Great way to save money on upgrades

[matt4543]

Hey everyone, I'm a new user here and since I am from Atlantic Canada I thought I would give some useful information away to other maritimers.

I save quite a bit of money buying most of my tools, parts, even electronics etc from the United States. Our dollar is making it worth while right now. I use Kinek - http://www.kinek.com/johnsons so I don't get hit with brokerage fees and high shipping fees. You basically just pick a location to ship too on the border from this website. This even works for eBay or any other online retailer. You just go to this site and sign up, get an address to ship too and they send an email and text letting you know your stuff has arrived. The one I use is called Johnson's True Value and its located in Calais, Maine. Really nice people there and great service. They charge a few dollars to store your item there and a bit more for larger items.

 

[Riley P]

Hi Matt!

We really try to promote buying from Canadian business first to support our fellow countrymen. However, if that option is not available and you do end up having to get stuff from the States, this looks like a good way to avoid the gouging brokers.

Tell us more about your Corvette. Throw up some pictures. Is it a true targa or does it have T-tops?

 

[OBSESHON Mark]

Allot of the GTA guys use the CBI warehouse in Niagara Falls New York.
I always try and prefer to buy from Canadian Vendors first.
But sometimes they just can't compete, so the logical choice is South of the border.
CBI is also great if you buy used parts from other forum members.
UPS charges often equal the part value. plus they want cash when they show up at your door.

 

[Stay Tuned]

I find you can get a lot of deals in Canada if you know where to look. I have to agree, never ever use ups they are the worst! We had to stop using them at work because when we ship the the US they would attach a brokerage bill on it to our customers!

 

[Area Z51]

I agree that one should buy Canadian, but sometimes you just have to get the parts in the USA. As an example, the newer vettes have changed the ONStar pillar microphone from an omni-directional to a directional mic. This helps with clarity and less background noise from A/C etc.
I want one of these, so I call the parts counter at the local Chev dealer.
The price $66.00+ tax ...$44.00+ tax if a Corvette club member. Now in the US, it's on sale for $19.04. Shipping to anywhere in the US $9.00. A place like Johnson's charges $3.00 for handling. $31.00 is a far cry from $66.00. Most parts from a Canadian dealer are way more expensive than the US counterparts (Why is that?) And with the Canadian $$, it's even more pronouced.