Any advice to cut down shipping cost?

[cobrAA 0]

Hey guys, i was wondering some tip on how to reduce cost on blade and shaft...

My dilema is: I bought a shaft for 25 us..(nice deal) but he say free shipping to USA..i'm in canada so he told me 25 us to be shipped...now 50us for this shaft isnt a great deal!

Buzz send me a shaft(49inch) and i saw it cost him 4 buck to get it shipped...how come seller do ask 20us for shaft and blade(OPS) and 15 even 20 us for shaft...when some other do ask 6 buck(blades) and 5 buck(shaft)

Any advice!? Thanks!

[seanmccann 3]

Some sellers make their money on the shipping. Also it can cost alot to pack a stick. Another thing is the shipping company. Some companies charge alot more for the same service.

I have shipped several OPS and they cost me $25 CDN each to send them anywhere in Canada.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

Are you buying from a store or an individual?

If it's a store, you can't really get away from it - duties are high.

If it's an individual, he's jacked up the shipping to make money. If you don't think it's worth it, then don't buy it.

[cobrAA 0]

always personal , well i try to only deal with personal

[Jason Harris 31]

The Post Office would cost $13.25 plus packaging (if he wants to charge for bubble wrap, etc.). UPS would cost around $10, but distance matters, so that could vary slightly. If he's charging more, he either is looking to make profit off the shipping or he isn't aware of the actual costs.

Here's the interesting thing I learned this week, since I had a major firestorm with shipping. A few of you have posted that you been charged for brokerage fees and duties when items have been shipped into Canada. It took about five UPS agents to finally get a good answer, but these are the requirements to avoid tariffs and duties:

1) The package must be person to person -- no businesses.

2) The package must be marked as a 'Gift.'

3) The value must be under $60 CAD.

UPS assured me that there would be no brokerage fees or duties assessed in that case. However, the possibility exists that customs could claim the value is unrealistic, but they probably wouldn't in most circumstances, since they wouldn't know the quality of the item in the package.

[SR27 0]

The Post Office would cost $13.25 plus packaging (if he wants to charge for bubble wrap, etc.). UPS would cost around $10, but distance matters, so that could vary slightly. If he's charging more, he either is looking to make profit off the shipping or he isn't aware of the actual costs.

Here's the interesting thing I learned this week, since I had a major firestorm with shipping. A few of you have posted that you been charged for brokerage fees and duties when items have been shipped into Canada. It took about five UPS agents to finally get a good answer, but these are the requirements to avoid tariffs and duties:

1) The package must be person to person -- no businesses.

2) The package must be marked as a 'Gift.'

3) The value must be under $60 CAD.

UPS assured me that there would be no brokerage fees or duties assessed in that case. However, the possibility exists that customs could claim the value is unrealistic, but they probably wouldn't in most circumstances, since they wouldn't know the quality of the item in the package.

Jason is right but keep in mind though that it might be a bit of a gamble if you make up values and declare as a personal gift. Besides the slim possibillity of costums officers inspecting the package (I once had to actually go to the airport customs myself and have something opened under my supervision) you should remember that you will only get refunded for the made up value in case the stick/shaft breaks or gets damaged during transport.

As a side note if you are sending stuff to Europe the value on the customs sticker should not be above 25$ and it should be delcared as gift as well.

[iceholes 0]

in some forms of reallity the value is true because it may come back to what it costs the manufacturer as a value...in this case, much less than $60... cost to replace as a consumer is different though...depends on the interpreter in a claims case... I know because I used to work for UPS/FedEx and have a lot of experience with transborder documentation and claims among other things.