how to buy from a company that does not ship to canada

[vincent-poon]

hello friends,

I've been wanting a jacket from www.backcountry.com for a while, but unfortunately they do not ship to Canada with some brands. I dont have any relatives in the states, so I cant ship it to the states.

I know there are proxy services, but I've never really dealt with them before, and can PO boxes help?

thanks all.

[Havo]

A lot of people/places don't ship to PO boxes since its an easy way for people to scam. There are proxy services or you can have the item shipped to one of those places that are just over the boarder and drive over to pick it up. They charge a fee for this service.

[Madchester]

eBay?

Neither Topman UK or US ship to Canada, but I've been able to find two coats I wanted via eBay. Got both items for 1/2 of the MSRP too.

[JJ23]

I signed up for bongous.com (Bongo US), a fairly large looking operation. I haven't tried it yet, but paid the 5$ initial charge, and sent in the form 53(?) for USPS authorization for them to reship. I believe thats so they can receive locally from US via USPS, and I believe they only mail to Canada and others, via DHL.

The reason I haven't tried them yet is I've found alternatives to getting the goods I needed from other sellers (non ebay, but lots of searching) & i'm admittedly a little wary - because while they look good and have some presence online, theres a negative stories too. I'm sure I'll use them one day though.

Hope this helps.

[meems]

I signed up to Borderlinx.com. This is one of the sites that will proxy-ship items from US to Canada. I was not worried because they have dealings with Visa where they give you a 15% discount for your first month membership.

I signed up because I also wanted to make a purchase that wouldn't ship here. The merchant from whom I bought the item, charged me $16 to get the item to the Borderlinx site. Borderlinx wanted to charge me $108 to ship to me!!! And that is not including duty and taxes...duty and taxes were actually quite reasonable. I had used their shipping cost calculator and the quote I received was nowhere near the amount they wanted to charge me. And often, you don;t even know what the merchant's package dimensions will be. They told me that I should have asked the merchant. Whatever...

So, if you're planning on using Bordelinx, watch their shipping rates!!

[vincent-poon]

wow, thanks, looks like i wont be using borderlinx, haha.
with bongo US, if they use DHL, wouldnt there be a great chance i will get charged by duties and customs?
I've gotten many things from USPS, but have never been charged with fees, only UPS, and fedex, haha.

[Mystix]

If you have access to a car, you can drive to USAdress 5mins away from the Canadian border.

You have your package sent to them and you pick it up for $5. I do have the though that they could close shop and take off with my package, but they have never disappointed me. Quite a few members on this board also use their services.

[vincent-poon]

If you have access to a car, you can drive to USAdress 5mins away from the Canadian border.

You have your package sent to them and you pick it up for $5. I do have the though that they could close shop and take off with my package, but they have never disappointed me. Quite a few members on this board also use their services.

is this place reliable?
it looks kinda shady from the picture on their site, haha

[murdoc2k]

I'm looking for similar alternatives, but unfortunately, I don't live close enough to the border to make this trip affordable and feasible (in terms of time). :|

[pmc]

Move, it's that simple :D

[CanuckBassist]

is this place reliable?
it looks kinda shady from the picture on their site, haha

I had two packages shipped there, definitely no problems. Make sure you bring US money. They gave me really horrible conversion rates for Canadian money.

[ji_hyun_jun]

you can either drive across the border or use a forwarding service. I used 'thelettercarrier' to forward something to me, which worked out fine. They charged for shipping the item, a flat rate for the forwarding service itself ($5), and flat rate for receiving ($2) the item.

However, reviews for thelettercarrier have not been great, which I found out after using them, but i didn't run into any problems personally. There's an entire thread on these services in shopping discussion.

[Angry-Lemming]

Most MailBoxes Etc, now known as The UPS Store will accept your packages. Just find the nearest branch location across the border and ask them for details.

Shipping address would be:

Your Name
C/O The UPS Store
UPStore address

[Evil Baby]

I've used this place (http://canammailbox.tripod.com/) at least 8 times. Of course it's bout 7 minutes from my house but if you want to make a day trip down to Niagara Falls it's a easy jump over the boarder to pick up your parcel.

