Canadian needs help finding online stores he can afford to buy from

So today I tried to order some Tiki mugs from a site that had some very good prices. The prices were American, so the exchange rate was a thing, but still not too bad. Then the price doubled to actually ship them here. Again, given how affordable they were, I wasn't too put out. But then they e-mailed me for a confirmation, letting me know that UPS was going to charge another 40%-80% ON TOP of that for duties and service charges and God knows what else. That was that and I cancelled the order.

That leaves me with the issue of wanting these blasted Tiki mugs but having to find affordable places to get them from. So, does anybody know of any places here in Canada I can order mugs from? Or fellow Canadians, any recommendations of online stores that don't gouge?

Thanks!

Yeah, it kind of sucks for us. There are tiki mugs to be had but patience is important. Are you open to acquiring vintage mugs? That' s my favourite type, and I've got many doubles I'd be open to trading or selling.

Also check out local artists Salty Sea Dogs...they do the local arts shows circuits and have some nice tiki mug designs.

It cost a buttload of money to jump through the hoops to ship to Canada. That does dot equate to " gouging". So the seller should just eat the shipping costs?

Slacks,

I'm certainly not opposed to vintage mugs :) mostly just depends on the price and whether I like it. Thanks for the heads up on the local group.

Sophista-tiki,

I was fine until UPS decided to triple the price. The store was actually very nice about it. But I've also learned from other things I collect that the "hoops" of shipping outside the USA are often exaggerated.

You might try the Modern Bartender in Vancouver.

so you kinda contradicted yourself. Blaming a seller for " gouging" you on shipping, then saying it was UPS. My POINT is,,, its not the sellers responsibility to cover the cost of shipping because it wasn't to your expectations. It is what it is, so why blame them for a 3rd parties pricing. Doesn't matter where you buy from.
I don't have a steak in your issue I'm just struck by your convoluted logic. But good like with seeking free shipping utopia where someone magically absorbs the cost for you.

On 2015-01-19 19:39, EnchantedTikiGoth wrote:
Sophista-tiki,

I was fine until UPS decided to triple the price. The store was actually very nice about it. But I've also learned from other things I collect that the "hoops" of shipping outside the USA are often exaggerated.

Don't bother replying to Sophistka-tiki's antagonistic post. He's only being a jerk because your post count is so low. Clearly you aren't allowed to have any thoughts or opinions because you haven't beem on this site for enough years and you haven't posted any thirty page essays about the history of the Mai-Kai and haven't made love on top of a photo of Donn Beach.

rockydog101, you're just showing your ignorance again, try learning a thing or two before
you make more of a fool of yourself, then you already have.

Sophista-tiki is a lady first of all, which you would know if you read anything on TC first
Also she makes a valid point, just because it isn't sugar coated for your delicate feelings
and over sensitive need to be validated, you might learn something.

On 2015-02-19 05:27, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
rockydog101, you're just showing your ignorance again, try learning a thing or two before
you make more of a fool of yourself, then you already have.

Sophista-tiki is a lady first of all, which you would know if you read anything on TC first
Also she makes a valid point, just because it isn't sugar coated for your delicate feelings
and over sensitive need to be validated, you might learn something.

Still butt hurt over your disgusting food coloring "curaçao" I see :)

I think it's hilatious you blindly white knight defend "her" when all "she" did was antagonize someone asking a valid question. This place truly is hilarious.

[ Edited by: rockydog101 2015-02-19 07:10 ]

On 2015-02-19 00:59, Sophista-tiki wrote:
so you kinda contradicted yourself. Blaming a seller for " gouging" you on shipping, then saying it was UPS. My POINT is,,, its not the sellers responsibility to cover the cost of shipping because it wasn't to your expectations. It is what it is, so why blame them for a 3rd parties pricing. Doesn't matter where you buy from.
I don't have a steak in your issue I'm just struck by your convoluted logic. But good like with seeking free shipping utopia where someone magically absorbs the cost for you.

Both of your posts are antagonistic and in no way help the original poster. Why post at all? It just makes you look like an angry person with nothing else better to do.

Lol that escalated quickly ...
I have some mugs I can sell or trade

On 2015-02-19 07:08, rockydog101 wrote:

On 2015-02-19 05:27, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
rockydog101, you're just showing your ignorance again, try learning a thing or two before
you make more of a fool of yourself, then you already have.

