Author Topic: Transshipping US-Canada-etc. (split from Amazon links by subject)  (Read 575 times)

HiddenFarmer

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Since we are talking about Amazon I have an idea of sorts. I would love to buy items from Amazon and/or Ebay but many sellers don't want the bother of shipping to Canada or other areas. Is there a way to set something up where a US resident on the board acts as the intermediary? So lets say I want a book from Amazon. US board member calculates the cost to ship from his/her location by USPC (the cheapest by far with the least customs entanglements) and the buyer prepays the Amazon cost + shipping and maybe a little commission to handle the transaction. Sometimes the items are so cheap it really could make it worth it. The bloody item from a Canadian seller can be twice the cost. Either that or they say shipping is free within the US but stick it you big time when shipping outside.

I don't know if it would even work but I thought it was worth suggesting.
Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

knestle

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Re: Transshipping US-Canada-etc. (split from Amazon links by subject)
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2012, 10:18:58 PM »
Since we are talking about Amazon I have an idea of sorts. I would love to buy items from Amazon and/or Ebay but many sellers don't want the bother of shipping to Canada or other areas. Is there a way to set something up where a US resident on the board acts as the intermediary? So lets say I want a book from Amazon. US board member calculates the cost to ship from his/her location by USPC (the cheapest by far with the least customs entanglements) and the buyer prepays the Amazon cost + shipping and maybe a little commission to handle the transaction. Sometimes the items are so cheap it really could make it worth it. The bloody item from a Canadian seller can be twice the cost. Either that or they say shipping is free within the US but stick it you big time when shipping outside.

I don't know if it would even work but I thought it was worth suggesting.

I've done this twice in the past for guys in other online groups that couldn't order items from the USA for Australian delivery.

If there is something you can't live without, I'd be willing to help.

knestle@comcast.net
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HiddenFarmer

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Re: Transshipping US-Canada-etc. (split from Amazon links by subject)
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2012, 02:25:38 PM »
Since we are talking about Amazon I have an idea of sorts. I would love to buy items from Amazon and/or Ebay but many sellers don't want the bother of shipping to Canada or other areas. Is there a way to set something up where a US resident on the board acts as the intermediary? So lets say I want a book from Amazon. US board member calculates the cost to ship from his/her location by USPC (the cheapest by far with the least customs entanglements) and the buyer prepays the Amazon cost + shipping and maybe a little commission to handle the transaction. Sometimes the items are so cheap it really could make it worth it. The bloody item from a Canadian seller can be twice the cost. Either that or they say shipping is free within the US but stick it you big time when shipping outside.

I don't know if it would even work but I thought it was worth suggesting.

I've done this twice in the past for guys in other online groups that couldn't order items from the USA for Australian delivery.

If there is something you can't live without, I'd be willing to help.

knestle@comcast.net

Thanks Knestle. There is nothing in particular that I am interested in right now but if I find something down the road I'll give you a bang on the pipes :)

Also, if anyone sees a Canadian item or seller I will do the same. Just pm me to get the ball rolling.
Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

Gromit

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Re: Transshipping US-Canada-etc. (split from Amazon links by subject)
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2012, 12:44:02 PM »
AFAIK, there used to exist a company called Borderfree which could transship goods from the US to Canada (or was it vice versa?). Looks like it was bought by FiftyOne. The latter seems to enable some select US stores to transact with international customers, but this is not general-purpose, so can't be used to buy something from the US store of your choosing. At least that's my understanding. It is my vague recollection that with Borderfree you could achieve precisely that: buy from just about any US store, have it shipped to Borderfree, who then shipped it to Canada for a fee.

While researching the above, I came across this: Wishabi. The original URL redirects to the following:
DealGenius
Their Cross Border Deals link redirects to a Wishabi page that has nothing to do with this subject though, so I don't know if they are still offering this service.
The link in the top-right corner seems to actually work, but they merely list certain available items from what seems to be a small selection of US stores. May be of use to someone if you find the item you want.

HiddenFarmer

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Re: Transshipping US-Canada-etc. (split from Amazon links by subject)
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2012, 01:06:26 PM »
Interesting. Thanks Gromit.
Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.