canada shipping experiences? +/-?

B-16707 · 02-06-2011, 02:39 AM

i shipped a model to a fellow DAC member to canada on the 1/18/11 from here in the usa via usps international first class letter/parcel (it was light enough to pass for that). it was labeled as "other" with a price tag of $30 on the customs form. tracking hasnt updated. now im getting slightly (yes just slightly) concerned.

could the package have reached canada customs and the tracking not updated? is tracking updated only when it clears customs? or is the package really still somewhere in the usa?

what are your experiences with shipping to canada? thanks guys. im posting publicly to ask, as someone might have more insight than i do.

waffle · 02-06-2011, 02:41 AM

There is no tracking for First Class Intl parcels, all you get is a customs number. As per the USPS website it can take anywhere from a handful of days to up to 3 months for First Class parcels to arrive. And after shipping hundreds if not thousands of parcels Canada that is truely the case.

B-16707 · 02-06-2011, 02:49 AM

ah thanks, there is no better person than you mike to place your insight on this since im sure you are the king of shipping =). shipping airplane models at that!

right, so will the customs number will tell me if its reached canada customs? and from there its up to the wind to take it? someone once told me its "trackable up to customs" which i found that to be the case when i shipped to france before.

mjabbasi · 02-06-2011, 03:09 AM

I've shipped to Canada a number of times with no problems. However a parcel of mine I had shipped to a friend from the USA never reached him and was lost. Canada Post has a less than desirable reputation, not to mention being prohibitively expensive.

waffle · 02-06-2011, 03:59 AM

The customs number is just about worthless, occassionally the recipient can contact their country's post and they can try and track it down but it's not a tracking number for anyone's real purpose and half the time nobody bothers even to scan it when they are supposed to.

57goodwrench · 02-06-2011, 08:34 AM

I've never had anything shipped out of the U.S. that has taken longer than a month so I bet the package will arrive sometime this week. If it was shipped to southern Ontario or the east coast we've had some major snow storms so this could also be causing a delay. As I wasn't home on Saturday, I received a notice of package delivery in my mailbox. Canada Post is playing catch-up as the only time they deliver on Saturdays is around Christmas.

B-16707 · 02-06-2011, 05:17 PM

was shipped to waterloo, ontario. i guess it probably hit some storms.

L-1011-Heavy · 02-07-2011, 01:31 PM

Shipping From Canada To Overseas Is A Nightmare. Up To 23.00 Under 500 Grams And 75.00 If You Want Tracking And Insurance, And Like Micheal Said, The Tracking Is Useless As Ti.t.s On A Bull. It Only Works As Far As The Border.
Double That Rate If It's Over 500G And Recently I Chopped A Box Down To 525G And The Postal Worker Wouldn't Let It Go For The 500G Rate.
It Makes It Near Impossible For Sellers To Get Product Out And Gives Second Thought
For Buyers To Make A Choice.

I Saw A Lady The Other Day Send Off A Few Bottles Of Shampoo And A Few Bottles Of Perfume She Wanted To Send To Belgium. She Was Told To Remove The Perfume And The 2 Remaining Bottles Of Shampoo Still Cost 50 Bucks. The Damned Stuff Is Only Worth 10 Bucks. Damned Canada Post. Why Aren't The Prices More Aligned With The US Postal Rates. There's No Need Of That Kind Of Gouging.
It's Like Everyone's Being Punished. Who The Hell Wants To Bother Shipping Or Worse Yet, Why Even Bother Making A Purchase To Begin With?

L-1011-Heavy · 02-07-2011, 01:35 PM

On The Other Hand Shipping From The US To Canada Is A Joy. Anywhere From 2.50 To 10.00 For Small Packet Which Includes Tracking And Insurance, But Again The Tracking Is Limited To The Border. In Over 10 Years, I Haven't Lost A Single Package From The US, But Out Of The 2 Or 3 I Get From Canada, One Of Them Is Lost.

B-16707 · 02-07-2011, 02:29 PM

thanks guys for the input. i never had a problem shipping to canada from the usa before. looks like this time is just taking a lot longer than usual. perhaps because of the snowstorms going to waterloo. todays customs "tracking" info still shows only acceptance of package in my area. but again you guys say thats useless

L-1011-Heavy · 02-07-2011, 05:12 PM

On The Other Hand You Might Experience "Fondling" Whereby Canada Customs Can Hold On To Your Goods For A Couple Of Weeks So They Can Play And/Or Have Sex With Your Models.
Delays In Customs Can Take Up To 4 Weeks.

WestjetterO · 02-07-2011, 05:33 PM

If you're shipping with USPS or someone else you're fine. Canada Post on the other hand is pretty bad.

aviationcombr · 02-07-2011, 08:26 PM

I've bought some models FROM Canada and the only problem I had was a broken nose landing gear on one model, but all parcels arrived here in Brazil (the shipping times varies from 4 to 8 weeks).

The only 3 bad experiences I had with post were one order from China, one from USA and one from UK (all sellers are reliable, but I've asked them to send me the models on a non-insured mail). Well, 3 parcels lost with one or two models each for a collection with more than 250 models isn't so bad!