Harbor Freight and Shippsy

[PrivatePilot]

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Hmm....I think I may actually use them in the coming weeks to order a trailer hitch from the USA for my Volt. They ship for free in the USA (of course), but want $165 (!!) USD to ship to Canada via FedEx. Seems I could save big here.... Hmm.

Edit: And oooh ooooooh, their pickup location in Markam is right near one of my favourite geeky electronics stores on the face of the planet, Sayal.

 

[GreyGhost]

Edit: And oooh ooooooh, their pickup location in Markam is right near one of my favourite geeky electronics stores on the face of the planet, Sayal.

Sounds like an essential store to me :/ All kidding aside, they are great in person but their website is an abomination. If they had a functional website, they would get most of my electronics purchases but they dont so they get almost none.

 

[Iceman]

Sounds like an essential store to me :/ All kidding aside, they are great in person but their website is an abomination. If they had a functional website, they would get most of my electronics purchases but they dont so they get almost none.

Agreed, website is unholy.
I am happy to have a location here in Barrie so at least it's close.

Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk

 

[PrivatePilot]

Sounds like an essential store to me :/ All kidding aside, they are great in person but their website is an abomination. If they had a functional website, they would get most of my electronics purchases but they dont so they get almost none.

LOL.

I've never actually looked at their website, ever. But when I walk into their store I'm as giddy as a kid in a candy store.

 

[ReSTored]

I know the US has great selection, maybe it was something you couldn't find here? But didn't you get murdered on the exchange rate was there any savings?

There's no doubt that exchange takes a big bite out of the savings, but the net price of everything I ordered is less than I'd be paying at PA, CT or Home Depot, so I'm still ahead. In this instance I paid about $143 CAN and the PA price for similar items would have been $181 and quality of 2 of items is way better. As mentioned above, you have to do a bit of comparison shopping, if I can get it for about the same price and quality is the same I'd be shopping locally.

 

[GreyGhost]

Agreed, website is unholy.
I am happy to have a location here in Barrie so at least it's close.

Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk

It looks like they have improved it since the last time I looked. Now it is only 5 to 10 years behind the times instead of 15 years behind.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Anyone use Shippsy since this thread was started?

Was your experience positive?

Looks like I'm going to order the trailer hitch for my Volt and want to avoid the shipping extortion I posted about earlier in the thread.

 

[Priller]

Anyone use Shippsy since this thread was started?

Was your experience positive?

Looks like I'm going to order the trailer hitch for my Volt and want to avoid the shipping extortion I posted about earlier in the thread.

I have a Factory Pro shift star waiting for me at their Mississauga warehouse. US shipping to Canada seems to have gotten crazy lately, and Factory Pro wanted almost $50 US (vs $14 domestic) to ship a tiny box weighing a pound or so.

Shippsy sent photos of the box when it arrived, despite the account name somehow getting deleted from the addressee section (likely someone thinking they were being helpful) and then a summary of cross-border costs to be paid once it had cleared customs. The only issue I had was paying tariffs, as I didn't have paperwork proving it was made in the US. USPS/Canada Post used to often skip tax and tariffs into Canada, but I've been finding that less and less lately.

Overall, I'd definitely do it again for items with crazy cross-border shipping fees. They moved things through the border faster than most couriers do, so no issues there either. Taking advantage of cheap overnight US shipping would also be a cost-effective way to get things quick, too...

 

[LePhillou]

I've used crossborder pickups (thats the actual name of the company) a few times during the pandemic and they work.

I used to hire the services of CBI back in the day but that's a no go these days

 

[ReSTored]

I used Shippsy again for another Harbor freight order as bins were on sale for $6.99.

20-Bin Medium Portable Parts Storage Case

Amazing deals on this 20-Bin Medium Portable Storage Case at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

No issues.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Just following up on Shippsy from my other Micro trailer thread - for those who have used it before, how long did it take??

My item arrived Monday at 10AM and showed up in their system later that day. I processed the paperwork immediately and it went to “requested” status, whatever that means.

Wednesday it went to “in transit”, and 2 days later today (Friday) it’s still stuck in that status. 2 days to go 250km to Toronto??

Once it shows in Toronto and “ready for payment”, did it switch to “ready for pickup” immediately after you paid online for everyone or was that another delay?

