How is Harbor Freight when it comes to shipping to Canada?

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?

Reply to
Home Guy
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Hi, I don't know what you are trying to get, but USPS shipping costs least at our end. Checked Princess Auto?

Reply to
Tony Hwang

What did they say when you called them?

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One of your questions is answered on the bottom of the page.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

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.

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VD

Reply to
VirtualDen

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:

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Reply to
Home Guy

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.

Reply to
Home Guy

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.

Reply to
Tegger

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

  • taxes...WHEN they decide that the item is subject to those rules. I'd say that a good 75% of my orders aren't subject to any fees at all.

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.

Reply to
Borrall Wonnell

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