Thread: Question about shipping to Canada

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Just a general question and inquiring about U.S shipping to Canada, is ups the only method of shipping, seems ups is outragious in their prices......
If you are shipping say an animated 5ft prop, is there any other method cheaper to send besides ups way?

flat rate??

have you sold anything with flat rate especially that big? An info would help me tremendiousl o.0!

You will need to check out the majority of carriers for individual pricing. Many of the things I have purchased are cheapest via USPS (United States Postal Service). I have not ordered anything that large from the US. You should look into Fedex, UPS and possiblly Yellow/Reimer Freight for larger items.

Some things you will need to consider in addition to the shipping cost are duties and taxes and possible brokerage fees. Although illegal many vendors will post it as a gift. If so, you may not need to pay duty and tax. If they consider it a retail purchase you will. If you purchase it with the intent of reselling it and your commerical invoice states this you will pay even greater duties and taxes.

With all this, to get true savings from purchasing from the US, you should try and find the same item in Canada to compare final costs. Paying for duties/taxes and brokerage fees is often why Canadian retailers seem to be priced so much greater.

Good luck with your purchase.

The problem with the postal service is no tracking, no guarantees. Even if you certify/return receipt/priority/etc, there is no guarantee, no refund, no nothing. Only Overnight/Express has any kind of guarantee on it. I definitely wouldn't use it for anything expensive, however I still use it for smaller stuff that's not worth the UPS cost. And Priority seems to be pretty reliable these days.

alot had changed in shipping, although I agree with the postal service of no guarentee as specially a big halloween prop, I definitely want a refund if damaged, lost or other. I sure is expensive shipping with Fed ex, UPS alittle cheaper but not by much for example say a big prop weighing 26lbs box size:48"X16"X13" Fed ex wants $117 shipping UPS: $98

I've shipped MANY things to Canada over the years, mainly to Quebec.
The person I send the things to prefers UPS, so I've never checked out any other carriers.
From my city in North Carolina it costs roughly $75.00 to ship a life size Gemmy in the box and takes about a week to arrive. Smaller boxes are more reasonable. Anywhere from $15.00 to $40.00.

Originally Posted by DaveintheGrave

I've shipped MANY things to Canada over the years, mainly to Quebec.
The person I send the things to prefers UPS, so I've never checked out any other carriers.
From my city in North Carolina it costs roughly $75.00 to ship a life size Gemmy in the box and takes about a week to arrive. Smaller boxes are more reasonable. Anywhere from $15.00 to $40.00.

I guess it depends on the size of the box Creepy Cathy was in a large box being 26lbs or maybe it depends on where it is sent from? I don't know but $75 Ups sure sounds better than $98 ! So in the end, I opt to not paying that amount and no Creepy Cathy

get a post office box in the states thats close to your border location mail it to that address go over and pick it up? dont know how far you would have to travel to hop across the border and with the gas prices ?? that or find a buddy in the states that will ship it to you buy a different method ??/

I plan on doing most of my shipping over the next couple of months with DHL. Just signed up, and their prices are about 25% less that of UPS or FedEx. Didn't check international pricing, but it should be lower as well. I would recommend DHL when dealing with large packages, UPS for medium sized packages, and USPS for flat-rate and envelopes.