Why No Shipping to Canada?

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canadaknife22

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On the Exchange, people regularly say US shipping only or lower 48 only. Even if the buyer pays for shipping they often don't want to ship it outside the USA. Why? Canada is on a land border with the continental US and it is not an inconvenience for the seller to ship a knife here in any way. I don't understand why so many sellers still refuse to ship outside the US. Why is this? It makes no sense to me.

Thanks,

From a friendly Canadian just wanting to purchase knives from our southern neighbours.
 
Maybe money isn't top priority to many sellers ?
I stopped selling abroad few years ago,
too many unknown factors, many extra risks involved.
And Canadian Customs are so infamously mad crazy ...

Same money, more troubles - not even worth considerations.
 
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In my experience, this is mainly because they do not want a hassle in the off chance that the knife is intercepted by customs, or they are unsure of the import rules and would rather avoid the risk.

It’s worth mentioning that I’ve had numerous successful transactions from US based sellers. It’s important to be knowledgable about CBSA rules and clarify that you accept full responsibility of the package and any additional fees incurred once it leaves the seller’s hands. This will increase your chances of closing a deal IMO.
 
canadaknife22 said:
On the Exchange, people regularly say US shipping only or lower 48 only. Even if the buyer pays for shipping they often don't want to ship it outside the USA. Why? Canada is on a land border with the continental US and it is not an inconvenience for the seller to ship a knife here in any way. I don't understand why so many sellers still refuse to ship outside the US. Why is this? It makes no sense to me.

Thanks,

From a friendly Canadian just wanting to purchase knives from our southern neighbours.
Click to expand...

There's a greater risk with little to no recourse or protection. It's ripe for fraud, loss,damage, customs issues and theft with little chance for insurance claim recovery. Kudos to those members willing to engage with trading/selling internationally with our fellow brothers and sisters but that's a small percentage of members.
I decided a long time ago it wasn't worth the hassle. It didn't help that after considering an international transaction that a member wanted me to lie on customs forms describing the contents
and also under value the shipment so he could save money on paying taxes, which would make insurance useless. No Thanks, I'll pass
 
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On top of everything stated above, I didn't even see an option in paypal usps shipping to select Canada.
If i can't walk out and throw it in my mail box for usps to ship i don't want to do it.
Wasting gas/ time/ money/ watching idiots drive, in line at usps, also have to wear a mask now ... NO THANKS:poop: :D
 
I used to ship internationally if I happened to sell a knife or something, but after a couple packages went missing and then I had a buyer (on a different forum) that said they would take the responsibility once shipped then turned and wanted their money back after the knife was confiscated and I had to deal with that mess ... I stopped shipping internationally. It just isn't worth the extra hassle and risk for no more than I sell anything. I was still willing to make an exception for members that were in good standing and were obviously a part of the community not just to buy and sell things (whether this forum or the couple others I frequent) but with the issues all shipments are currently having due to covid-19 no matter what method used I have stopped doing it all together.

I shipped a package on a different forum that was part of a GAW I did to a member in Denmark and it went missing from mid March until it showed up out of the blue back on my porch at the end of July.

I wish there were a better way to ship internationally or a better way to have the buyer take full responsibility once the package is dropped at it's carrier that holds up so it were an option. I don't like refusing to sell to members solely on where they live. But having problems with about half of the packages I have shipped internationally over the years I just don't offer it anymore. Maybe there are ways to accomplish it that I don't know about but for what I know it's too much hassle and risk.
 
jp9mm said:
On top of everything stated above, I didn't even see an option in paypal usps shipping to select Canada.
Click to expand...

I use it for international quite a bit. Uf ny buyer enters a non-USA address it will display international shipping options instead of the ones you normally see. Priority Express International, Priority International and First Class. It will display a customs declaration as well to fill out. I never go to the PO anymore
 
For years Canada was an exception to my no international policy, but of late I am hearing too many problems at customs. They seem to go every which way interpreting the rules. I would rather not sell than loose a knife. Even if the buyer took full responsibility, it isn't a pleasant situation for either party.
It's too bad and I wish I could send to all international members, but the risks are too high for me.
Add in the hassle of filling out forms and buyers asking you to lie on those form on value, which voids getting insurance-it is just not worth the trouble, when I can sell within the US without any of these problems.
 
canadaknife22 said:
On the Exchange, people regularly say US shipping only or lower 48 only.
Click to expand...

I know it's off topic, but the one that cracks me up is people saying "lower 48 only, no AK or HI". Uh, Alaska and Hawaii are part of the USA people o_O , it's no different than shipping to Florida or Montana.

I know that doesn't answer your question OP, but I think in general a lot of people just don't understand that it's not that complicated.

Having said that, I know many have valid reasons for not wanting to ship international and that's totally their prerogitive if so, but many simply aren't aware of the fairly easy process.

Winston
 
Winston_Smith said:
I know it's off topic, but the one that cracks me up is people saying "lower 48 only, no AK or HI". Uh, Alaska and Hawaii are part of the USA people o_O , it's no different than shipping to Florida or Montana.

