pbk to canada ?

[dancinkozmo]

have any of you canadian paceliners dealt with the british mail order places ?
i got some great deals and prompt tax free duty free shipping when i lived in the states but havent ordered anything since moving back to canada...
thanks and happy canada day..eh ?

[blakcloud]

I have ordered from PBK, Wiggle and Chain Reaction, all with good results. Shipping usually takes about ten days to two weeks but that is par for the course when it comes to mail delivery in Canada. As for taxes, only the last three packages from Wiggle have been dinged for sales tax and a six dollar Post Office fee. Even then it is still cheaper than buying it in Canada.

[Veloo]

I've ordered from the same 3 as blakcloud. I've had things show up between 3 days and 3 weeks. I've been refunded my money when things haven't shown up or were realized to be out of stock after the order went through.

I tend to factor in 13% duties and potential $5-10 "box handling fee" just to see if it's worthwhile if I do get dinged to the max.

I'd say 25-33% of the time I've been dinged so overall it has been well worth it. Nice to come home to a box of cycling goodies at your door.

[zzy]

Over $100 I used to get hit with 13% tax + a customs fee regularly. It comes via economy CanPost and is usually fairly poorly packed (PBK esp.). Otherwise never really had an issues. 10 days was the average wait time.

[climbgdh]

i've ordered from all of them.... PBK, Ribble, Wiggle, etc. haven't had any issues. i've got some orders as quick as 5-6 days. others have been 2 weeks but all good so far.

[ckamp]

i've ordered from all of them.... PBK, Ribble, Wiggle, etc. haven't had any issues. i've got some orders as quick as 5-6 days. others have been 2 weeks but all good so far.

Same here for timing. In terms of custom fees, I would say about 10% of my items get hit with duty via regular air/ground mail. However, if you start using companies like UPS or FEDEX and equivalents, from my experience, you will get hit with fees 90% of the time.

Also, keep in mind if the parcel is marked worth over $200.00 (some say $100) it is more likely to get looked at by customs and have associated fees. You may want to consider separate orders that still fall within the websites free shipping guidelines.

These websites offer fantastic deals that are hard to match locally in CND, in most cases items are 50% off from some shop prices (but ask them first!) and if you don't get duty, are basically tax free.

[ceolwulf]

No problems. PBK tends to be slow. I use Chain Reaction more lately. (My LBS is usually very close on price anyway so on stuff they can get normally go that way. Worth checking.)

[zzy]

These websites offer fantastic deals that are hard to match locally in CND, in most cases items are 50% off from some shop prices (but ask them first!) and if you don't get duty, are basically tax free.

In fairness, it's often below wholesale cost in Canada (esp when they have a sale), and if you get it tax free it's not even close.

[ericssonboi]

Like others, similar results from ordering from retailers from the UK. PBK tends to have a lower minimum for free shipping and from time to time discounts on certain goods (tires, shimano parts, clearance, etc). Stock is hit or miss but they usually ship out pretty fast. Arrival can vary since it could possible be held up at customs. Price of other online UK retailers arent too far from PBK so you could always shop around

[jemoryl]

From what I understand, PBK is now using non-Royal Mail shippers (UPS, FedEx), which means that you may get hit up for customs brokerage charges (admin charges from the shipper) in addition to any customs which Canada charges (they are more diligent about collecting customs than the US).

I haven't been impressed with PBK pricing recently (they were bought out by someone, IIRC) so have done most of my overseas business with Ribble, which ships via Royal Mail (will get delivered here by USPS).

[oldpotatoe]

In fairness, it's often below wholesale cost in Canada (esp when they have a sale), and if you get it tax free it's not even close.

Yep, no bike shop can really match, and stay viable unless they either have very, very low fixed expenses or some alternate $ stream, like loads of labor $.

Or they have the same back door supply chain and volume of these places...unlikely. Mostly they just choose to lose money on things that some customers ask about 'matching'...