Reptile Basics Canada?

[Enya]

Does Reptile Basics distribute to Canada? I know they have product through exclusivesnakes.com but the RBI site has soooo much more to offer and I would rather deal with the main supplier.

Thanks

[Peter Williams]

I wish...no such luck. I too want many RBI products, but as of yet, he wont ship to Canada.

[Enya]

Yeah, I just received an email from them saying they don't ship to Canada. I alone would give them lots of business. What a shame.

[8Ball]

I know how you feel. there are a lot of companies like that in the states. It doesn't make any sense to me. How can any company afford to say "No thank you, we don't want your money." Oh well.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I cannot remember where I read it, but there is a company in canada that is working on making lightweight plastic rack systems... lightweigh and cheap to transport.

I may have read it on R-canada.

Bruce

[CoolerKing]

Reptile Basics uses UPS to ship so if you are close to the border you can have the items sent as "hold for pick up" at a UPS store in the US. I recently purchased a cage and radiant heater from RBI and my wife picked up the items at the UPS Store. Since you are bringing the item across there are no brokerage fees, plus the items are US made so there is no duty involved, you just pay the sales tax on the item. Make sure you have a copy of the invoice for the customs guys to calculate tax though. My invoice was inside the cage and not in a packing slip on the outside of the package so my wife didn't find it until I opened the cage when she got home... minor delay at the border waiting for a fax of the receipt, needless to say I think I am picking up any orders in the future.

[Reptilebasics]

Kind of glad somebody pointed this thread out to me. I can answer a bunch of questions in one easy to use venue!

Challenges of shipping to Canada (and elsewhere)...........

1) I have actually tried it in the past for several months after several requests to do so. Figured I was going to get quite a bit more business doing so. Nope. This happens a lot in retail and I don't look at it as any kind of master plan to thwart business owners. Seems like you get asked to do something by about 10 times as many people than end up actually doing something. This in itself is not a deal breaker. If all else worked out well then I would not really mind if it was one cusotmer or one thousand. One is certainly better than none!

2) Once I decided to ship north I looked at shipping options. US Mail is the generally accepted method. It is the least expense for clearing the shipment. Well, I went that route and either the mail system between here and there is the absolute worst on the planet or I was promptly ripped off twice for a total of about $250. The catch is there is essentially no tracking. The number they will sell you at the post office is a joke. All it tells you is it was "sent" and "delivered" and they can't get that right half of the time. Does not hold up at all. Since most of my customers use credit cards or paypal a charge back is a very, very simple thing on an international shipment which means I am refunding money and it is not worth the trouble. Theft is a reality in any retail operation BUT it needs to be offset by an overwhelming majority of good transactions or the costs are out of proportion. The sales just were not there.

3) Not a problem, I have both FedEx and UPS accounts and use them. The rates are not bad either. In fact I can ship to many parts of Canada faster and cheaper than many parts of the USA. Great! Problem- Paperwork on my end for one. Got commercial invoices and NAFTA forms. These take time which I do not have enough of as it is BUT once I get the routine and amazingly complex tax numbers for all the items down that is not really all that bad. Tracking is as good as I want it to be right down to a signature requirement as well! Problem- Shipper has to clear everything and my experience is that runs the receiver about $40-$50 in addition to the taxes that are due on the product. Well, FedEx and UPS wants to get paid and if the receiver says no to this then they just bill me for it so I get to pay it. Happened three times and two of the times I never even got the product back. Seems warning someone of the fees does not always sink in. Atleast not until they get the bill anyhow. Once again, s$&t happens BUT it needs to be overwhelmingly good to outweigh the bad.

4) Several well meaning Canadians, Europeans, and other out of towners seeking to save money have asked me to falsify customs documents to get them out of paying taxes on the goods. So after I get to hear the moaning about the clearance fees I get to be insulted with this. I would feel safe in saying that this happens with the flow of goods in the other direction as well and I also know for a fact that this is not an exclusively northern thing ( I do not ship to Europe, Mexico, etc, etc, etc....hmmmmmmmmm?) so don't take it personally. To those people-I am sick and tired of saying no to this and be asked to explain myself or hear your whining. I have to pay the taxes coming into the USA on several of these products so guess what?? If you can't cut it then don't order outside of your home country. This is not a victimless crime and I stand to lose a whole lot more than you do. If nothing else it was the nail in the international coffin. Sorry, but that just pisses me off and I do have a temper at times.

So what to do?? I have gone back and forth with a couple of Canadian businesses about reselling some of my products. Some products just do not lend themselves to a middleman and some do. I have heard a lot of talk out of a couple of people but it never got going. Jeff (Exclusive Snakes) has picked up quite a bit of product though and seems to want to build up with more. Met them (Jeff and Robin) at Tinley and talked with them some in person. Has not been explosive but a decent start. Bug them! Tell them what you are looking for and want to buy! The more they hear it the more they will get for you!! Most of all, don't just talk about it-buy something! Money talks!

With a single or a couple of distributors to ship to it makes the clearing fees (same regardless of shipment size) a lot easier to swallow and also makes invoicing, etc a lot quicker and easier. Just change a couple of numbers and good to go. I am also always open to realistic inqueries and would LOVE to have someone I could meet up in NY with a trailer load of caging. I am up in the NYC area every couple of months and gas has gotten a lot cheaper........ Hint Hint.........

While this is likely not the answer some wanted to hear I do want all of you up there to know it is not because I hate you or am just grumpy. I also do not have an aversion to work or profit, It is because if I say yes once I have to say it everytime and to date the cost of doing that has simply vastly out weighed the benefit.