Any Canucks here have any experience with buying mail order from Harbor Freight?
Shipping or Customs horror stories?
Do they insist on using UPS, or can I have them use a corporate FedEx account?
Any Canucks here have any experience with buying mail order from Harbor Freight?
Shipping or Customs horror stories?
Do they insist on using UPS, or can I have them use a corporate FedEx account?
Hi, I don't know what you are trying to get, but USPS shipping costs least at our end. Checked Princess Auto?
What did they say when you called them?
I never use Fedex or UPS. It cost more than 30% in brokerage fee using UPS, not sure about Fedex but I know they charge a lot too. I never buy anymore from USA if they do not ship USPS. I once bought a $1100.00 roadbike. I was surprise by the huge brokerage fee about $350.00.
UPS had a bad reputation for charging a fortune for customs brokerage. I don't know if that's still the case or not.
Princess Auto can't touch this, not for 3 times the price:
We do our shipping to and from the US using our FedEx account, and brokerage fees are very low, maybe even zero.
UPS was a crock of shit last I remembered - that's why I was asking.
I will say that I order stuff sometimes from tigerdirect.ca, and the stuff is shipped directly to me from their US warehouse and the shipping charges are pretty reasonable - no bullshit brokerage fees that I could see.
Home Guy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Guy.com:
If you use FedEx Express, brokerage fees are included in the shipping price. If you use FedEx Ground, you arrange--and pay for--your own brokerage.
According to their FAQ, HF ships "anywhere in the world". That's nice, as Princess Auto is a pale imitation of HF; it's a Harbor Freight knockoff.
I believe at least some of TigerDirect's Canadian-market stuff comes from their warehouse on East Beaver Creek Road, in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
They fees are in there, but TigerDirect's sales volume is so high they probably get a break on the brokerage fees. They may also do their own customs clearance, the way FedEx Express does, which would dramatically lower costs and improve turnaround times.
It's a well-earned reputation. UPS ground shipping, particularly for smaller orders, is ridiculously priced for the end user. Not only does UPS charge brokerage, they charge a fee for paying taxes on our behalf. So for a $25 item we might owe $4 in taxes. UPS charges a minimum fee to pay that tax on our behalf (I think it's around $6, increasing depending on the item value). So instead of $4 it's $10. That's on top of the brokerage fee and the shipping cost itself...I once bought a $30 item that ended up costing $80 (my first UPS experience). Needless to say, I avoid them like the plague. If I lived in the US it would be a different story.
Canada Post (i.e. shipped via USPS) charges a brokerage of $5 per box
FedEx is middle of the road for my purposes. Much better than UPS in terms of brokerage fees and bullshit fees. Stuff gets here faster than USPS/CP. When USPS isn't available I go FedEx.
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