I ordered my kitchen faucet at faucets direct.
What I thought was a deal by saving aprox $80.00
My brokerage fees and duty/ taxes came to $130 canadian.
Plus I paid $43 u.s shipping.

So much for that great deal :-(

I ordered my copper drain and sink stopper online from the u.s as well, those costed $70.00 plus shipping and my fees with brokerage, taxes, were $53

wheatciti,
It sounds like your items were shipped via UPS? I've had horrible surcharges of brokerage fees and inflated shipping rates with UPS. I now run screaming from any company that will only ship to Canada via UPS.

Items shipped via USPS (U.S. Post Office) generally arrive within 7 working days and only have a $5 handling fee added with any applicable GST/PST fees. Small packages and those under $20.00 usually have no extra fees assessed (so far). The advantage of UPS is that they have a really good tracking system and they generally arrive quicker.

Just my 2 cents worth...
Dawn

p.s. wheatciti, as in Brandon? :)

If you live close to the border you can have purchases shipped to a mail depot (generic postal box or fed ex). Then just declare them at the border and pay taxes and duty. This may be a lot cheaper.

Christie327: I remember that thread as well, I used it as a reference for buying my Kohler Karbon faucet online. I bought my faucet through an ebay store in Florida - Discount Plumbing Supply. I saved a few hundred dollars and the whole process went very well.

The main thing to keep in mind, as dawn_t mentioned, don't ship via UPS! I only considered on-line stores that would ship to Canada USPS/Canada Post, very quick and affordable.

I also bought a Ticor sink at overstock.com, they also shipped USPS.

Good luck,
Paula (in Ottawa)

I have just ordered from 2 places - could not get what i wanted from just one.
They are
http://www.1stoplighting.com/

who charges $15 shipping and no duties etc ( actually shipping was waived on this with a coupon code they told me about on the site)

even tho they are mostly lights they do have limited faucets and sinks

I cannot compare prices to in Canada bec i cannot get this in Canada, but they were well priced when compare with their sites especially bec they absorb the taxes and even their shipping of $15 is the lowest of all.

My instant hot I got from

http://www.vintagetub.com

whose quote includes all taxes etc and the total price I paid is $340 and the price i have been quoted here is $415.00 before taxes.

so you can find places but it does take research.

Cristie327- I've ordered faucets from everyfaucet.com and have been completely satisfied.

You see exacly what you will be paying, including brokerage and taxes and it only takes 3 or 4 days to get the product.

A lot of their items ship free to Canada.

Thanks so much everyone for the great resources! I too have had nightmare experiences with UPS and FedEx charging ridiculous brokerage fees.

I placed an order for my Grohe facet with everyfaucet.com and they charged $15 brokerage and $15 taxes. And the faucet is still over $100 cheaper than Lowes Canada, not including taxes. I will report if there was any additional charges when it arrives.

Thanks to all,
Christie :)

I ordered an ensuite worth of Kohler Purist stuff from Faucets4cheap. They were great. I didn't pay duty, just brokerage (UPS). I called Canada Customs and I believe there isn't any duty on plumbing related items.

I've used everyfaucet.com twice now and there were no hidden fees, all costs were up-front when purchasing the item on the website. I'd buy from them again in an instant. Good prices too, I found their items cheaper than local shops.

Just an update: I just got my faucet from everyfaucet.com and it was a great experience! I ordered a Grohe faucet that was $479 Cdn + tax (and a 6 week wait time) at our Lowes and I got it for $353 US inc taxes, shipping and brokerage from Every Faucet.

They sent me a note saying they shipped in UPS and I started to sweat, but they shipped it from Boston to somewhere in MI by UPS, and then somehow got it into Canada and send it by Purolator to my house. It took exactly one week to get here.

I would recommend them to anyone. I am completely satisfied. Yay!