A few months back, a self-confessed shopaholic girlfriend of mine told me about U.S. Address Inc, a company that provides a physical U.S. address where you can have your parcels shipped/stored. Not having an immediate need for the service, I sort of forgot about it…’til now.
My bf’s birthday is right around the corner and I thought of the PERFECT gift. (I’m not going to mention it here, just in case he reads this! 😉 ) The problem is that the seller, both on eBay + Amazon.com, will not &/or cannot ship to Canada.
I would like to support local businesses, but no one manufactures this item to the same standard of quality here in Canada. So I’d be paying more for an inferior product. Isn’t that always the case?
I am seriously considering “renting” a U.S. Address and here’s a pro/con list:
PRO
– can get items that aren’t sold in Canada
– can receive items that only ship to “USA Only”. Think some eBay sellers who often have this disclaimer on their listing!
– inexpensive service; website states that fees are $1.50/package up to 50lbs and that includes 1 week of free storage
– may not have to pay duties/taxes, depending on the product
CON
– will have to drive across the border to pick-up merchandise, so depending on what you order, it may not be worth the gas/time spent
– amount of duties/taxes, again depends on a few factors
If you haven’t already, do you think this service is useful? If you have used this service, what did you think of it? Was it worth the effort?
Click here to the U.S. Address Inc. website for more details.
I used a similar service when I bought my daughter’s stroller. In doing so, I saved over 40% on the stroller for a small storage fee. I think it is totally worth it and would do it again in a heart beat.
Some companies wont even accept a cdn credit card, so even if you have a usa addy they dont care. I guess if they took paypal you could get around that.
i use mine (in niagara falls, ny) about once a month—5 bucks per pickup, can’t go wrong!
My husband I use a similar service, and we’ve saved a lot of money over the years. I always factor in the pick-up fee ($3-5) and don’t forget when you cross you will likely be paying duties/taxes on the items too! I try to factor in all of that before I purchase anything and have it sent to a US address…some items it really does make sense and you can save money, and other items it doesn’t save you that much.
I have been using a US parcel service for years. However they have kept raising the price. It used to be a flat rate of $75 a year and now they also charge $3 a parcel ..including magazines/ catalogs if they do not fit in our small box.
I was super happy with the service at the flat rate but the per parcel rate is making the difference in getting a deal and just shipping it to Canada. There are a lot of great “USA only” deals to be had.
I will probably let the contract end and find another, cheaper service at the end of our term.
I would definitely use the service.
Happy deal hunting
I used a friend’s US fed ex mailbox once for a pair of free shoes I got year ago. Did some shopping while over the line, too. It’s worth it if you’re ok with the time consumption and waste of a day. I’m not a big fan of the border lineups and travel time, and giving another country my money.
I live in Victoria and needed something shipped for business and dropped into local Canada Customs for info.
The People in Customs told me to ship it to the Clipper’s (ferry between Seattle and here) US address and the Clipper would charge by weight and this would save a lot of money vs. US Postal or Fedex, etc.
@Sally – Very smart thought! Would *love* it more if I can pay via Paypal.
To make it worth it, it might be a good idea to combine orders with friends, split the gas, everyone pays for their own individual parcels. 🙂 I’ve already emailed a few gfs to ask if they want to order anything!
I’ve used CBI in Niagara Falls USA for this type of parcel service before and was very happy with the service. http://cbiusa.com/ They were very affordable, friendly and the way I see it, if you just can’t get the item in Canada or shipped to Canada, then at least you are supporting our American friends economy by using services in their country.
And just a note on the duties issue…I always declare at the border the true amount of my purchase and it approx 20 years of occasional cross border shopping I’ve only once been asked to actually go into the office to pay duty on the purchases. So even with the gas to drive there and the cost to treat ourselves to dinner out somewhere great that we don’t have in Canada like Cheesecake factory, PF Changs or Olive Garden, I still find it’s worth the trip!
