Shipping charges for Canadians

bisonguy

bisonguy

Active Member
I just wanted to pass along some advice for Canadians ordering electronic supplies from the U.S.
I have ordered for years from Mouser, Digikey and Newark. Great service and reasonable costs. Mouser is $8 standard rate to Canada. However, last week I was trying to find 8V 50 milliamp bulbs for the power meters on my Sansui 9090DB. I found a post where someone had sourced them at MCM electronics so I went to their website. The cost of the lamps was good (0.54 cents each) so I ordered 8 just to have some extra. Total cost of $$4.32. Their shipping cost said to be determined at time of shipping but they offered shipping by U.S. Post so I chose that. A few days later I see a charge on my credit card for $44.06 Canadian. I called the MCM Electronics customer support and was told that my shipping charge in U.S. dollars was $28 and a few pennies. When I asked how that could be for 8 micro mini bulbs in a padded envelope that probably weigh less than an ounce and are being shipped by U.S. Post. I was told that's the charge and that's that.
Lesson learned: MCM electronics is probably a great source of parts if you are in the U.S. but if you are Canadian do not order from them.
In hindsight, I should have ordered from Audiokarma member DGWOJO who has helped me before with lamps at a reasonable cost both for the parts and shipping.
 
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Thank you, Guy. I know i order Lps from the states to my sisters house ion the Florida up to 3 records for 4$ here (canada) it would cost about 20$++
 
Check the envelope to see what was paid when it arrives.

If it was substantially less than $28 (and it should be), I'd dispute it with the credit card company as fraudulent billing.

But then, they may have taken it upon themselves to give you super deluxe shipping.

I live in Canada too and I often decide not to order products from businesses in the US because they provide outrageous and non-sensical shipping quotes. Truth is, it really doesn't cost that much more to ship something across the Canada/US border with postal service.
 
I live close to the border so I pick items up from a p.o. box. Sometimes I get nailed for duty, sometimes not.....
 
Mouser's minimum shipping charge to Canada is $20 (as of 2 mins ago) Digikey is $8. Mouser' prices are usually cheaper but my orders have never been enough to make up for the difference. If a site adds shipping at checkout I just don't bother anymore.
 
Interesting, I live in the US and have ordered from MCM a few times. My one complaint is speed of service. Everytime I've ordered from them I've had to wait several business days before they've even processed my order, nonetheless shipped it! Perhaps order backup at the warehouses? I don't know.

That's ashame on the shipping though- absolutely outrageous for what you were purchasing.

In the future, and again I'm not familiar with Canadia, but for odd bulbs and lamps I tend to use the local Truevalue here that still carries electronic hobby parts, a local hobby store, or a battery store that specialises in odd watch batteries and such. There is a chain here that carries all sort of odd lamp bulbs. Good luck next time!
 
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Its not only Canada where this is a problem. Living in Hawaii I have had this happen to me a few times. I will no longer purchase from a vendor who will not indicate shipping costs prior to my doing a final checkout. However even then its not a guarantee. Case in point, I recently placed an order with a company who made a partial shipment then for the followup shipment of a 25 foot roll of 22 gauge wire charged me an additional $25.00 shipping.
 
This is why I cannot order from Parts Express. They charge a crazy amount of shipping for what should be a small package that I know I have had shipped from the US for a lot less.

It always makes me wary when they say they will calculate shipping after. They send you an invoice to pay, and then it ends up being too much - and you're stuck with it? Not fair in my opinion.
 
It's funny, because even inside the US I have had this occur, where they don't charge you the shipping until the staggered part is shipped. The shipping has been negligible so far- as to why I don't complain, but still, I agree the principal is unsound. This particular instance was with Newark.
 
It's a shame that the charges are as high as they are but the "big guys" like Mouser and DigiKey are not the only players.

There are local shops that still do mail order and though I don't expect they will have a fraction of what those guys have, they are still worth supporting.

Here are some I know of here in my area and of course I have no affiliation other than being a customer:

http://www.mainelectronics.com/

http://www.rpelectronics.com/

http://leeselectronic.com/
 
xrayspex77 said:
Mouser's minimum shipping charge to Canada is $20 (as of 2 mins ago) Digikey is $8. Mouser' prices are usually cheaper but my orders have never been enough to make up for the difference. If a site adds shipping at checkout I just don't bother anymore.
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Just to be fair to Mouser, their actual shipping charge is $8 if you choose U.S. Post which I always do. Great company and I have no problem with their shipping charges. Through U.S. Post there is never any duty charged (GST) unless the order is over $100 Canadian.
The bulbs arrived about 10 minutes ago. Total cost in U.S. dollars for the 8 mini bulbs was $4.32. Shipping and handling charges were $28.88. The padded envelope does not show the actual cost charged by U.S. Post, but based on previous orders from other folks in the States I would expect about $3.
Lesson learned. I will never order from any company again unless the shipping charge is clearly stated. I hope these super expensive bulbs are super bright.
 
How was the package shipped? It makes a difference. If Priority it gets tracking and costs more money. If just first class or standard post it is less.

You can look at the USPS website and see exactly how much was paid to ship that package to your. It is a package as it is more then ¼" thick and less than 6x11½" where the thickness can be 3/4". Those are letters and ship cheaper. A package is more money but you can see how much based on the class of service.
 
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