Paradox

iTrader: (1)

has anyone else in Canada noticed ordering parts from Mazdatrix comes with a COD shipping charge that is extremely outrageous?

they need a cheaper alternative to their generic "international" shipping to Canada.

I ordered some endlink bushings and a new end link bolt since mine is broken, total cost in parts something like $26, total cost in C.O.D. $22. two weeks ago i ordered a new brake caliper and the C.O.D. shipping cost was $60.

dont get me wrong, i love mazdatrix and the shipping is prompt with great service i'm just hoping there is another alternative that perhaps doesnt cost so much.

MosesX605

Did you ask them to ship via United States Postal Service rather than UPS or Fed/Ex? Both UPS and Fed/Ex charge ridiculous 'brokerage fees' that can double the cost of an item. If you don't specify however, they will ship via UPS because it's more convienient for them.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

The "COD" as you call it is imposed by the shipping company, not by Mazdatrix.

These are "brokerage fees" which FedEX and UPS impose for the paperwork they fill out to ship stuff accross the boarder.

Yes, it's outrageous and stupid, so you either have to ship via US Postal Service (USPS) or ship it to a location in the states and bring it over the boarder yourself.

*within* the continental US, UPS is the cheapest and fastest way to ship things. That's one of the many reasons that companies like Mazdatrix and Racingbeat use it alot. And often if they do alot of shipping, UPS will give them a break on shipping costs because of the volume they ship.

What it means is that for Canadians, you've gotta swallow brokerage fees which often approach or exceed 50% of the cost of the item!

If they declare the package as having a $0 value, it doesn't get brokerage, but of course companies can't do that. Just a tip if friends or forum members are shipping things to you in Canada via UPS/FedEx.

I live 1hr from the US boarder, so I ship it to the UPS store in Ogdensburg, then go pick it up.

Even with the 15% tax I pay crossing the boarder (tax on the declared value of the item) I still save on the brokerage.

Mazdatrix doesn't even know this happens. As far as they're concerned, they pay UPS to ship it, and UPS takes it away and ships it.

Jon

rxtory

i **** stuff to my aunts house and she drives it across and doesnesnt tell them she even has anything. She lives 10 mins across the boarder, i live 30 from the boarder

Paradox

iTrader: (1)

whats the downsides to ordering with USPS?

Whanrow

You **** parts? Damn that could save me a lot of money if I could do that!

Last time I got about $225 of parts from Mazdatrix is cost me $75 in brokerage fees.

From now on USPS all that way. It may take a little longer, but it beats doubling the US price (between shipping, brokerage, exchange, and GST) by the time you get your parts.

Aviator 902S

A few years ago I ordered a hatch shock for my 1st gen. With the (at that time) high exchange rate, gst and nearly 100% brokerage fee from UPS the shock cost me almost $90!

When I talked to Mazdatrix about it I was told that they only use UPS. If you live in Canada I'd recommend offering them the difference in shipping costs for USPS instead of UPS. If they refuse, take your business elsewhere. Simple as that.

85rotarypower

I recently ordered some parts from mazdatrix for the first time. I knew they shipped by UPS, and I've seen for myself the outrageous brokerage fees. But the total was only $80 CND so I figured the brokerage wouldn't be too bad. Boy was I wrong. It ended up costing me $55 in brokerage fees. thats like 60% of the cost of the parts I ordered. In all, I've probably paid over $500 in brokerage fees for stuff I've ordered from the US. The most I ever paid at one time was $150 but I've NEVER paid less than $20. USPS is much better. BTW, that $150 was on a set of wheels that cost me $500 shipped from tire rack, and that was with shipping. Declaired value was about $420 I think.

boyee

iTrader: (3)

too much to say! they are such a hassle. everytime i go to the local usps office (or any location) there is always such a long line. also their handling is such crap! they broke a few items in the past and even though they were insured they were giving me such a pita to get my refund back. had to go through months of waiting to get my refund because i paid a dam lot for the item and i paid for insurance too and the items were broke so i dont understand why they were so ****. also for fedex and ups, i have always recieved my items ahead of schedule than usps who always delivers on the last estimated time day. i.e. 2-9 days for usps and it comes the 9th. fedex says 5-7 days for standard shipping and i got it on the 3rd!! i was thinking about paying a rape price to express the delivery but im glad i didnt have to since it was technically express but regular standard shipping. also fedex and ups and dhl update their tracking status online once the item is scanned. usps takes a few days just to update in my experiences. usps and fedex comes with up to $100 for insurance for standard and tracking number whereas usps charges 1.35 for $80 of insurance and tracking number is $0.50.

for example recently i bought a stereo system on ebay sold by a forum member seanrot. and the item was shipped express through usps which at least was never late from the e.a.t. (i shall call it estimated arrival time). it was insured. when my item came the part was physically damaged (plastic broke, pieces missing) and it sure as hell didnt look like that on the detailed pictures and description. i talked to sean (so glad it was a helpful forum member THANK YOU) and he filled out the claims paperwork to have usps filed. a few weeks later i recieved a letter telling me to go to my local usps and have an insurance clerk inspector inspect the pakaging material and items. he told me that it was unacceptable because it was improperly packaged, that the items had to be packaged seperately, the items were OLD, and they wont refund me. they wrote a note as a proof of follow up for me to mail MYSELF ( i mean i was already at the post office why cant they do it for me but whatever). man i was really pissed. i wrote bak to sean and he wrote a letter and sent it to the insurance claims office and so did i. he sent me his copy of his letter and i sent him mine as well and also sent in the follow up at the same time. i was about ready to give up that i will never get a refund back and aceepted that at least the seller and i did our parts to state our claims and all the time to wirte and send it in. just last week (bought the item in feb and 3 days later i got it and been through this 2 month process) i finally got my money back. after all the time and work spent into this at least its something. its short a few dollars but that is not worth the respect they lost from me.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

From a receiver's standpoint the two big downsides to USPS are the lack of a tracking code (which is actually why some companies refuse to ship with them) and the extra time to ship... though considering how long they hold my UPS/FedEx at the boarder, that's not often a problem, since USPS doesn't seem to get held back as long!

Jon

Jbar3987

In reference to high shipping costs, I just paid $26 shipping on three parts that in total (including box and paking peanuts) weighed less than your average apple.

I am however on the East coast.....

Lee Lyons

its friggen expensive to order from them to canada...I ordered the complete body kit from them a while ago and with shipping and border charges because they packaged it wrong I had to pay an extra $860 CAD at my door!! And COD should only be $8 not $60.