We use one in Pembina, ND – go down probably once per month to pick something up, and have never had to pay duty on it (declaring the full amount that we picked up). It’s an easy 1 hr drive for us (from Winnipeg), and saves us a ton of money versus getting stuff sent to Canada.
I also recommend CBI.
We do it all the time, especially for car parts. My boyfriend has an older car, and things aren’t always available in the area. Factor in that you can fill up your gas tank in the states, and light grocery shopping (at least a couple bottles of wine- they’ve never asked us to pay duty or give up the wine, since I usually buy stuff under $10 bucks a bottle, that’s over $20 in Canada) while you’re down there, and you’ve made your trip very very worth it. We live in Vancouver, and the gas here is equivalent to $5.40/gallon, while down in Washington, it’s usually around $3.70-$4.10/gallon, so we fill up for the week.
We try to support local economy, but really, it’s been very hard. I’m a student, and my boyfriend makes an okay amount of money, but we can’t afford to live anything about bare basics. A drive down to the states once in awhile just improves our quality of life. I feel as long as its not every weekend, it’s almost just a personal favour to us.
I use Kinek in Oroville. It’s great. I also used one in Ontario when I lived there. When things are so much cheaper to ship to the border that’s an hour away… I say it’s totally worth it.
I’ve never been asked to pay duty on anything I’ve had shipped.
I have access to one, and it’s a great way to get Christmas presents and things.
Bought my slimmed down husband a completely new work wardrobe last winter from Macy’s at about 50% the price we would have had to pay here (including, suits, shirts, ties, shoes, accessories, coat) and had it sent to U.S. Address. Because we were buying so much stuff, it was worth the drive, duty, fees etc. The location was easy to find, and it was straightforward to use. I would recommend it.
I already seriously thought about it when I had to buy a convertible car seat for my DD. Price was going from $200CND+ to $120 US. Eventually realized it probably wouldn’t be legal as car seat regulations are different in both countries. Also the fact I live over 2 hrs from the border made me decide against it in my case.
If I lived in Vancouver I definitely would try for some items as Point Roberts seems like a really easy place to get to, border is really small so probably no wait to cross it.
I think theres hundreds of these services, not sure what one is the best.
More pros (For Ontario residence)
When you go to pick up your package, fill up your gas tank! 😉 Ontop of the savings on shipping and products, gas is also significantly cheaper in the US
I have used one in Sumas called Ship Happens for a couple years now and I have saved tons of money. They old for 60 days so I wait until a couple thigs get there, run down, get gas and do some grocery shopping and I have never had to pay duty. If you are close enough to do it, it makes sense.
“The Letter Carrier” in Point Roberts, WA (just south of Tsawwassen, BC) charges about $3 (can’t remember the exact amount). Buy some gas further down the road, then head back north. I’ve declared values up to about $200 and have never been charged tax. (On most items from the US, duty is 0% anyway, due to NAFTA.)
I live in Ottawa which is 45-50 min from the border. Is there anyone out there that lives in the area that has signed up for this service, if so, where do you go for a U.S delivery (Ogdensburg, Watertown, Syracuse, Massena?) Can you tell me the website where you signed up and how it works exactly. Thanks!
I use Kinek. Shipped to Maine border (with NB). Calais. Love it. $5 to pick up. They hold for 90 days. Wonderful. Every 3 months drive (6 hrs), grrrr…But coming back with cheap groceries (no tax or duty on those) and my parcels. Love it.
The last time I was there, a coupla months ago, I calculated that gas was $1 vs. $1.30/litre. So it does add up!
I use one, and love it. However as I don`t live anywhere near the border I have to get the company to ship my stuff to me, so I don`t buy too often. However, even with shipping and taxes my items always end up at least 30% cheaper than buying it in Canada!
