Canadian who would like to order from AUTOGEEK

[2003 GMC Denali]

Hi...

I've been lurking for a while now... and I have my AUTOGEEK wish-list all created and ready to go and am currently humming and hawing if whether I should go through with it.

I live in Alberta, Canada and I also have another wish-list created on a Canadian on-line Detailing Supply Company too.

This other company's Free Shipping in Canada would offset the US Dollar Conversion if I bought from AUTOGEEK.

It's a real shame that AUTOGEEK doesn't offer free shipping to Customers in Canada. You have just about everything I want.

My order is close to $400.00 in US funds or $500.00 in Canadian funds.

I'm also a Moderator on a GMC Denali Site... and we have several Shine freaks on there too. AUTOGEEKS is mentioned a lot as one of the top places to get supplies from.

I have a Foam-Gun that I bought from AUTOGEEK last year and it works really well.

Hello to everyone and thanks for welcoming on-board !

[KLRPilot]

Here is a suggestion--use a private mailbox on the US side, or have your order delivered to a friend on the US side.
Then, on your next trip across, just pick it up there. Many of the AG products are US made, so, thanks to NAFTA, there would be no Canadian duty due upon your return. Heck--even the PC7424 is exempt--the label on mine states that it was made in Mexico!
Picking up your merchandise on the US side saves a bundle on shipping, and is faster then letting the order languish at Canadian Customs/Excise.

[jdrumstik]

Mail forwarding service from US to Canada (http://www.bongous.com/country-information/us-to-canada.php)

Searched and found this on Google. Maybe it can help? I remember seeing a site made for people into high end fashion clothing where you have your package mailed to them and then they remail it internationally to wherever you are. But I couldn't find it.

[kaptain_zero]

Well, living in Canada myself, I've settled on ordering from a Canadian supplier if they can supply what I need. If they can't, I'll order stateside and have it shipped to a parcel handling service just across the border and I'll go for a Saturday morning drive and pick it up so I only have to pay the actual taxes when I bring it across the border + gas for the trip which is around $20 in my case + 2.5hrs of my time.

Your order is on the larger size at $400, and you don't say if you have included any power tools in that order, but if you did, don't forget warranty issues with your cross border purchase! Most tools purchased in the US will have to be sent back to the US for any warranty repairs unlike Canadian purchased ones that can be serviced locally. If you have to ship across the border, there goes any marginal savings you might have had.....

If it's only detailing supplies you are ordering, then I'd suspect that the order might be broken up into several boxes, each which will incur the $5 handling fee for collecting taxes by Canada Post. Then there's the actual exchange rate on your currency. Lastly, some stuff can't be sent via the Postal System because it's considered a hazardous substance.... things like Megs Body Solvent, Megs Glass cleaner and the like.

Back to the Canadian dealer... the one I generally deal with is located in Ontario so I only have to pay the GST, I always save up my order until it's over $150 so I don't have to pay for shipping and the outfit I deal with ships promptly, packages very well and is very easy to deal with if there is a problem with my order.

In the end, as I mentioned at the start, if the Canadian dealer can supply what I need/want it's generally a no brainer for me, I just order from him. If he doesn't carry what I need then I have no choice but to order from the US and then I'll often use the parcel service just across the border. I've not looked into the re-mailing outfit suggested above, but with re-mailing services, there's going to be extra charges, they have the same issues with hazardous goods and you'll still get dinged for taxes and the dreaded $5 handling fee as long as it goes through the post office... Heaven help you if they ship via UPS... those guys hand you a ransom note for some ridicules amount, just for the work of collecting a few shekels in taxes.

Regards

Christian

[Jimmie]

Try a PM to Meghan on Monday. AG may have a business that carries their products in Canada. Seems I remember a mention of it in the past. But, ????

[2003 GMC Denali]

Thanks for the replies...

I have bought several things from the States over the Years, including eBay and other American and UK companies.

I've never heard of BONGO and sure would like to know more about that service. How does BONGO make it's Money ? What shipping address do you use, once you make the purchase. The BONGO Demo says you make the purchase first, then you contact BONGO and they take care of the rest.

I do plan on buying a PC7424XP Buffer and I'm quite aware of the fun that I might have if there's a warranty claim to make. Sometimes I save so much Money buying something from the US, that if I have to throw the item away and buy a new one, I can do it with the Money I saved with the initial purchase.

Canadian Tire stores up here in Canada want $229.99 for the older PC7424 and that price just can't compete against the $99.00 & $109.00 that they want for a PC7424 in the US. Up here, I'm not even sure anybody sells the PC7424XP yet, since it's so new.

I just came back from San Francisco a few weeks ago and had thought of taking advantage of AUTOGEEKS Father's Day Buffer Special before I left for this Holiday... but wanted to hold out for the PC7424XP Model, which at the time was still out of stock. I had my Shopping Cart all built, but there was that elusive new model of PC Buffer that I wanted... and I wasn't sure if Airport Customs would give me a hard time with a whole bunch of Sealants, Soap, Waxes and Liquids in my Suitcase.

If I bought an order from AUTOGEEK, is there anything that can't be shipped to Canada, like certain Liquid products ?

I do know of this Ontario company you speak of... and their Canadian prices are NOT bad... but they still do not compare to AUTOGEEKS when you convert the Dollars over... but the saving grace may be, like you said, that over a certain price, the shipping in Canada is free and that helps make up the difference of the US dollar conversion.