Sophista-tiki is a lady first of all, which you would know if you read anything on TC first
Also she makes a valid point, just because it isn't sugar coated for your delicate feelings
and over sensitive need to be validated, you might learn something.

Still butt hurt over your disgusting food coloring "curaçao" I see :)
I think it's hilatious you blindly white knight defend "her" when all "she" did was antagonize someone asking a valid question. This place truly is hilarious.

[ Edited by: rockydog101 2015-02-19 07:10 ]

The fact that you are attacking people in response to your perceived notion that it is "They who are being attacked"
when someone is being "critical" is the very meaning of hypocritical
A fact that has completely escaped you.

And your use of "hilatious" (Last Mondays Hipster word of the day)just confirms your affiliation
with that particular & completely useless social clique.

You say po-tay-toe, I say pah-tah-tah...

Holy moly, ease up guys.

Sophista-tiki... I admit my initial post was exasperated. But believe it or not, the seller does make a difference. In other collections of mine and various and sundry things I bought from the US, there's a wild mix of what they charge to begin with, how much shipping they charge (or overcharge), who they ship with, and whether or not "import charges" get tacked onto it (not to mention the people who just CAN'T ship internationally, meaning they can't be bothered to actually go to the post office). I pretty much won't buy from people who ship via UPS anymore. And all of that is on top of the fact that by living a mere 3 hours north of the US border, as ridiculous as it would be, it seems like it would just be more cost effective to rent a PO Box in West Glacier, Montana. I don't doubt your own experience as an artist and businessperson, and it's not my intention to cast aspersions on you or anyone else in particular, I'm just speaking from my own experience that ordering from the US is not as cut-and-dry as that.

Anyways, I'll just throw in here that I like your ties, and if I'm ever in LA when a Tiki Marketplace event is going on and you are there, then I look forward to buying one or two if you'll let me :)

[ Edited by: EnchantedTikiGoth 2015-02-20 16:23 ]

What was the shipping costs with TikiFarm? any better rates?

On 2015-02-20 16:48, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
What was the shipping costs with TikiFarm? any better rates?

For the one $20 mug I really want it's $25 by Fed-Ex or $35 by USPS (vs. $14 to ship it to the vicinity of Glacier National Park in Montana, which is reasonable). No telling if Fed-Ex would want to add another $20 or $30 or $40 of import and service charges (that was another thing with UPS... service charges? Isn't service what I'm paying for to begin with?). What I will probably end up doing is wait for a chance to physically buy one either at a store in Edmonton (a 3 hour drive north of here) that I know sells Tiki Farm mugs or when I'm back down in the US. It's all about the hunt, right?

Speaking of which, any Tiki shops in Great Falls, Montana? We're passing through on our way to Yellowstone in August/September. Yes, going to the Sip n' Dip is on the itinerary :)

Incidentally, for any other Canadians wondering, for the Dynasty Wholesale mugs I wanted (does anybody agree those are worth triple their price?) I did find a Canadian seller: http://thecraftybartender.com/ They were very nice and automatically sent a replacement on one mug that came damaged.

[ Edited by: EnchantedTikiGoth 2015-02-21 09:23 ]

Whenever I ship something anywhere overseas, I declare the value at $19.95 or less. Most countries have a 20-25 Euro limit, and the customs guy won't know the difference between a $80 Tiki Bob and a $5 World's Best Grandpa coffee mug.

I just checked the other day and USPS was charging online $23 to ship one mug in a huge box with a ton of padding to Australia. It even prints out the customs label and you can change the value to whatever you want. Remember shippers, It's VALUE that you declare, not the COST. So, if I buy a mug at the swap meet for $5, and sell it through ebay for $45, I declare it for customs at $5. That's the value to me: and value, luckily, is subjective.

And if someone is too lazy to go through the hoops to sell Internationally, then that's more market share for guys out there like me who will.

I welcome your Canadian dollars Enchanted Tiki Goth, and will ship tiki stuff to the Greta White North at the lowest price possible, with as little hassle as possible. What do you want?

Buzzy Out!

See, who says Buzzy is a bad man?

There's all kind of good info in Buzzy's message. And I will definitely consider buying from him in the future.

From what I've experienced, his info is accurate! Anytime I'm getting stuff shipped from the USA, if the value is declared below $20, I don't have to pay extra duty.

Thanks Buzzy! You are a saint and a scholar!