Given the huge price discrepancy (US vs Can) for so many items, not to mention those offers of free shipping “within the US”, pursuing such options is definitely worth it. Even after taking into account sales taxes + GST (which you would have to pay anyway) and duty (if appl), prices are generally 25% lower, if not significantly more so. Some US shipping address services can also “forward” your pkgs to your Cdn address for an additional fee. This saves you countless hours of driving to/from border, lining up, subjecting yourself to the typical border guard interrogations and money wasted on gas. If you choose to go this route, have them send via USPS (if your not in a big rush) and not Purolator, Fedex etc due to the excessive brokerage fees these co’s charge. Driving down does have a couple of benefits though as you obviously receive the pkg faster and also have the opportunity to fill up the gas tank at a significant discount. In more cases than not, Cdn customs just waives you through the border if your purchases are reasonable (thereby saving you even more $ you would have had to fork out on taxes and duty).
@Karen I live in Gatineau, and I always send stuff to the UPS store in Ogdesnburg, they charge U$5.00 per package per week. You do not need to subscribe or anything like that, you just have to send there and them pick it up! They also have a system that shows if your package is already there. The best part is that since I am crossing from Ontario, and I live in Gatineau I only pay 5% in taxes. Sometimes if the value is not high the officer let you pass by without having to pay taxes, it happened with me for about 2 times when I spent U$100.00 with make up items.
Hi Karen. Would you happen to know the phone number or email info so that I could contact the UPS store in Odgensburg NY ?? Do I just have to call them and tell them to expect a shipment for me ?? Thanks.
It’s moot if you don’t live on the border. I live in Edmonton, so there’s no choice but to pay full price.
We use one all of the time.
I travel to the US on business about 10 times per year. Always to the same place. And always for about two weeks at a time, so between the two of us, we get a $1500 tax free limit.
We rented a UPS mailbox down there. Simply unbelievable the amount of money that it saves. US prices are often 50% lower than in Canada.
@ thatgengirl
No, some US mailbox co’s can forward your items to your Cdn address. You don’t need to live near border. This subject has been discussed in detail over on this thread: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/usa-mail-parcel-forwarding-service-20166/
I live near Calais Maine and there are businesses in Calais who specialize in “parcel keeping”. I simply ship my parcels to their address in Calais, they hold them indefinitely until I can drive down to get them. It costs me $2-$3 per parcel when I pick them up. Great service. I ship hundreds of parcels there a year!
I never tried renting a box because I just don’t drive, so going to pick up the thing would be pricy, considering I need a car, gas money, and probably at least a day of my time to get there and back. All that conbined, including the fact that there is a fee for the service, and that you’d probably need to stop a couple of times to eat and stuff on the way there and back, you might actualy spend more money then you saved. I go on vacation to the states from time to time, and you can have your packages shipped to where you’re staying if you know in advance. You can even call the hotel and mention to them that you’re expecting packages, and they will hold them for you at the from desk (if its not a completely dingy place). Also, if you have any relatives or friends, you can ship to them and either pick it up when you go visit them or when they come visit you.
Another option is if you have maybe some you know who moved there, you can be eachothers mailboxes. Some things you can only get in canada and some things are better in the States (price wise or otherwise). Combine packages into a single parcel and mail them to eachother. Its much cheaper then driving around back and forth and you probably wont have to pay taxes if the parcel is marked as a gift.
We have a us po box, that helps with some us ebayers and sites but so many companies will not ship to a po box( Target,JC Penny etc). We also split the cost of the po box with another family and literally tell all of our friends about it sometimes they give us a dollar or two towards it, however my husband is a trucker and can easily access this on a weekly basis, or he will call the post office and they can put everything in a bigger box and put the key in ours so he can access it when he comes thru. There are several smaller companies that will receive your item for you and charge a variety of rates some as low as .25 cents all the way up depending on the size, we are an hour and half away from the border so it is not a problem for us but other people may not be able to justify it.
@ thatgengirl
Some US mailbox services can also forward your parcels to your Cdn address after receiving them.
