Hey guys,

I live in canada and need a bodypart off a company in the states but they do not ship to canada. I live 20 minutes from buffalo or niagara falls, NY. Is there somewhere I can get it shipped to? Does the USPS accepts packages at their offices where I can pick it up?

 

I asked a local post office about this before and they said that they do not do this. I can see why, since they don't want to be receiving and distributing hundreds of packages a day after sorting through a gazillion letters.

Maybe you could get a temporary PO box in Buffalo or someone on here who lives in Buffalo can receive it and hold for you???

 

Most companies will not ship to PO boxes, it usually has to be a physical address.

 

That's kind of messed up that they won't ship to Canada. There isn't any customs issues in sending a body part. UPS would carry the part to you if you could get someone else to ship it. Maybe if you talked with another person from the company, you would get better results. Sometimes I have my wife call them for the part and they have no problems after she sweet talks them.

 

actually i called the ups store and they will receive packages for you, $5 for a small, $10 for medium and $15 for large, and $1 for each day that it sits there. so im getting it shipped there and picking it up

 

I'm not familiar with the Buffalo area so I don't know if there is a similar place that does this, but I just ship my stuff to a store right across the border. They charge $2 to hold my package then I pick it up and claim it when I go back into Canada. Just make sure you have a copy of your receipt to show the border guard.

I've found that some sites now will only ship to the address registered on your credit card which is a pain.

 

Maybe you could go to a post office in a small town, explain your situation and have it delivered to that post office's actual address or "General Delivery." I would be damn sure to talk to a postmaster first before doing any of this, though.

GD is acceptable, but some places might not ship it that way, since there is no address.

There are a lot of homeless people that get mail at our Post Office General Delivery and the Post Office just holds the mail for a while and checks ID of people that come to pick it up to make sure the names match up.

It would look like this:

John Doe
General Delivery
Anytown, NY 12345
USA

I think you are better off having it shipped to someone else or a company, but that's something I know is done at the Post Office.

 

where do you cross the border? Do they charge you duty when you show them the receipt?

 

I cross at Pigeon River...its about 35 minutes south of Thunder Bay. Last couple of times they haven't charged any duty. It all really depends how much you're bringing back and if the border guard is in a good mood or not. Lots of people from TBay do the same thing so they're used to people crossing just to pick up their purchases. All they'll charge you is the regular 15% sales tax if they pull you in, unless its a really expensive item, then there could possibly be another charge, I'm not sure though.

 

Hey isn't there that big general store (can't remember the name) just across the border on the right hand side of the road that holds parcels for Canadians? When I lived there in 92-97 they used to do that all the time. Charged a fee of course.

CM.

 

Yup. It's called Ryden's: http://www.rydensstore.com/

They charge $2...not too bad I think. Grand Portage Casino built a HUGE new gas station and general store too and I think they also have parcel pickups. I like Ryden's though because it's family run and I heard their service is better.

 

Ya well there ya go. Not a bad deal if the company will ship there instead of your home address.

mmm now I want some Sven And Olies pizza.