Need Help Shipping Shoes to Canada

[Jared]

Allen Edmonds are not widely available in Canada, and the few that can be found are marked-up, presumably for scarcity. Most online US retailers do not ship to Canada, and those that do charge exorbent S&H fees.

Last weekend I took a trip down to Seattle in the hopes of picking up some AE Westgates and verifying my size in the other lasts so I can use eBay (where the styles like Westgates never seem to appear). Unfortunately, the helpful people at Nordstroms told me that Westgates are not available in the North-Western states! And they didn't even have Park Avenues in my size as per my backup plan.

What I'm wondering is if any American forum members would be so kind as to accept a shipment from Zappos where Westgates are currently 10%-off and reship them to Canada. I will of course pay up-front using PayPal. I am also open to alternative suggestions. (Moderators: Please accept my apologies and shoot first if this is an inappropriate request.)

 

[farooqm]

If you're in Toronto, there is a service available that will accept your shipped goods in Buffalo and than hold them for you to pick up at their warehouse. Can't remember the name, Google it.

 

[edmorel]

It looks like you are going to pay over $300 for westgates and that seems like a lot of money for AE's and I have a pair and love them! If you could wait, you could probably get a deal on them from Diorshoe, like I did. I'd volunteer to ship them to you from Zappos but I'd hate to be an enabler of $300 Allen Edmonds.

 

[Roger]

Originally Posted by edmorel

It looks like you are going to pay over $300 for westgates and that seems like a lot of money for AE's and I have a pair and love them! If you could wait, you could probably get a deal on them from Diorshoe, like I did. I'd volunteer to ship them to you from Zappos but I'd hate to be an enabler of $300 Allen Edmonds.
Ed, this is interesting. Is Diorshoe connected with A-E, or able to get them at good prices? If so, I'd better get in touch with him. I'm looking for a pair of Stockbridges in 9.5 (ideally in B or C width, but D would be OK), and am having trouble finding them at a reasonable price in the usual places.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by Roger

Ed, this is interesting. Is Diorshoe connected with A-E, or able to get them at good prices? If so, I'd better get in touch with him. I'm looking for a pair of Stockbridges in 9.5 (ideally in B or C width, but D would be OK), and am having trouble finding them at a reasonable price in the usual places.

I can't speak for him but he gave me a great price on chili Westgates and I have seen him occasionally selling AE's on the board. Best to contact him.

 

[EL72]

Jared: I'd help you out if I could but I'm in Toronto as you know. Don't know where you can get Westgates here but agree with Ed that $300 is a lot to pay for them (not crazy about the AE wholecut either). Keep trying eBay or other forum members.

I was at the Holt Renfrew Last Call store last weekend and saw discounted AEs for the first time there though (or anywhere in Canada for that matter). I found it odd because I have never seen AEs either at Holts or Brown's shoes (who run their shoe depts. until the new year). No Westgates but a few Coltons, Birminghams, Hancocks and some other rubber soled one I forget.

BTW Roger, I thought of you as there was a nice Stockbridge in dark brown for $119 but alas a size 10.5B. There is a 9.5D for a great price on eBay but it's black. I may return to the Holts outlet as my mother is in town... and can let you know if I see one in your size.

 

[Jared]

LA Guy has graciously offered his assistance!

The generosity of the members of this forum never cease to amaze me. I'm willing to pay retail because I'm slightly outside the sweet spot for eBay sizes (12D) and I could use a conservative dress shoe sooner rather than later. Zappos turned out not to have my size left when I went to order, but that turned out to be fortunate as I got 20%-off at Shoebuy.com by combining the new member discount with a coupon code I found via Google ("BONUS").

 

[Jared]

Originally Posted by EL72

I was at the Holt Renfrew Last Call store last weekend and saw discounted AEs for the first time there though (or anywhere in Canada for that matter). I found it odd because I have never seen AEs either at Holts or Brown's shoes (who run their shoe depts. until the new year). No Westgates but a few Coltons, Birminghams, Hancocks and some other rubber soled one I forget.
How deep were the discounts, EL72? There's a little mens' store in Victoria, British Importers, that recently advertised a 40-50% off sale of discontinued shoes including AEs. I was out of town for the weekend, and would have put good money that they'd have nothing interesting, but it's still good to know that Canadian retailers might not be completely unreasonable.

