Shipping from Canada is $50?

[PreRaphaelite]

Ok I’m showing my ignorance here, but I have to ask. I bought something during the ruby lane sale, and the seller is in Canada. The invoice shows $50 USD for shipping, (with no explanation of whether that’s ground/postal/fedex) and the item itself only cost $275.

Am I being too cheap? Should I just pay?

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I know that shipping to Canada is expensive so maybe it's not much different shipping outside. It does sound expensive but depending on what it includes that may be reasonable. I don't know if you can ship insured out of Canada but once you add insurance and a signature or upgrade to faster shipping the costs really add up.

Also could part of it be a handling fee? If it is a unique item that you can't find here then you might have to chalk it up to the cost of getting a rare trinket.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Thanks. I feel like a fool but the cost was “calculated by seller after purchase” which means I should have asked them before clicking!

 

[Slickk]

I’ve been paid that and a tad more to ship to Canada from the US so I’m not surprised at all. Sorry though...it is a lot.
Whether you should pay depends on how much that item is worth to you. Good Luck!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Thanks for the feedback. I decided not to question it, and honored the commitment to buy - chalked it up to a ‘stupidity tax’ - and a lesson learned.

I’ll make a thread when it arrives.
Thanks all!

 

[Rfisher]

Maybe it has to do with how the item was declared for customs /insurance.
I bought a 600-700 stone from someone here years ago (CA to USA) and since it was individual to individual I don’t think she did the customs paperwork the same as a business on Ruby Lane would. She didn’t ask me how I wanted her to ship- because at the time I would have had no clue.
All that to say the shipping I paid wasn’t that high.

 

[telephone89]

Eek! $50 USD is close to $70 CAD. Are you getting it really quickly? Like I can see overnighting it would be that much, but I think normally I pay $20-$30 CAD ($15-$25 USD) to ship to the states (with insurance and tracking, usually thats within 5-7 business days)

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Eek! $50 USD is close to $70 CAD. Are you getting it really quickly? Like I can see overnighting it would be that much, but I think normally I pay $20-$30 CAD ($15-$25 USD) to ship to the states (with insurance and tracking, usually thats within 5-7 business days)

Oh gosh, I hope I didn’t get ripped off. My stomach is sinking.
The seller said he would give me a tracking number but I didn’t push too hard on the details because I feel like an idiot about this.

 

[Begonia]

50 dollars American or Canadian? Shipping within Canada with insurance and signature is very expensive so shipping outside the country? Oh yeah.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

50 dollars American or Canadian? Shipping within Canada with insurance and signature is very expensive so shipping outside the country? Oh yeah.

$50 US
When I buy from Nalfie (CJ Antiques), they only charge $16 shipping from UK and it only takes a week. I’m fretting now.

 

[lyra]

Yes, it's very expensive both ways. Sometimes I look at a $15 ebay or etsy item, and the shipping is $40. I'm in Canada. It's impossible for us to be resellers pretty much, because who is going to pay the high cost of shipping? It's high within Canada as well.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

This has been an opportunity to learn, and hey, education is expensive sometimes. I was ignorant of this before but I now I know better! I reframed the idea in my head as "oh what a pretty (item) and it's only $325 with free shipping" and I am repeating this over and over in my head.

I have now earned a PhD in DuH.
lol!

 

[Garnetgirl]

I don’t think that you have been ripped off at all, @PreRaphaelite. $50 is not out of line for international shipping.

From a different perspective, I live in Canada, and often order items (not usually jewellery) from the US. I’ve been quoted shipping charges higher than this on occasion.

In fact, it has happened that the shipping charges were going to be higher than the actual cost of the item I was ordering!

That’s frustrating when one needs an item for a household repair, for example, which is only easily available online from the US.

There are many US merchants who won’t even ship to Canada at all.

I hope you enjoy your piece of jewellery when you receive it. Please come back and show us the bling!

 

[arkieb1]

I can send you something with tracking not insured from Australia for $25.00USD and fully insured for the cost of the item for around what you paid for the shipping. It seems excessive to me.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Thanks @Garnetgirl
I have shipped to other countries as a seller, but recently was told the tracking wouldn't work from the US to Canada so I would be taking a chance in shipping and ultimately declined to sell. I now regret that decision. Should have just sent it and hoped for the best!

 

[Garnetgirl]

$50 US
When I buy from Nalfie (CJ Antiques), they only charge $16 shipping from UK and it only takes a week. I’m fretting now.

I've never bought from the UK, but I have looked at some jewellery sites, and noticed that the shipping from UK to Canada seems to be quite reasonable, compared to US. I don't know why that is, but I guess one can't compare apples to oranges.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Yes I think you are right @Garnetgirl
The US is a strange place to live sometimes.

 

[Garnetgirl]

Yes I think you are right @Garnetgirl
The US is a strange place to live sometimes.

Ah, yes, but you are SO lucky to have all these wonderful American jewellers, vendors of gems and diamonds at your fingertips. (Just order it, and return it if you don't like it - much more complicated when there are customs, duties, etc. to deal with) Sometimes I get very jealous!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

The seller has messaged back mentioning a Fedex courier waybill - hopefully I will get the package soon. Maybe I should switch to decaf...

 

[PreRaphaelite]

It’s official. I’m a doofus.

 

[telephone89]

That's the reason for the cost then. It looks like they sent it "first overnight" (friday to monday is still considered overnight on fedex I think). If they hadve sent 2 day or economy it would have been a fraction of the price. Even priority or standard overnight would have been cheaper.
But at least you get it Monday morning!!

 

[cmd2014]

I pay $100 CAD to FedEx small boxes to the US. Shipping between Canada and the US is just freaking expensive. I can pay $20 to have something shipped to a parcel receiving service at the border, but it will cost me $100 to have it travel the extra hour of driving time it would take to go from the border to my house. There are typically paperwork processing fees involved for a package to cross the border as well (FedEx charges $30 just to fill out the paperwork for an item to cross the border from the US to here; UPS charged me 30% of the cost of my purchase once that they said they would only waive if I drove to 3 different places in town and do the paperwork myself - it was crazy!).

I'm really sorry you got caught off guard. What I would suggest going forward is to do what we Canadians do when shipping the other way - ask for a quote for shipping before buying something. These shipping fee surprises are something you only do once!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Yes that is exactly what I will do next time!

 

[JPie]

FedEx insured international shipping is really expensive! I don't think he necessarily made money from the shipping fee.

Looking forward to seeing what you got.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

I'm looking forward to leaving him a glowing review!
My own ignorance will not be held against him!
Lol

 

[arkieb1]

FedEx is really expensive if he used a postal system for International shipping instead it would have been way less but slower and probably slightly less reliable. Some vendors use FedEx only to ensure their items always get to the customer.