This is good dialogue and keep it coming. Dean

My Vehicles...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00953.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC02427.jpg

My Truck in California after I picked up my new Rims/Tires and raised Cowl Hood...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00082.jpg

Good ol' Canadian Winter Dirt and Salt...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00859.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00867.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00864.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00872.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC00868.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC02368.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/DSC02369.jpg

My Wife's Infiniti EX35...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s212/denali-pictures/image001-1.jpg

[agpatel]

eshine has AG products and they are in Canada.

[kaptain_zero]

PC7424XP from AG = Cdn 139.343 (not including the spread from your friendly Credit Card Co. PLUS the GST AND the $5 handling fee from Customs Canada to collect the GST AND you pay shipping from AG to Canada). And I'm not going to mention that your package will take longer than the other option which is......

Ontario source of the PC7424XP is Cdn $ 168.99 + GST + $0 for shipping...... AND you get the Canadian warranty.... AND you get to feel good about shopping in Canada! :D

Don't get me wrong, you pays your money and it's your choice where you spend it.... I'm just pointing out that *sometimes* it's not as expensive to shop at home as we think it is....... and it's not fair to compare CTC to an Internet dealer, ditto in the US for that matter, Internet dealers have lower overheads vs the brick and mortar outfits.

I like to support companies like Autogeek AND the more local ones as they all support us better than the usual CTC and other local retailers who only stock a few items.

Regards

Christian

[2003 GMC Denali]

Trust me, I've made the comparisons in Dollar conversions and my numbers work out to be the same as yours.

I don't even think that CTC even knows they could sell the PC7424 for Paint Correction purposes. In my local CTC store, the PC7424 is located right below all the Bondo and Body Filler supplies. It's almost as if they intended people to buy it for it's Sanding capabilities rather than for Paint Correction.

CTC likes to sell Simoniz Branded products for Paint Correction Buffers... and if they were so great, we all would be buying Simoniz Branded products instead of PC's and Flex's to name a few.

If I was to buy the new PC Buffer all on it's own, I would definetly consider all the merits you mentioned... but when I think of all the other things that I want to go along with it, the Dollar difference comes into play, big time.

I sure want to thank you guys for raising some interesting points and for AUTOGEEK to allow us to talk freely about all the options out there. If Free Trade was totally perfect, then the pricing would be even closer together... and I wouldn't be having this discussion... me-thinks ! :righton:

[kaptain_zero]

This is from another US internet dealer who does not ship to Canada, period. They do ship to a forwarding company such as Bongo but they will not ship the following Meguiars products to such a mail forwarding outfit.

Prohibited items are any products that are considered hazardous or flammable by UPS or the USPS. This applies to all orders shipping to: Hawaii, Alaska, and any forwarding International orders.
G13124 NXT Insane Shine
G12924 NXT Tech Protect
G12024 Hot Shine Tire Spray
G9524 Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner
D108 Super Degreaser
D105 Safe- Degreaser
D120 Glass Cleaner Concentrate
D140 Wheel Brightener
D130 Body Solvent
D160 All Season Dressing


Other brands will most likely have products that fall into the same category, but as I do not have your list, I cannot say which ones would be a problem.

For the record though.... if a package is shipped from outside Canada to you, and it's opened for inspection by Customs Canada, and they find something *they* feel is in the "hazardous" category, they will remove and destroy it with no compensation to either the sender or the purchaser.... and don't ask me how I know that. Ok, so maybe it involved expensive bottles of cologne/aftershaves from the UK.... thank god I was saved by some Customs agent who threw himself in front of those hazardous bottles of cologne and saved me from a fate worse than death........ At near $100 a bottle, the UK dealer decided he'd rather not risk any more shipments of such items to Canada (which he noted is the *only* Country to ever confiscate and destroy such items. Anywhere else in the world has never been a problem for him).

Regards

Kaptain "if it can be lit with a match, it's probably too dangerous, according to Customs Canada, for the average Canadian to handle" Zero

[2003 GMC Denali]

eShine is the Canadian on-line company I have a Shopping Cart List built.

In Canadian Dollars, the total is around $500.00

Granted that eShine and AUTOGEEK do not carry all the exact same things... but they are very close... which is making me think long and hard about who I want to give my money to.

[ScottB]

I think as with anything we purchase in life, we must measure the ability to receive the product and the end cost with all factors included. Autogeek has always shown proper client services and thats a plus.

Maybe calling Meghan and seeing if any other shipping options exist will help as the original poster sounds like he "really" wants to shop AG.

[Tesla]

There is also car care smart dot com for Canadians, although I have no idea if there pricing is competitive with US options.

I know they sell some things cheaper than they do in the US.

[kaptain_zero]

Dean,

Let us (and every other Canadian who's wondering) know what your final decision is/was and how it worked out for you.

For the record, there is no right or wrong answer to the original question but rather it's always a matter of being informed about all the issues. There are times when it only makes good sense to order from a US dealer and yet at other times it's clear that ordering within Canada is the better way to go, even if the price is the same.

Me, I like to spread my $$ around..... :D I'll always order from places I like and or trust..... Autogeek seems like a pretty trustworthy outfit and I would not hesitate to order from them even though I've not yet done so....... yet. The fact that they will ship products that I cannot purchase in Canada, directly to my door weighs quite heavily in their favor, and I can smell an order coming sooner rather than later! :cruisin:

Regards,

Kaptain "Where the **** did put my visa card?!?!?" Zero

[2003 GMC Denali]

carcaresmart dot com... doesn't do anything for me. A lot their stuff is out of stock and the best PC Buffer they carry is the PC7336 and it's out of stock, too.

For me, it'll be a toss-up between AUTOGEEK and the e-Canadian Store mentioned earlier.