However before you try to ship to a place in the U.S., does the company you are trying to buy an item from accept Canadian credit cards? I know one place I was trying to shop at did not. I had to wait nearly a year until they accepted Paypal.

[vincent-poon]

I've used this place (http://canammailbox.tripod.com/) at least 8 times. Of course it's bout 7 minutes from my house but if you want to make a day trip down to Niagara Falls it's a easy jump over the boarder to pick up your parcel.

However before you try to ship to a place in the U.S., does the company you are trying to buy an item from accept Canadian credit cards? I know one place I was trying to shop at did not. I had to wait nearly a year until they accepted Paypal.

How are their rates and service like?
But I've already purchased the jacket, and I went with USaddress. I read some other forums' suggestions, and most of them suggest usaddress. Gonna pick it up on saturday, will update on the service and their authenticity.

thank you for all the help.

[Evil Baby]

How are their rates and service like?
But I've already purchased the jacket, and I went with USaddress. I read some other forums' suggestions, and most of them suggest usaddress. Gonna pick it up on saturday, will update on the service and their authenticity.

thank you for all the help.

If it's just a 1 time pickup it's $5.50

[vincent-poon]

Ok so today I went over to the states to pick up the jacket. The USaddress was literally like 5mins away from the customs booth. Went there to show them my drivers license, and they matched the last name to find the package, really kind people.

I paid $5 and the package was mine. I had to remove the box and they even offered to take the box. Then I removed all tags and wore the jacket, because umm... it was really cold today:cheesygri

The jacket is by far the most technologically advance jacket I've had, and I hope it will serve me for a long time.

Recommend USaddress :)

[Bookpreviews]

I've used this place (http://canammailbox.tripod.com/) at least 8 times. Of course it's bout 7 minutes from my house but if you want to make a day trip down to Niagara Falls it's a easy jump over the boarder to pick up your parcel.

However before you try to ship to a place in the U.S., does the company you are trying to buy an item from accept Canadian credit cards? I know one place I was trying to shop at did not. I had to wait nearly a year until they accepted Paypal.

You can alwaya try and change your billing address to a US one for your purchase and them change it back right after.

I do that all the time to buy US items where they only accept US credit cards.

Visa is not always good for that,but somehow mastercard works well.
Helps if y ou have a friend in the US or else maybe use a hotel for the billing address and change it back a few hours later or the next day so they do not receive your actual bill.

I've done that with atleast 10 different websites with no problems.
The only problem I had lately was I forgot to change my billing address back abd my mother received my bill at her cottage address in the US.
But, even then that is not a big deal as you can view bills online theseday :)

MBNA also told me that instead of calling them you can update account info online yourself and change it back :)

[Evil Baby]

You can alwaya try and change your billing address to a US one for your purchase and them change it back right after.

I do that all the time to buy US items where they only accept US credit cards.

Visa is not always good for that,but somehow mastercard works well.
Helps if y ou have a friend in the US or else maybe use a hotel for the billing address and change it back a few hours later or the next day so they do not receive your actual bill.

I've done that with atleast 10 different websites with no problems.
The only problem I had lately was I forgot to change my billing address back abd my mother received my bill at her cottage address in the US.
But, even then that is not a big deal as you can view bills online theseday :)

MBNA also told me that instead of calling them you can update account info online yourself and change it back :)


Cool, never thought of that, I'll have to keep it in mind for next time.

[CanuckBassist]

You can alwaya try and change your billing address to a US one for your purchase and them change it back right after.

I do that all the time to buy US items where they only accept US credit cards.

Visa is not always good for that,but somehow mastercard works well.
Helps if y ou have a friend in the US or else maybe use a hotel for the billing address and change it back a few hours later or the next day so they do not receive your actual bill.

I've done that with atleast 10 different websites with no problems.
The only problem I had lately was I forgot to change my billing address back abd my mother received my bill at her cottage address in the US.
But, even then that is not a big deal as you can view bills online theseday :)

MBNA also told me that instead of calling them you can update account info online yourself and change it back :)

I checked the address change page on MBNA, and it only accepts Canadian addresses. How did you manage to get around that?