Since I have a UPS mailbox here in Ottawa and receive mail there I have been thinking about getting one of their mailboxes in the US as well. I keep seeing all the great free samples they get in the US would love to have some of them too. I don’t know If one UPS store can ship to another one or not but it might be worth the adventure to go down and see what the possibilities are……
We’ve been using similar service at Point Roberts and Blaine (in BC). The customs knows very well those services exist, therefore they would normally just let you go if you declare the actual value. I had brought a laptop over and not get taxed!
For Alberta / BC border crossings there is also montana shipping outlet – never used it myself, but came highly recommended from a friend
There are a great many factors involved in ordering from the U.S. – Indeed, one fo the biggest is with those vendors who take an active interest in keeping non-Americans from ordering. One of the more difficult is Apple, they require a U.S. Address, a U.S. Credit card and will not ship to a freight forwarder (they seem to internally flag addresses on the fly).
In this process, also of note is the great expense of Tariff and Taxes with products that would have been manufactured somewhere other than the U.S.
For those that are well-versed in the world of cross-border shopping, I do think there are ways to get deals, but be very careful. I have written about some of my thoughts and experiences on my blog:
Thoughts on Cross-Border shopping:
http://blog.cwl.cc/2010/08/thoughts-on-uscanada-cross-border.html
Ordering an iPad from the US:
http://blog.cwl.cc/2010/06/ordering-us-based-ipad-from-toronto-my.html
Thanks,
Kevin
One thing to check is make sure you can get there during their business hours. I found (what I thought) was a great one in Buffalo… only to find out they were only open until 9-11am on the weekends…. I’m not a morning person 😀
I used to live in a border town, and we frequently used a U.S. mailbox – the shipping was twice as fast, and for the quantity of items we purchased, it was quite worth it. But, it is a matter of factoring in whether it is worth the gas and rental price and time to do it! If I lived closer to the border now, I would definitely continue to use U.S. Mail.
yep – we live on a border town and our family has had a us address for years and post box. totally worth it – usually the savings even just in shipping costs pays for the gas (30 minutes drive)
I would aslo recommend CBI USA. They are great, very good customer service and have never had an issue with my parcels or mail going missing!
Not quite the same thing, but last fall when I went on a bus trip from SW Ontario to Grove City Pennsylvania, one of the ladies on the bus had a large item (kid’s train table, I think) shipped to the hotel, then brought it back on the bus (undercarriage). I’m sure it would take a phone call to the hotel to arrange, but with busloads of Cdn women helping out their economy, I think they were glad to oblige.
We ask US friends and relatives if we can use their address to deliver. We buy from walmart.com, target.com, amazon.com and sears.com. We send to our friends and relatives and pick up when we go for a visit. Easy peasy.
I’d use this company if I were closer to the border. For now I just send it to my US friend’s addy if it’s a must have item since I feel I’m inconveniencing them.
Karen and others requesting info for OTTAWA.
Here are some links in Ogdensburg:
The UPS store
http://www.trackogdensburg.com/
Border fast Freight will pick up your parcel at UPS Ogdensburg and deliver it to Ottawa if you want.
http://www.bffd.ca
The corporate Center (right across the bridge) they actually call you when your parcel is in.
http://www.corp-center.com
Hope this helps.
OMG – thank you so much for this article and the comments above. I never knew this type of service even existed! Where have I been?!?!
MyUS seems to be one of the companies that’ll ship your parcels to you, once they’ve received them:
http://www.myus.com/
Has anyone used their services before? Just figuring out the best way as currently, I’m only planning to buy one $40 item! So I don’t really want to do the 1.5hr drive, one-way.
I have used http://www.shipito.com/ in the past, and never had an issue with it.
Thanks Greg…good to know. I would use Pembina location also. So you just declare it and they probably charge GST/PST?
Most border towns have a parcel service where a small business will accept anything that is mailed to it and you just go and pick it up from them when you see it arrive on the shipment tracker. The one I use is at a gas station and they charge a flat fee of $4 unless its a crazy large parcel, and they don’t charge if its envelope sized. Easy peasy! I won’t stop using it until our prices are on par with the US… why should I pay $5 more for a book just because I live in Canada? (I normally support local small business – no big box stores for me, but there’s a limit on how much i like getting gouged!)
