Shipping from the US to Canada - Best service
The amount of used equipment in Canada is surprisingly limited and the prices often inflated due to limited supply. I have bought many things off E-Bay from the U.S. but mainly small and not quite as fragile as audio equipment. Ebay also offers cross-border services to make life easier for shippers.
I am looking at 3 different methods:
- Ship directly (UPS, etc.)
- Ship to a location in the US near the border and driving to pick up (there are many services)
- Use a 3rd party cross-border service. Item gets shipped to them, and then they get it into Canada and the final destination. I was surprised this could be much cheaper than UPS or FEDEX direct.
My question is for sellers:
- I assume it is much easier for you to ship within the U.S.? Would this influence your desire to sell an item as opposed to someone in Canada?
- Would you be uncomfortable shipping to a 3rd party forwarder and prefer to ship to a pickup location (these are staffed and monitored)
@grislybutter that would be the difference. Yours arrive :-) Our service is better the last 10 years. Technology has helped. They still treat your package like a football, but they can't throw as far any more. @elrod I ship items for work FEDEX for next day into the United States all the time. Rarely is it late. It is expensive, and the items are not heavy or fragile. |
I have used UPS and FedEx for items I sold to Canadian buyers. In fact, I used UPS to ship a Benchmark HPA4 preamp to a guy in France. UPS did all the customs work and the buyer had to pay duty. Same thing occurred for Canada. I am actually in Toronto for a few weeks and hope to check out Kennedy HiFi or some other shops. BTW - USAudiomart for Canada has some good used prices. |
A lot of good equipment can be found for sale in Canada. I have not sold but have bought a few items in Canada All successful except one disaster (seller failed to double box-required for insurance) taught me to discuss shipping with seller, ascertain their competence prior to purchase. Even OEM boxes need to be double boxed. Twice I used UPS ’pack and ship’. Not the least costly, but if you want it .... You tell Canada UPS (or domestic, works the same way) the size and weight, they give you an estimate, and ’expect’ your item to be dropped off in your name. Seller, who says ’local pickup only’ simply drops off the item unpackaged to nearby ’pack and ship’ location (not all are). UPS gives you exact price, a bit more, a bit less. UPS is responsible for safe packaging, any damage, and all transactions are in your name, seller not involved. NOTE: If seller includes insurance, it is for your benefit, but purchased in their name, and they must handle the claim, sooo even if box looks fine, take some phone photos upon arrival, and photos while unpacking layer by layer, to document any surprise problem within. Helped me with my disaster, which took time because seller had to make the claim with my documentation of his packing failure. In that case, the insurance claim was denied (single box), so PayPal threatened to close seller’s account, and my credit card stopped payment and notified PayPal a fraud claim was pending. Got full refund. That’s why I always advise: Get an Invoice for Goods (not friends and family); and Fund your PayPal account with your Credit Card with best protection. OH YEAH, seller put or Canada UPS looked, declared the Vintage TT an 'Antique', said they don't insure antiques. Took the money, but denied on that basis regardless of poor packaging. Check with insureer when buying Vintage. |