I’m really hoping it shows up at the warehouse today. I’ll pay immediately, and then I’m hoping it’ll be released for pickup ASAP as I’d really like to get it after work today so I can install it over the weekend.

 

[Priller]

For me, it took four days from arriving at the US warehouse to being ready for payment and pickup in Mississauga. It was a bit confusing around payment, as it gave an estimate before crossing the border but didn't actually ask for payment until arriving in Canada. They also give you a quote but you don't pay it directly, you buy 'credits' to pay, though it's pretty much identical. Then, after payment, I got a notification that seemed to suggest I still needed to pay, but it was just putting the correspondence in a different category in my account.

Still, it ended up saving me over $40 CAD in shipping, and allows purchase of US-only items, so I'm definitely not complaining...

 

[PrivatePilot]

Ok….here’s hoping it shows up today.

Did it go to “ready for pickup” immediately after you paid the fees?

 

[Priller]

Did it go to “ready for pickup” immediately after you paid the fees?

Yes, because the payment option only popped up once it had arrived in Canada and actually crossed the border. Mine was a tiny package, like a fat envelope, so I can't say for sure if bigger items are different ir get transported in different vehicles.

Good luck. I know what it's like hoping something arrives before the weekend, with a Monday delivery being essentially a week delay until the subsequent weekend. I'm waiting for some valve shims that were supposed to arrive on Tuesday, and don't want yet another weekend with my camshafts out of the head....

 

[PrivatePilot]

Shippsy came through - it’s arrived now, I just paid, and ready for pickup.

Cant really fault Shippsy, honestly their service and support has been awesome, and it saved me well over $100 and probably some frustration. I’m just impatient lol.

Will definitely use them again!

 

[nobbie48]

Sounds like an essential store to me :/ All kidding aside, they are great in person but their website is an abomination. If they had a functional website, they would get most of my electronics purchases but they dont so they get almost none.

I've used Digikey in the USA. Paid by phone in $CDN by CC and it arrived by mail 3 days later. Easy to work with.

 

[ReSTored]

............. but their website is an abomination....................

....................honestly their service and support has been awesome, and it saved me well over $100 and probably some frustration. Will definitely use them again!

Their website is not good, lots of room for improvement.

Most of my online purchases go to the local post office where I pick them up. This avoids them being dropped on my porch and susceptible to theft. With Shippsy, I like the fact that I pick up packages at my convenience and they are secure until I do so.

 

[RobVN]

I'm going to chime in on this thread but from a different angle. It's about paying the US companies for your purchase. You can pay by paypal or with your credit card (Canadian card) but usually you get dinged big time with a higher exchange rate on the US dollar. I have been investigating getting a US dollar credit card and then it gives me the option of paying it in US dollars that I get to negotiate a rate on. Generally I can get it for 2 points lower than the bank rate. Anyone have input on this?

 

[GreyGhost]

Gah, I hate shipping screwups. Ordering some herbicides from the US that our politicians say we can't have (unless we are a golf course or municipal park). Order was $175 USD, shipping via USPS was $101 USD. Looked into Shippsy as they would have been an order of magnitude cheaper but they ban all herbicides/pesticides. Moron company shipped via UPS standard. I expect a huge bill at the door tomorrow. I will probably reject the order and let them ship it back to Florida if UPS wants money.

EDIT:
~Shoebox sized box delivered via UPS, no COD. Marked as sample. Two out of five things in the box were the wrong products. Facepalm.

 

[ReSTored]

I'm going to chime in on this thread but from a different angle. It's about paying the US companies for your purchase. You can pay by paypal or with your credit card (Canadian card) but usually you get dinged big time with a higher exchange rate on the US dollar. I have been investigating getting a US dollar credit card and then it gives me the option of paying it in US dollars that I get to negotiate a rate on. Generally I can get it for 2 points lower than the bank rate. Anyone have input on this?

I have a US dollar checking acct. and a US dollar credit card. I usually wait until the dollar is doing relatively well to transfer money from my CAN acct. to the US one.

Who are you negotiating a CAN to US dollar transaction with that would give you 2 points better than the standard bank rates? I spoke to my bank about better than standard rates and they said that you'd have to be converting 10's of thousands of dollars to get a break.

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