Winston
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It's the exchange rate that always trips me up.
How many seal skins or coconuts are there to the $ :)
yes, use flat rate and all US is the same shipping cost
 
TOMBSTONE said:
There's a greater risk with little to no recourse or protection. It's ripe for fraud, loss,damage, customs issues and theft with little chance for insurance claim recovery. It didn't help that after considering an international transaction that a member wanted me to lie on customs forms describing the contents and also under value the shipment so he could save money on paying taxes, which would make insurance useless. No Thanks, I'll pass
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^ :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
I used to run a small online shop (not for knives) with international shipping available. It was a hassle, almost always involving customs forms and trips to the PO (rather than just to a mailbox down the street). I had a couple of international packages go missing over the years -- doubly frustrating for buyers, since they'd waited weeks at that point, and expensive for me as I always shipped out a replacement.

With knives often being worth much more than the relatively low-cost items I was shipping in the past, the added worry over Exchange packages going missing is an even bigger concern. That plus the hassle is what prompted me to stick with US-only on the Exchange.
 
Winston_Smith said:
I know it's off topic, but the one that cracks me up is people saying "lower 48 only, no AK or HI". Uh, Alaska and Hawaii are part of the USA people o_O , it's no different than shipping to Florida or Montana.
Click to expand...

Yes, they are different.
Different rates, different restrictions (many of them) - anyway 48 States are different by law.
So prices are different too.

[Maybe soon there will be more States in such exceptions ...]
45 vs. 5 ?
40 vs. 10 ??
Just wait and watch
 
OK so part one of "how to get a knife shipped to Canada". Spend a lot of time on here and connect to the community so folks know who you are.

Part two. If you see a knife you like like respectfully message the seller and ask if they'll make an exception. You may not have time to do that with a 1 of 3 GEC or Northwoods but for a lot f stuff the sellers are reasonable. I've done that a few times and it's been fine. If they say no don't be a jerk. Just say thanks anyway and move one. Just about any desirable knife on here will show up in the exchange more than once.

Part three. Consider having one friends you made in part one get the knife and forward to you. I"ve had a random person on the porch order a knife and send it up to me without even asking. I just mentioned I was bummed I couldn't get a particular model up here and they took it on themselves to help.

Part four. Don't try to get someone to send up balis, switchblades etc. Clearly prohibited stuff isn't smart to play with.

I get lots of knives from the USA that the CBSA opens up and looks at and the only problem is that it slows down the delivery time.

And as a sidebar; don't message or PM random people on here who've got what you want and see if they'll sell to you.
 
Danke42 said:
OK so part one of "how to get a knife shipped to Canada". Spend a lot of time on here and connect to the community so folks know who you are.

Part two. If you see a knife you like like respectfully message the seller and ask if they'll make an exception. You may not have time to do that with a 1 of 3 GEC or Northwoods but for a lot f stuff the sellers are reasonable. I've done that a few times and it's been fine. If they say no don't be a jerk. Just say thanks anyway and move one. Just about any desirable knife on here will show up in the exchange more than once.

Part three. Consider having one friends you made in part one get the knife and forward to you. I"ve had a random person on the porch order a knife and send it up to me without even asking. I just mentioned I was bummed I couldn't get a particular model up here and they took it on themselves to help.

Part four. Don't try to get someone to send up balis, switchblades etc. Clearly prohibited stuff isn't smart to play with.

I get lots of knives from the USA that the CBSA opens up and looks at and the only problem is that it slows down the delivery time.

And as a sidebar; don't message or PM random people on here who've got what you want and see if they'll sell to you.
Click to expand...

There is some good advice in this post, much of which pertains to all international . I will add that the more knowledge that a buyer has of proper shipping to their country, the better their chances of convincing someone to do it. Most members do not know much about shipping international and aren't going to learn for each country. The better you as a buyer can help the better your chances. I do not like shipping international much and have lost a number of packages doing so. Still I have made exceptions when asked and certainly some members I would have a hard time saying no to.
Canada does seem to have a reasonably good postal system, and you can get insurance(with proper valuation) and tracking. It is only customs inconsistency that has me worried- very well may not usually be a problem, but if it is for your package, then it is a problem.
 
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After a few issues with CBSA, I stopped shipping folders to Canada. I'm generally still willing willing to ship swords and fixed blades... however, customs forms are still a hassle; so I prefer the simplicity of US sales
 
canadaknife22 said:
On the Exchange, people regularly say US shipping only or lower 48 only. Even if the buyer pays for shipping they often don't want to ship it outside the USA. Why? Canada is on a land border with the continental US and it is not an inconvenience for the seller to ship a knife here in any way. I don't understand why so many sellers still refuse to ship outside the US. Why is this? It makes no sense to me.

Thanks,

From a friendly Canadian just wanting to purchase knives from our southern neighbours.
Click to expand...

Your customs agents are jerks. Your knife laws are too restrictive. Y'all should revolt :)

A guy in the Traditional forum recently reported that Canadian customs agents took the decorative tube his GEC is packaged in. He's lucky they didn't take the knife too.
 
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