I absolutely would not use this. We have NO NEED of buying products in the US. there is nothing of consequence that we can’t get somewhere in Canada. We enjoy a very positive lifestyle in Canada (healthcare, safety, no serious international threats to our homeland, good education, neutral media, generally positive behavior to each other.) We have much of these because of the stable business practices and tax foundation of Canadian businesses that pay into the coffers that provide the funds for establishing, maintaining and growing these great aspects of Canadian society. If we all rush to spend our money in the US, then we will put into motion the inevitable collapse of our systems.
If you like the deals in the US so much, then move there. If you like the good things we get for being Canadian, then spend your money here. end of story.
I live in a border town in BC and use Ship Happens in Sumas WA. My son has celiac so I order gluten free food through amazon.com and have it shipped there. I have never been charged duty but always tell them where I am going and how much I picked up. The cost savings for his food are worth the wait sometimes.
I have had many problems shopping in the states, I have a friend who will allow me to have things shipped to him there but it is still a huge hassle. I ended up adding his address to my credit card so I could use my credit card and I have a lot of friends who rent the addresses to get stuff shipped to them and they will hold it for I think up to a year. The prices are unreal in the states…the on line deals are amazing and I am plus size and my husband is big as well so we can get so much more over there, besides the great prices…they don’t hate the weight like many retailers here in Canada.
In Canada we are overpaying for so many things. Even beer made in Canada which sells for $40 a case, gets shipped to Kroger in Port Huron, and sells there at $23 a case. You can buy it in Port Huron, pay the duty at the border, and it still costs less than going to the local Beer Store. How can this be right? It costs money to ship it and yet still sells for less once it crosses the US border. I LOVE shopping in the states and when we are ripped off here so much, I have no plans to stop.
@ Rick C
So, how exactly does buying ONE “made in China” widget for the price of TWO from either Walmart, Costco, Sears, HBC, Best Buy, Gap, Toys R Us, Home Depot and so on make you a better Canadian? Overpaying for certain items simply means you have less money left over at the end of the day to spend elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll buy Cdn if prices are comparable, but most of time they are not. Even items “made in Canada” typically sell for way less south of the border. ie. a made in Cda Calvin Klein suit selling for $200 USD at Sears USA sells for double the price at the exact same store in Canada. You can get back to me on that one…
@Rick C, instead of preaching to those of us who are obviously not as well off and holier than thou than you, how about you understand that those of us with lower wages can’t afford to be gouged by Canadian pricemakers on everything like you can. Because we choose to shop in the US to circumvent this gouging does not make us any less patriotic than you. It’s not like we do ALL of our shopping over there. I still support local farmers by buying my groceries local and at farmer’s markets and I buy the bulk of my clothes here too, usually at Value Village to help recycle as well.
US shopping is not going to crush our Canadian civilization. How do I know this? Because Canadians have been doing this for years! My parents are 70 and they’ve been going since they’ve were 20.
OBVIOUSLY we haven’t actually been helping the Americans overall and especially as of late so your entire point is moot! We’re all in this economic mess not because Canadians shop in the US, but because the corrupt (and no I’m not a kook, they just really can’t help it, they get in office and get money thrown at them to do what the bribers want, sorry, ‘contributors’ and ‘supporters’, and only the strongest willed can refuse, and they are few. I know people who used to be in politics, these are sad but true facts) people who run our country give OUR money away to other countries in often bogus aid (see funding other countries wars and armies) and in loans (Hi Greece! Thanks for probably going bankrupt and taking a lot of us with you, hope you’re not still whining about the British Museum having a lot of your ancient artifacts, because France and China will be along soon to collect the rest and sell them off to pay your debt) and send all of our manufacturing jobs away to other countries while allowing record amounts of immigrants in to a place where there are no jobs for the people already here. THAT (amoung too many others to speak of on a couponing website) is why we’re in hot water, NOT because Canadians shop in the US for trinkets and toys.
