temperature in Vancouver in the winter is 42F compare that to Caribou Maine at 10F or Chicago at 22F and both those U.S. cities are farther south than that of Vancouver.

Back on subject, I always insist anything I order from the U.S. be sent by USPS and if the retailer only wants to use UPS, I take my business elsewhere if they are adamant about using a courier.