Canadian Online Shop

[keeper]

Can anyone recommend a Canadian online shop with good prices and shipping?
A colleague of mine will be in Canada visiting his in-laws so he could bring some stuff over on his way back.

Thanks, Thomas 

[peteski]

Since model trains are imported to Canada, I suspect that you won't find any bargains (compared to the discounted prices in US).

[Baronjutter]

Yeah most Canadians just order from the US.  Even after factoring in shipping, it's still usually cheaper than ordering from an actual Canadian vendor

[keeper]

So if a Canadian orders from an US online shop, does the package go through customs with toll and fees?

[Puddington]

Yes; packages coming into Canada are subject to various fees. Most duties have been long eliminated but there is our HST/GST (12%) to be paid, plus the fees that the USPS/Canada Post charge ($5.00) - if you are shipped by a courier then you might have "brokerage fees" added - even though there is no duty... these can be huge!!!!!!

Canadian stores are competitive on many items depending on the value of the Canadian dollar. With it now at .87 cents the sticker price tends to go us 10% but then again using a USD for us has the same issue.

[GaryHinshaw]

plus the fees that the USPS/Canada Post charge ($5.00)

This is levied by Canada Customs, not Canada Post, according to my "Postie" wife.  In Vancouver the fee is $9.95 now, but it was $5.00 when we moved here <4 years ago.  However about half of my packages arrive with no tax or fee required, so I can't complain too much.

[sumfred]

I order a lot from the States and have found that if the value of the parcel is less than $50 CDN it will usually pass without the tax and handling fee.
As I said "usually", I have had parcels worth $30 slapped with the tax and handling charge. I don't mind the tax but being charged $9.95 for a $ 30 parcel is wrong.
Fred

[C855B]

... about half of my packages arrive with no tax or fee required, so I can't complain too much.

This has been my observation given the modest number of personal cross-border transactions I've done. Penny-ante personal stuff tends to slide through mostly unscathed.

However, put a business-to-business label on something, Katy bar the door. I had one small project I had to abandon because I was buying a database in pre-internet days, and it needed to be shipped on magnetic media. While the data was only a couple of hundred dollars, the export fees were in the thousands. Ick. Yes, that was the bad ol' days.

Currently, even just crossing the border gets dicey if you are there on business. I recently retired from a company based in Markham. While I was never summoned to HQ, several of my peers were. Canadian customs tended to really amp-up the scrutiny until my co-workers figured out that they needed to start the transaction by presenting their business cards with the Toronto address along with their U.S. passport. Things suddenly became silky smooth.

[ljudice]

I remember flying to Toronto once and checking off "Business Materials" on the customs forms.

Then being questioned for 20 minutes on my supposed "Business Materials",  which were some data sheets.

[Baronjutter]

So I guess the actual question still hasn't been answered, does anyone know of any competitively priced Canadian online hobby shops?  I'd love to know too, I never even bother looking at Canadian sources because I'm just so used to them not having what I need, or charging even more than shipping/tax from the US.

[Paradise275]

Silver Creek Collectables ‎[sales@silvercreekcollectables.com]‎ is a Micro-Train dealer. They sometimes have things not available in the U.S.

One thing to remember, Canada Post is more expensive that U.S. Postal Service (Canada Post is still profitable) LOL.

Rick

[cv_acr]

So I guess the actual question still hasn't been answered, does anyone know of any competitively priced Canadian online hobby shops?  I'd love to know too, I never even bother looking at Canadian sources because I'm just so used to them not having what I need, or charging even more than shipping/tax from the US.

http://www.tmrdistributing.com

http://www.canadianexpressline.com/

Are pretty decent.

[JSL]

Prairie Shadows Model Railway Co. in Winnipeg is a good source for discounted prices and he has many Canadian Road special runs in N and HO.

[keeper]

Thank you all for your input.

Thomas 

[Palouse51]

I'll add one more. http://pacific-western-rail.com/main.php

These guys have a pretty good selection and put stuff on sale regularly. They have outlets on both sides of the Can-USA border. I can't honestly say what their shipping is like because I always picked up my stuff from them in person.