I have been noticing more and more companies will only ship to the US on EBay. I have asked some if there is a particular reason,since a lot of my parts for resto on my vette come from EBay. Some reply that they will ship to Canada if I pay for the shipping (which is a gimme), some don't reply and some just say they no longer ship to Canada. Is politics rearing its ugly head in the corvette collectors market, am I paranoid or is there a bona fide reason someone could enlighten me on? I'm perplexed since I really can't see anymore paper work for the seller in shipping north of the 49th. Most of my stuff comes via snail mail. Would appreciate comment

Hello Keith !
I am from canada to Quebec and here it is hard to find a good place to get parts for my vette but I have one in Montreal that is not so bad if you want the info just send me a e-mail.
n_sauriol@hotmail.com
Normand

I've done a lot of Ebay sales (not just auto parts), and have many times done business with our neighbors to the north. Essentially the only difference is the cost of shipping, and the possible hassle of getting an international money order. I think the biggest problem is the exchange rate and maybe many simply don't want to deal with it.

Only once have I had a problem with a Canadian deal, and that was the fault of UPS. I purchased at a quite "handsome" price an almost unobtainable piece of trim in show quality for my '67 Dodge Charger. It was shipped, passed US Customs, then promptly vanished from the face of the earth. I'm still fighting that to get a refund since the part can't be replaced, but like I said, it was the responsibility of UPS.

I usually pay via Paypal so exchange is not a problem and of course, since I'm Canadian, I'm the one getting stung with the difference. On the few occasions where I need to send a money order, it is always drawn on US Funds so it is a win/win deal for the US seller. When I have the item shipped via Postal I pay any taxes owing to the post office here in Canada who forward it to the Canada Customs. If you know sellers on Ebay who won't ship to Canada, do us northern cousins a favour and tell them were not a risk factor. Vette outlets up here are few and far between so all my shopping is down south of the 49th. Normand, how does your Montreal outlet compare in quality and prices to the US dealers?

My company, Vette Specialties, export all over the world. But, because of identity theft and the difficulty of catching the criminals, I am very careful about out of country sales.

I think these vendors that are not willing to ship to Canada just don't want to deal with it.

Just my 2 cents.

Alex

some good points for thought. Hopefully we will see more open to shipping north and those that do will keep it up. There is a good market up here with a lot of vette collectors....hmmm maybe I should......

I've shipped a few things to Canada. Biggest hassle is the customs paper. Second biggest hassle is that my bank will cash a US money order no problem, but holds a Canadian one (deposits to my account instead of cash straight out). Third thing is that UPS is a bit high on Canadian shipping and most want USPS shipping. Not a huge deal, but the way I do Ebay is take the money orders to the bank, cash them, then straight to Office Depot to ship UPS. Canadian shipping requires that I front the money (or hold the item) and make a different trip to the post office and fill out forms.

My wife ships a lot of auction items to Canada as well as around the world. There are two different customs forms. The first is the green one for packages under 4lbs, the second is a white form for packages over 4lbs or 36", measured by wrapping a tape measure around the box. All of the customs forms have fields for what the item is, its value & weight. Usually it is marked as a gift. So far there have not been any losses & both the buyer & seller have been pleased with the transaction.
I'm sorry to hear about the struggle with UPS...

I suppose it all boils down to whether the shipper wants to take the time to complete the forms & ship the items. A larger volume seller may not have the time to do international orders.

Well, the replies have certainly shed some light on the problem. In spite of NAFTA we still have to wade throught the bureaucratic muck to do business. Any in favor of making the 49th parallel disappear??