Buying from RayWu and shipping to Canada

T

TheStealth

New member
Hi All,

I'm finally going to get started in the pixel hobby :biggrin:. Gathering from what I have read on these forums, RayWu seems to be the place to go to buy pixels. Having exchanged a few e-mails with Ray, he has offered very good pricing. My only worry is that he uses FedEx or DHL to ship to Canada. In the past having received international shipments with these carriers, I am often surprised with extra brokerage fees ($50+) and taxes (hard to avoid these). So what was a great deal becomes all that more pricey.

I was wondering if there are any fellow Canadians here who have bought pixels from Ray (or any other Chinese source) and have any experience with extra brokerage fees and such.

Thanks
 
It is like playing russian roulette....
You may get dinged or you may not, the experiences I have had after buying from China over the past 6 or 7 years is hit or miss.
The only carrier you are guaranteed to be charged brokerage fees is Fedex, they always charge up front so no avoiding it.
It really all depends on the size and weight of order. As you know, anything that comes into Canada with a declared value over $20.00 is subject to duties.
 
TheStealth said:
Hi All,

I'm finally going to get started in the pixel hobby :biggrin:. Gathering from what I have read on these forums, RayWu seems to be the place to go to buy pixels. Having exchanged a few e-mails with Ray, he has offered very good pricing. My only worry is that he uses FedEx or DHL to ship to Canada. In the past having received international shipments with these carriers, I am often surprised with extra brokerage fees ($50+) and taxes (hard to avoid these). So what was a great deal becomes all that more pricey.

I was wondering if there are any fellow Canadians here who have bought pixels from Ray (or any other Chinese source) and have any experience with extra brokerage fees and such.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Can you update your profile to tell us where in Canada you are?

I can't add anything to this conversation as I go through pre-sales from members US stores and then make a trip down to pickup.
 
Ray will ship DHL and bill you as per his website.

DHL will send you an email saying the item will not be delivered until you pay GST/HST on the total plus handling fee thu their provided link.
Handling fee may vary, I seem to recall $5-$10 on a hundred dollar order.
 
here is my experience ,, alway order through dhl they are the cheapest one around ,,fed ex have crazy broker fee, last few order i only pay gst on order with dhl ... also Ray wont do it ( unless that change ) but other seller like Paul and Scoth will change the value of package on custom form so you pay less fee as it is charge by value of merchandise ... and before i get burn saying to never do that in case of lost package ect ,,, well in 6 year i never lost 1 yet ,,, and yes some of them went from $1800 to about $300 on declare form ...
cheer
 
jcross said:
Can you update your profile to tell us where in Canada you are?

I can't add anything to this conversation as I go through pre-sales from members US stores and then make a trip down to pickup.
Click to expand...

Profile updated ;) Thanks everyone for their tips and tricks I have taken note of them.

I'm in Montreal, Canada. I'm just starting in the hobby. Last year I picked up a few ESPixelSticks to play around with. This year I think I will buy 200 or so pixels to make some small props. Shipping for this few pixels and the chance of brokerage fees + taxes may make my few hundred pixels way to costly if buying direct from China.

I think the best cost scenario at this point is to participate in one of the pre-sales and have my order shipped Freeport Forwarding (I do this for a lot of US purchases and its only about 45 minutes from me). Otherwise if there is a fellow Canadian willing to combine orders and share the shipping costs and who lives reasonably close (say 2-3 hrs from me) I'd be more than willing to tag along.
 
Well hopefully one of the "good" things from a renewed NAFTA will be $800.00 duty free from US suppliers via on-line shopping (fingers crossed).
I think Barbotte is a couple hours away in Ottawa.....I'm quite a bit farther away in Nova Scotia or I'd entertain sharing shipping/duty costs.
 
i dont mind sharing cost but usually i dont order anything before July as i never know what i will be updated or change in my show ,,, as for going with the usa presale ,,,DONT do it ,, it is still cheaper to get it from china ,,and with china you have warranty ,,,ray ,,paul or scoth ..will send you replacement at no cost if something is defect ,,,, in the state you are out of luck ,,,, also with china you have your stock in less than 4 days if in stock ,,2 week if need to be produce ,,,, in the usa ,,,,you purchase now on presale and if you are lucky you get your stuff bye sept ... if nothing is wrong with it ... and for 200 pixel sometime aliexpress have wicket deal with free shipping ,, as that is only 3-5 string ..i even got some from amazon for 12 v 50 pixel for 24 $ cdn shipp to my door that survive this crazy winter so there is a lot of option beside buying from usa pre sale ..and if you have acces to usa adress amazon .com also add a wicket deal on them last summer
but what ever your planning ordering ,,,order more as you will need spare or will change your mind and add more and its nice to have the same connector or light pattern
cheer
 
barbotte said:
i dont mind sharing cost but usually i dont order anything before July as i never know what i will be updated or change in my show ,,, as for going with the usa presale ,,,DONT do it ,, it is still cheaper to get it from china ,,and with china you have warranty ,,,ray ,,paul or scoth ..will send you replacement at no cost if something is defect ,,,, in the state you are out of luck ,,,, also with china you have your stock in less than 4 days if in stock ,,2 week if need to be produce ,,,, in the usa ,,,,you purchase now on presale and if you are lucky you get your stuff bye sept ... if nothing is wrong with it ... and for 200 pixel sometime aliexpress have wicket deal with free shipping ,, as that is only 3-5 string ..i even got some from amazon for 12 v 50 pixel for 24 $ cdn shipp to my door that survive this crazy winter so there is a lot of option beside buying from usa pre sale ..and if you have acces to usa adress amazon .com also add a wicket deal on them last summer
but what ever your planning ordering ,,,order more as you will need spare or will change your mind and add more and its nice to have the same connector or light pattern
cheer
Click to expand...

I've never had an issue with warranty replacements from US based pre-sales. Sure you have to wait a little longer for them but you are also supporting DIYC members.

I was entertaining the possibility of being a "distributor" for some of the common stuff we use but don't think I could ever buy enough quantity to make it cheaper than going direct (whether that be China or US).
 
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