I have asked the same of E-bay sellers in the States & forum members, and use Canada Post/USPS when shipping to the States.

If there is any extra cost w/ USPS, it's far less than other carriers "brokerage fees" etc on the receiving end in Canada.

Expect to spend a little more time at the USPS filling out some forms, I have always appreciated it when US sellers ship USPS, it may take a little longer also, but the savings are worth it.

Note that Canada Post was on strike and were just ordered back to work, so things will take even longer, I'm sure the interested party in Canada knows that.

USPS is the best method for shipment to Canada. It is simple and reliable. Most importantly, it saves the Canadian buyer the heartache of huge additional costs.flower

Yes - this is correct - USPS is the cheapest method for us in Canada to receive packages from the USA. Because, UPS is a Courier service and we are charged a "brokerage" fee when the package is delivered - over and above the full shipping (and handling sometimes) fee that we already paid to have the item mailed to us.

Also....even if our American bothers/sisters use USPS....if Canada Customs opens and inspects (handles) the mail that fee is passed on to us.

A note regarding the recent strike:

I have a friend that works for Canada Post. He told me today that there is a huge backlog of mail caused by the strike. They were legislated back to work last week but they are not doing the overtime to catch up. It will take some time to whittle the mail down and back to normal.

Still....I think the overall service is great and in most cases the cost to be able to "have" that drum or hardware we need/want is well worth the price we pay. Just think what it would have been like trying find that needed part a couple of decades ago without access to the Internet and/or the huge USA market like we have today.

Agreed.........overall, in all of my many, many transactions I have rarely had any shipping issues with USPS. It is amazing to think years ago without the internet, of the lack of availability of vintage drums. There isn't a single music shop in almost all of Ontario that sells any sort of vintage drums. flower

Gary,how about shipping large boxes via Greyhound?

I am shipping my Meazzi Hollywood kit to Toronto,and I thought maybe that would help the dude save some coin...........

And maybe someone with a few really good, and wealthy, friends should open a small, vintage drum shop there? It would do such robust business the costs would be far overshadowed by the profits. If I were to move to Canada, it would likely be Victoria....the downtown area, the absolute beauty of that city is astounding. It makes Seattle look like a dump, and Seattle is also a truly beautiful city. If I were to move to the PacWest (ugh), it would have to be one of those two. I would definitely open a vintage drum center in Victoria, knowing all the people I do in Seattle and Portland. Vintage MIJ, vintage American and vintage European drums are everywhere to be found in those cities and mostly affordable....Gary????? Why you no retire and open de store? Que???

You would have to be downtown for the cruise ship and tourist business, but can you imagine the profitability of sending God-awfully expensive drums to Europe and Japan? My wallet is already salivating..., but man, what a place to be! As long as a brother has a good shipping address, there are at least three good members on this forum that would be willing to stock you up, and for the little cost of USPS, it could be a very lucrative biz!

And the "short" drive to Port Angeles/Seattle, via ferry of course, could relinquish a few very good kits to the little Garden Capitol of the great northwest. And, once they are in the country, the shipping to other provinces and cities, plus the doubling of what they cost, would likely make a man very happy (if not wealthy) indeed...so I guess I just talked myself into moving...now to work on mommy and little jonnistix. And with Canadian medicine, I could be go to the doc every 3 years, (and likely be cured) if I needed to...hehe

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Looked into it......

CANNOT ship via Greyhound to Canada from USA!

Jonni

It sounds like you've given this business venture some thought.

It does sound tempting. But, I am 'winding down' in my retirement.....simplifying my life (I hope). I would love to visit a nice new JonniVintageDrums shop in Victoria though. I'd most definately be a customer.

Yes - we do need something like that here - a vintage drum shop that will ship to all points in Canada....without the Canada Customs and Brokerage fees - sounds good to me. I'm sure it is not an easy business to be in. However, it may be the right time for something like that here.

Gary, I'm just a businessman and know how it works, no matter where a person sets up shop. It is a very simple equation....cost+overhead+profit, if it is not part of the initial overhead,+shortages=enough to live on anyway. You would not even need to do feebay sales, in my opinion, in order to make a good profit. With the economy the way it is, I can see someone doing very well in your area!