 

[Bandwagonesque]

Another Canadian here. Since AE's are made in the US, does that mean they are exempt from any duty charges (but not from taxes)? So are you ordering them directly from Shoebuy, or is LA Guy going to forward them to you?

BTW, if you do order them directly from Shoebuy.com, please let me know how the order turns out... any duties, fees, shipping charges, etc.

For the future, I've considered ordering stuff through www.internationalcheckout.com . I have no experience with them, but they place the order for you from a large number of US websites, collect the goods, repackage them, and ship them to you. They take care of the duties and paperwork as well, so there aren't any border delays. The one time though I tried to order a pair of shoes though, the shipping was $25 (reasonable I suppose), but the taxes and duties were $50!!!!

 

[gj555]

There is a shoe store that uses the borderfree service. Go to borderfree.ca (or .com- I can't remember which) to find out which store (might be shoes.com). This service pre-calculates all shipping, custom charges and taxes and gives you one price, all in CDN dollars. However, at the end of the day, the shoes end up being pretty expensive so its probably not worth it.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Jared

LA Guy has graciously offered his assistance!

The generosity of the members of this forum never cease to amaze me.

I'm willing to pay retail because I'm slightly outside the sweet spot for eBay sizes (12D) and I could use a conservative dress shoe sooner rather than later. Zappos turned out not to have my size left when I went to order, but that turned out to be fortunate as I got 20%-off at Shoebuy.com by combining the new member discount with a coupon code I found via Google ("BONUS").
LA Guy, you're a mensch. Kudos.

 

[gj555]

Originally Posted by Bandwagonesque

Another Canadian here. Since AE's are made in the US, does that mean they are exempt from any duty charges (but not from taxes)? So are you ordering them directly from Shoebuy, or is LA Guy going to forward them to you?

BTW, if you do order them directly from Shoebuy.com, please let me know how the order turns out... any duties, fees, shipping charges, etc.

For the future, I've considered ordering stuff through www.internationalcheckout.com . I have no experience with them, but they place the order for you from a large number of US websites, collect the goods, repackage them, and ship them to you. They take care of the duties and paperwork as well, so there aren't any border delays. The one time though I tried to order a pair of shoes though, the shipping was $25 (reasonable I suppose), but the taxes and duties were $50!!!!

I presume the 50 bucks included GST, custom brokerage fees and duties. This is pretty standard. I ordered shoes from grapevinehill and was hit with significant charges. But, for the total price I paid, it was worth it.

As for AE being made in the US, I ordered some on STP and think I only paid GST upon arrival. However, added to that was a crazy custom broker fee charged by UPS.

I actually wrote to AE asking who sets the prices in Canada as they are much higher than in the US. They replied that duties and exchange rate was the reason. Of course, that is nonsense. I can't post their entire reply later is someone wants.

 

[gj555]

deleted. Using my blackberry to post sometimes leads to problems..

 

[Roger]

Originally Posted by Bandwagonesque

Another Canadian here. Since AE's are made in the US, does that mean they are exempt from any duty charges (but not from taxes)?
Yes. No duty whatsoever; standard GST + PST.

This has been stated before, but perhaps bears repeating: If at all possible, avoid shipping through either UPS or Fedex, particularly the former. They will collect duty, taxes, and an unconscionable "brokerage fee" that will just run the price up beyond all reason. Try to have all shipments from the US come by a USPS service. My preference is USPS Global Priority Mail. It's reasonably priced, involves no duty/taxes (you're responsible upon delivery), and is relatively fast for mail. For better speed (and automatic insurance), Global Express Mail (EMS) is excellent--a little more expensive than GPM, but very fast.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by Roger

USPS service. My preference is USPS Global Priority Mail. It's reasonably priced, involves no duty/taxes (you're responsible upon delivery), and is relatively fast for mail. For better speed (and automatic insurance), Global Express Mail (EMS) is excellent--a little more expensive than GPM, but very fast.

GPM is pretty good, but it has a weight limit of 4 pounds and can be pricey near the heavy end. $19 to Canada seems a bit steep, imho.