Does anyone in Canada sell soap boxes?

[AmyW]

Is there a soap box supplier in Canada or is that something I'll be better off getting from the states? I can't find ANY, let alone any affordable ones.

 

[Lindy]

That is one thing I buy out of the US

 

[AmyW]

Thanks once more

Can I ask a general "purchasing from the US" question? How does duty work? If I ordered say, $300 in packaging material from somewhere that will actually ship usps (I can't get fedex/ups where we will be living, can't even get regular mail delivered to the house, it's all to the post office), how much duty would I have to pay - how do they figure it? And do I pay it at the post office when I pick the package up?

 

[Lindy]

Amy if it is made in the US then at the most you need to worry about is the GST. IF you get involved with a courier then they will charge you a brokerage fee even for $5 in gst... so avoid that where-ever possible. I've never had to pay duty, just the tax a couple of times and then it was through a courier company.

 

[AmyW]

Big relief, thank you!

I'll try not to ask any more questions for a bit and work on ideas and plans that don't involve bugging you =)

 

[Lindy]

Amy ask away - it's what the forum is for and I like being able to share what it took me years to find out on my own for the Canadian end of things. :wink:

Cheers

 

[AmyW]

Thanks Lindy I appreciate it so much.

I'll have a question soon, my only shipping option is Canada Post (fedex 90 minutes away, everything else 2+ hours)... once I figure out how to word it, cause CP's shipping is so insane I can't make sense of it to complain coherently LOL

 

[Lindy]

Amy all I use is Canada Post. Sign up for Venture One on the Canada Post website. It gives you reduced shipping, you can print everything right there on your computer and you can also create address books with the customers info so you can easily do repeat shipping. The other thing I've done is rented a postage meter from Pitney Bowes so when it is just one soap I can put it in a padded envelope, weight it and put the stamp on. It costs about $15 a month for the rental and it is soooo worth it.

I find Canada Post quick and efficient with delivery within my province almost overnight and 2 - 4 days for the rest of Canada. Not a bad deal IMO.... 8)

 

[AmyW]

The main thing was the cost, and if that thing you said to sign up for saves a lot, I'll definitely do it.

But I did a rate quote from my postal code in alberta to one in mississauga (just happened to know it off hand from immigration stuff) and a 5oz package was $13 - which is bad enough, but then boxes that were 1, 2, and 3 lbs only cost $2 more.... I can't imagine anyone buying a bar of soap if they have to pay 2-3 times the price of it in shipping. 10 bars, maybe, but not a single bar. Now, even if it's half price with that discount, that's still 6.50, STILL more than I'll charge for an average bar of soap.

 

[Lindy]

Yeah that price is a little crazy! I ship small boxes of up to 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) for about $12 across the country. For something that is only 5 ounces it would be about $4 using a bubble envelope.

Canada Post gets a bad rap but I can tell you that Fed Ex is cheaper by pennies but the service is horrid and I wouldn't use them again unless we had another postal strike. I find that Canda Post ships faster than Fed Ex....

 

[AmyW]

Oh my word, I totally missed the rate quote section for letters and envelopes, that makes it so much easier lol