#general-chat
Thread
Has anyone managed to sell from USA to Canadian customers affordably?
We find that a lot of Canadians add to cart, but they don't finish the purchase because of the huge shipping and customs/duties fees.
At cost to us it's $23 USD to send their package from USA to Canada (includes customs and duties).
We don't mark up that cost to the customer, but it's still a huge cost in their eyes and some mention that the USD is stronger than CAD so it's even more expensive than it looks.
Has anyone managed to solve affordable shipping from USA > Canada customers?
I fear it's impossible thanks to the Canada tariffs and fees.
I saw one service one time that lets you ship the orders to them on the border and they drive them across or something to avoid the tariffs
One time I shipped a package there and the Canadian govt made the recipient pay a tariff of like $40 for a $80 order. Insane
@David yep sounds about right.
The shipping and tariffs are pretty insane, more than the product cost sometimes. It's crazy.
One big picture solution is for the product to be made somewhere that has a free trade agreement with Canada, and retail under $800. Our product was mostly made in China but assembled locally and that's how we got around it.
alternatively, can you afford to warehouse a small quantity in canada?
Or, test a localized site where the product cost is higher and shipping is free. Or, if Canada is an important market to capitalize, can you make up the cost in other areas of your business?
Look into WINDSOR FULFILLMENT CENTRE in Windsor, Ontario. They focus on North American brands who want one solution for US and CAD. The great th in is about them are that they have a US and a CAD warehouse so your Cad orders ship from CAD and your USA orders ship from US address. Additionally they are 'bonded' which voids import fees. DM me and I can send you the founders email. We are small right Jamie but that is where I will go in the next yr (fees are a bit higher than I can swing)
Canada shipping is expensive (coming from a Canadian). Couple thoughts:
• consider carrier options like Passport. They do bulk importing and final delivery via local carriers. DDP pricing isn’t bad. I use them via our 3PL.
• Offset some shipping costs eg flat $10 and/or with cart minimums or bundles to boost AOV/margin to offset cost.
@Valerie Crisp this is very interesting to me because we have manufacturing struggles with our current chinese manufacturer and have ended up having to adjust the product before sale once landed. So did you just use a new HS code to allow customs to identify this when you products enter US or Canada? Is it something your manufacturer did on their end? Thanks in advance 🙂
@Chris have you had any luck on this? I spoke with someone from Ascendia (rates were amazing) but our volume isn't there yet ($100K in shipping cost to canada annually). I tried shipping easy and that didnt seem to get any better rates than what shopify provides. Have you tried contacting UPS for an account? I used UPS when I was shipping FROM Canada to the US and the rates were much better than I was getting with Canada Post via shopify. Could be an option. I will also keep looking into this bc we are likely closing our CA warehouse and shipping all from US starting this summer.
@Jai Patel what kind of discounts are you seeing with passport?
@Stewart what's would cost $80+ with USPS/UPS/Fedex costs about $30 with PP (taxes/duties in)
@Jai Patel thats promising. Going to set up a demo with them. Thanks!
Do you have a 3PL? Check if they have an account already.
No we are doing self fulfillment from two warehouses (one in CA and one in the US). CA was once a largest market but since focusing on US, obviously(market size) things have really changed. Looking to keep fulfillment in house as long as possible (and consolidate to just 1 in the US) as we have some seasonality in the business too so paying high fees all yr long is tough. Plus I HATE 3PLS....our one and only experience was terrible.