Get you’re priorities straight before you start preaching, sometimes the choir knows their sh*t too.
And a little more on topic, I use the Ogdensburg UPS store too, usually for the black friday and boxing day sales on amazon.com, but also I usually save up things I really want that is way cheaper down there and make it worth while. But I live in the 1000 Islands so it’s only a couple hours trip in the first place.
And since the daily limit (in Ontario anyway) is now $300, it makes it worth it and depending on what you buy (believe it or not I usually stock up on their Suave hair conditioner – not $300 worth though! – because I can’t find it here and their Aloe and Water Lily scent smells just like Baby Phat perfume and I’ve never seen Suave in Canada, and other things I can use their coupons on, oh and their junk food!) since they don’t usually worry about taxes until you start with the clothes and electronics and other items that they would prefer your money for in Canada.
And of course it all depends on how worried you seem and all that. Like I said above my parents have been going for so many years and I was going over since I was an infant so we’re not nervous, nor are we equally over zealous in the shopping or urgent in the claiming, since we have the luxury of going over so often it affords us more ease.
Just don’t joke with them about the wrong things (as with anywhere) like the price of anything in the duty free. That’s a ticket to having your car pulled apart even if you didn’t buy anything and tell them the prices are why. Just say no to those questions or yes if you did go to the duty free, since they are looking at your receipt on their little screens anyway, that’s why they take your license plate at the cash. Oh and of course nothing about security but y’all aren’t stupid!
A word to the wise though, from personal experience NEVER have any courier bring anything over for you (FedEx, UPS, Priority etc.). If a company ships with them you can count on it costing more than it’s worth at your doorstep in border crossing fees. It’s in my opinion a scam by these companies, since I once got the complete Harry Potter Special Edition hardcovers in collectors box from Barnes and Noble (they WERE printed in the US, which according to NAFTA things are non-taxable and fee incurring if made in the US, but still the set was over $100) sent by USPS and it was a huge heavy box and all I paid was normal shipping (I think $6.99!) to Canada.
I also will not have Amazon.com ship to me up here anymore since they started adding their brokerage fees in. They say they’ll refund whatever the difference is if it is less but that’s not the point. I hate people who charge up front. I also hate people who charge crazy after (see FedEx, my father ordered a satelite dish for his RV and it came with a free tripod – he didn’t ask me, or I would have said ‘FedEX NO!’ – and not only did they want $60 when the dish came, but they sent the FREE tripod seperately and the guy wanted another $90! Needless to say my dad wrote the company and they gave him some of it back, agreeing that that was a little expreme and probably equally extremely not what FexEx had to pay to get it across!).
So be wise! Sometimes it really is worth the ‘wasted day’ (hello? Day trips are fun, well without the kids…) if you really want to stuff and the deals. And the US just really does have stuff we don’t, if we had it here (or for their prices), I’d buy it here.
I’ve been using US Address Inc for 8 years, and totally recommend their service. I’ve purchased small regular items like clothes, to big things like motorcycle wheels and car tires! I’ve save probably thousands of dollars over the years, and since I only live about an hour away, it’s totally worth the drive over (if I’m buying a number of things). The fashion outlets are only 15 mins away too if you want to do some shopping 🙂
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US Address Inc is a good idea and a way for Canadians to save money. Unfortunately, customer service is not their strongest point. I had a couple of questions before registering for their service. The CSR named Emily from the company was rude. I had some basic questions from the vendor, to which she not only neglected to respond to but was also being very condescending. Instead of answering the questions, she was pressuring me to just simply register first. In the end, she concluded that I would not be a good fit as their clientele, which I completely agree. It’s very unfortunate since the company’s ideal location near the Niagara Falls border gives them a strong advantage, but customer service is definitely lacking.
I tried to use this service and never did because they were so rude to me and acted like they didn’t want my business. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY’S SERVICE!!