Cross Border Shopping/Shipping

[dstanley]

Just wanted to mention an alternative for Canadians and Cross Border purchases.

The service I use is http://crossborderpickups.ca - they provide a custom U.S. address for shipments - they can be held in the U.S for pickup (for close border customers) or transferred to their Toronto warehouse - either for a small charge.

From the warehouse then they will ship Canada Post to the final destination (your home).

This is quite useful for things like eBay or Amazon.com and comes in handy for sites that do not ship to Canada or have very high shipping charges.

I have used them several times over the last few years and everything worked out great for me. I was able to get some eBay purchases that wouldn't ship to Canada.

Hope this info might help someone.

 

Dwight

 

[Teken]

Just wanted to mention an alternative for Canadians and Cross Border purchases.
The service I use is http://crossborderpickups.ca - they provide a custom U.S. address for shipments - they can be held in the U.S for pickup (for close border customers) or transferred to their Toronto warehouse - either for a small charge.
From the warehouse then they will ship Canada Post to the final destination (your home).
This is quite useful for things like eBay or Amazon.com and comes in handy for sites that do not ship to Canada or have very high shipping charges.
I have used them several times over the last few years and everything worked out great for me. I was able to get some eBay purchases that wouldn't ship to Canada.
Hope this info might help someone.
 
Dwight
 

Right now the biggest challenge for many of us is the fact the Canadian dollar is in the toilet!

There are so many sweet bargains right now but once you do the whole exchange conversion those savings are lost. One of the biggest challenges using eBay / Pay Pal is the fact they still will NOT allow an American currency account (Canadian held) to be linked in their service!

The only alternative is using an American VISA / MasterCard issued by the Canadian banks.

Which brings a whole host of other problems.


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[larryllix]

10 hours ago, Teken said:

 

Right now the biggest challenge for many of us is the fact the Canadian dollar is in the toilet!

There are so many sweet bargains right now but once you do the whole exchange conversion those savings are lost. One of the biggest challenges using eBay / Pay Pal is the fact they still will NOT allow an American currency account (Canadian held) to be linked in their service!

The only alternative is using an American VISA / MasterCard issued by the Canadian banks.

Which brings a whole host of other problems.

 

 

...and now they predicting a 60 cent dollar this year. And when they "predict" it means they will create it.  

[asbril]

2 hours ago, larryllix said:

...and now they predicting a 60 cent dollar this year. And when they "predict" it means they will create it.  

Pretty sad.... Maybe, after buying Greenland, the US should buy Canada ?

? I guess that this is not funny

[Teken]

Pretty sad.... Maybe, after buying Greenland, the US should buy Canada ?
 I guess that this is not funny

Many years ago when the Canadian dollar was at par. I purchased tens of thousands of USD as I knew something like this would not happen again for another decade.

Over the years as the Canadian dollar tanked I resold small portions of the same to help fund many small to large projects.

I could probably make a nice bit of change if and when the Canadian dollar hits $0.60 for sure! But, than again the bulk of my purchases are through the USA.

So selling off USD isn’t helpful over the long run when the bulk of my current purchases are via the USA.

The only saving grace has been some great forum members, friends & family willing to purchase and send the same from America to Canada!

But than you have to deal with bank draft, wire transfer, etc.


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[asbril]

36 minutes ago, Teken said:

But than you have to deal with bank draft, wire transfer, etc.

Does Venmo work in Canada ? Or Paypal or Zelle ?

 

[larryllix]

41 minutes ago, asbril said:

Does Venmo work in Canada ? Or Paypal or Zelle ?

 

Paypal (eBay) works here for the usual 2-3% service charge that all bank and credit cards charge. I use it due to being easy and supplying information accurately to vendors.

BTC is up to over $12,000 CAD again but charges there have proven to cost much more than real currency.

[asbril]

20 minutes ago, larryllix said:

Paypal (eBay) works here for the usual 2-3% service charge that all bank and credit cards charge. I use it due to being easy and supplying information accurately to vendors.

BTC is up to over $12,000 CAD again but charges there have proven to cost much more than real currency.

If you have (or open a small) US bank account, then you can transfer  $$ by Venmo or Zelle without a fee. I do this all the time with my family, and young people use Venmo every single day when (before Corona) they go to restaurants and split the bill.

[Teken]

If you have (or open a small) US bank account, then you can transfer  $$ by Venmo or Zelle without a fee. I do this all the time with my family, and young people use Venmo every single day when (before Corona) they go to restaurants and split the bill.

I’ll need to do more research as to (IF) an American bank account in the USA. Can be opened over the Internet for Canadian citizens now.

I know back in the day you had to physically be present when opening said account and provide all the legal documentation such as SIN / DL.


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[asbril]

23 minutes ago, Teken said:

 

I’ll need to do more research as to (IF) an American bank account in the USA. Can be opened over the Internet for Canadian citizens now.

I know back in the day you had to physically be present when opening said account and provide all the legal documentation such as SIN / DL.


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I don't know about what works for Canadians, but nowadays for Americans it is easy to open bank accounts online. Capital One is one example of many that offer  accounts that can be opened without a meeting in person and generally no large balances are required. But as said I don't know what works for foreign citizens, especially as having a US Social Security number is most likely required.

[larryllix]

30 minutes ago, asbril said:

I don't know about what works for Canadians, but nowadays for Americans it is easy to open bank accounts online. Capital One is one example of many that offer  accounts that can be opened without a meeting in person and generally no large balances are required. But as said I don't know what works for foreign citizens, especially as having a US Social Security number is most likely required.

I would be sure the KYC laws would require some face to face and proof using picture IDs. I couldn't even give my investor money to invest with my name until we met several times, logged all my ID and did some research on my actual address etc.. After all I could be walking around with a mask on in public places. LOL

[asbril]

Just now, larryllix said:

I would be sure the KYC laws would require some face to face and proof using picture IDs. I couldn't even give my investor money to invest with my name until we met several times, logged all my ID and did some research on my actual address etc.. After all I could be walking around with a mask on in public places. LOL

You are right about the KYC (know-your-customer) regulations. It is a topic that I deal with almost on a daily basis in my line of work. However, with a US Social Security number and answering some questions, you can open a bank account online without ever setting foot at the bank. For Canadians, if you don't live too far from the border, you can always visit the nearest bank branch near the border and open an account. I am sure that those branches have many Canadian clients.

[larryllix]

3 hours ago, asbril said:

You are right about the KYC (know-your-customer) regulations. It is a topic that I deal with almost on a daily basis in my line of work. However, with a US Social Security number and answering some questions, you can open a bank account online without ever setting foot at the bank. For Canadians, if you don't live too far from the border, you can always visit the nearest bank branch near the border and open an account. I am sure that those branches have many Canadian clients.

We can get US fund accounts from some American banks like TD / CanTrust (Toronto Dominion/Canada Trust). Neighbours (ooops...'neighbors') had one and claimed they could even write American funds cheques (ooops... 'checks')  from it to US bills in Fla. They opened the account inside Canada.