[KadenceW]

I'd go with your first reply and try ebay. I buy a lot online but customs and duties can really add up, and those proxy services get expensive. If you find something on Ebay even from the states the seller (and you can ask them) will usually mark the value as lower and ship it as a gift so you don't get customs.
USPS is the best, almost never get customs. You can google it for the information but USPS doesnt charge an additional brokerage fees like UPS and FedEx do, so they are cheaper.

[Angry-Lemming]

I just had my credit card company add the US shipping address onto my mastercard's additional info. Not sure how they do it on their end, but I've used the US shipping address as my billing address a few times now and haven't had any problems yet.

Inbetween US purchases, I still use my card for daily canadian transactions with my regular home address.

[DLFB]

hmmm, I might want to try this.

Vincent, how did you pay for your rental fee?

[CanuckBassist]

hmmm, I might want to try this.

Vincent, how did you pay for your rental fee?

If you're asking about USAddressInc, you can use their service as a non-renter and just pay $5 for each package.

[vincent-poon]

hmmm, I might want to try this.

Vincent, how did you pay for your rental fee?

you simple have to sign up for a account, then they will send you your USAdressInc address.
When they receive the product, you have to pick it up within 5 days, and u just pay $5 up front.
Very nice people to deal with.

[junot111]

I'd go with your first reply and try ebay. I buy a lot online but customs and duties can really add up, and those proxy services get expensive. If you find something on Ebay even from the states the seller (and you can ask them) will usually mark the value as lower and ship it as a gift so you don't get customs.
USPS is the best, almost never get customs. You can google it for the information but USPS doesnt charge an additional brokerage fees like UPS and FedEx do, so they are cheaper.

I agree. Ebay is a lot cheaper than ordering directly and if you do your research you likely won't be disappointed with your product.And AVOID DHL shipping at all costs.

[CanuckBassist]

You can alwaya try and change your billing address to a US one for your purchase and them change it back right after.

I do that all the time to buy US items where they only accept US credit cards.

Visa is not always good for that,but somehow mastercard works well.
Helps if y ou have a friend in the US or else maybe use a hotel for the billing address and change it back a few hours later or the next day so they do not receive your actual bill.

I've done that with atleast 10 different websites with no problems.
The only problem I had lately was I forgot to change my billing address back abd my mother received my bill at her cottage address in the US.
But, even then that is not a big deal as you can view bills online theseday :)

MBNA also told me that instead of calling them you can update account info online yourself and change it back :)

I called MBNA a few nights ago to change my shipping address to a US one for online shopping, and the customer service woman told me that I can't do that. How did you manage it?

[viperjatt]

Ok so today I went over to the states to pick up the jacket. The USaddress was literally like 5mins away from the customs booth. Went there to show them my drivers license, and they matched the last name to find the package, really kind people.

I paid $5 and the package was mine. I had to remove the box and they even offered to take the box. Then I removed all tags and wore the jacket, because umm... it was really cold today:cheesygri

The jacket is by far the most technologically advance jacket I've had, and I hope it will serve me for a long time.

Recommend USaddress :)

Hi, So i was just wondering that if there is a site that ships to Canada but instead i want to ship it to that USadress place to save money on shipping (shipping to canada begins from 15 $ and up, but inside the U.S it's only like 4$) would I be able to do this?

[CanuckBassist]

Hi, So i was just wondering that if there is a site that ships to Canada but instead i want to ship it to that USadress place to save money on shipping (shipping to canada begins from 15 $ and up, but inside the U.S it's only like 4$) would I be able to do this?

What exactly are you wondering? USAddress can accept any sort of packages for you for $5. For an extra $11, I'd rather get it shipped to Canada instead. It cost me ~$30 in gas and a few hours of my life for the round trip from Toronto to pick up my packages last time.

[viperjatt]

What exactly are you wondering? USAddress can accept any sort of packages for you for $5. For an extra $11, I'd rather get it shipped to Canada instead. It cost me ~$30 in gas and a few hours of my life for the round trip from Toronto to pick up my packages last time.

Well for me its different as I travel to Buffalo using the Niagra Falls border very often so to me I would be saving money.