Shipping to Point Roberts

[gars]

Saturdays are usually busy, that's why I use Shell and go Sunday Afternoons. usually a few minutes wait on both sides of the border, and zero wait at Shell. In and out of the states in less than 15 minutes with a fill up as well.

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul

For those that work after 9:30am, can go early in the morning and get there right when it opens at 8am and still make it in on time.

I went to pick something up at TLC two Saturdays ago and even then it was maybe a 15 minute border wait.

Try going at 1:00pm on a Saturday

45 mins to 1 hour for the regular lane and more than 20 mins for the nexus lane

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by TypeRNammer

Try going at 1:00pm on a Saturday

45 mins to 1 hour for the regular lane and more than 20 mins for the nexus lane

Then don't go at that time. I'm not saying that it's impossible for there to be 30-60 minute waits at the Point Roberts crossing, just saying it can be avoided.

[JKam]

Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul

Then don't go at that time. I'm not saying that it's impossible for there to be 30-60 minute waits at the Point Roberts crossing, just saying it can be avoided.

What? Most people work 9-5 during the week so the only option is to go on Saturday. Crossing the border on a Saturday is crazy unless you leave very early in the morning.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by JKam

What? Most people work 9-5 during the week so the only option is to go on Saturday. Crossing the border on a Saturday is crazy unless you leave very early in the morning.

Go early or late on Saturday then. Like I said, I went on Saturday after 3pm and the wait was maybe 15 minutes. Wasn't that bad.

[Meowjin]

i'm pretty sure I've posted this in several threads like this and probably earlier in this thread.

but just park and walk over. Seriously. I avoided paying taxes on 500 dollar tires because I Carried them on my shoulders (and they were wide low profiles for my TL)

anyways shipped a package to P2P.

Shorter walk for me. w00t.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by 4444

Makes me wonder, is it really worth it for most of u to buy stuff and send to point Roberts? Given its a 20 or more drive to the border from outside of south delta, plus 30-60 mins in the non-nexus lanes and then return - add gas used onto that, unless ur saving $100+, I can't see how worth it it is

Time is money after all

Ladner/tsawwassen residents, totally get it, everyone else, I just can't put my finger on it being worth it

Maybe for you since you make hundreds/hour. Everybody has different circumstances and values. Gas used to get to/from there is writen off because you also fill up on cheap gas while there.

Originally Posted by JKam

What? Most people work 9-5 during the week so the only option is to go on Saturday. Crossing the border on a Saturday is crazy unless you leave very early in the morning.

Blaine's crossing is just as busy during peak times vs. Pt Roberts. If I know there's a chance where I have to wait 45+ mins at the border, I'll make arrangements to go another day. Pt Roberts usually getting there before 9am Saturdays you're fine, its not THAT early

Not much point arguing which place is better to ship to, to each their own.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by Meowjin

but just park and walk over. Seriously. I avoided paying taxes on 500 dollar tires because I Carried them on my shoulders (and they were wide low profiles for my TL)

They can make you customs just the same even if you carried them on your shoulders. All up to the discretion of the customs agent you get.

If you walk across, then you can't fill up with cheap gas, which is one of the justifications of going to Point Roberts in the first place. On a 60L fill up, can save over $10.

[UFO]

He can carry his gas in a garbage bag though

Recycled joke, I'm sure I've used that somewhere already in this thread

[EX-R]

Just had gift cards sent to tsb in an envelope and I just found out that they reject envelope mail if you're not renting a mail box from them. Does anyone know what information I need to get from the sender in order to find out from USPS where the mail is?
Posted via RS Mobile

[falcon]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Yes, because there's no lineups at Blaine ever, right?

If you go between 12-3PM there is no longer than a 10-15 min wait for the normal line. I've waited longer at Pt Roberts. Also, get a Nexus. You'll never look back.

[falcon]

Originally Posted by mx703

There have been instances where shipping to the states would be free, but shipping to Canada would be $20. I always ship to my Canadian address because you're right, for $20 it's not worth the time:
House to Point Roberts - 30km and 35mins one way
Receiving fee -$3.50
Border wait - ~5mins (Nexus)
Waiting for package - 5-20mins

Some of my friends just don't understand it's more economical to just pay the extra shipping +possible taxes to ship to your door. Though, I calculate this every time just to make sure.

BUT, a lot of US retailers will not ship to Canada. ie. Hockeymonkey and the house. And if this is the case, we don't have the option to ship to Canada.

Blaine is about 15km further away from me one way. So it's not worth it for me, otherwise I would just ship my stuff there.

For me, it's not the issue of cost more so time. Things take FOREVER to get to my house from the US. Ship to Blaine and you can be guaranteed it will be there within 3-4 days MAX.

[4444]

Originally Posted by UFO

Maybe for you since you make hundreds/hour. Everybody has different circumstances and values. Gas used to get to/from there is writen off because you also fill up on cheap gas while there.



Blaine's crossing is just as busy during peak times vs. Pt Roberts. If I know there's a chance where I have to wait 45+ mins at the border, I'll make arrangements to go another day. Pt Roberts usually getting there before 9am Saturdays you're fine, its not THAT early

Not much point arguing which place is better to ship to, to each their own.

you don't need to make hundreds per hour to make it worth it

lets say you buy $300 worth of stuff - you may have saved between $30-60, could be more, could be less

we'll write off the gas used vs. gas money saved

if it takes you 2 hrs out of your weekend, you'd need to earn between $15-30 to break even, but its not just that - 2 hours of your weekend (if you work a full week mon-fri) is worth WAY more to me than what i make on an hourly basis

i'm pretty sure if ppl think about it and compare cost vs. benefit, some things may just not be worth it

there are other factors, such as 'not available to ship to canada' - perfect reason, or the time to ship and cost to get it across the border the UPS/FedEx, fair enough, but when its a buy in canada vs buy in states, its not always black and white

for full disclosure, i buy EVERYTHING in the states (and with amazon prime, you're only 2 days of free shipping), but i'm in tsawwassen, if i weren't, i'd have to rethink it

[4444]

Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul

Sounds normal to me. Don't see why UPS would give them any warning even with 3 trailers full. Would it make a difference if that same volume was distributed over 3 days instead? Probably only a small difference, which would be the packages that get picked up within two days of it showing up. No matter what, they would still have been unprepared for the volume that arrived.

all i know is that this was told to me by FedEx guy as being abnormal and the straw that broke the camel's back

i doubt they'd get whole truck loads on a daily basis to TLC, let alone 3

as i say, all just hearsay - i'm no expert, but it sounds reasonable that this was just more than they could handle

[4444]

Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul

Where do you get 30-60 minutes at the border from? I've been there probably close to 100 times in the past decade, and the longest I've ever had to wait is maybe 20 minutes. Most of the time, it's probably 5 minutes.

i get that from every saturday when i pass all the poor saps in the regular lane on my way to nexus - but nexus is still 15-20 mins, and people have said it takes 45-1 hr many times, so i guess i get that from factual accounts and my own eyes

you clearly are a lucky person who doesn't have to work and therefore can only go on weekends - i appreciate during the week is a lot quieter, but getting downtown to point bob during rush hour before they all close just doesn't happen

[UFO]

Originally Posted by 4444

you don't need to make hundreds per hour to make it worth it

lets say you buy $300 worth of stuff - you may have saved between $30-60, could be more, could be less

we'll write off the gas used vs. gas money saved

if it takes you 2 hrs out of your weekend, you'd need to earn between $15-30 to break even, but its not just that - 2 hours of your weekend (if you work a full week mon-fri) is worth WAY more to me than what i make on an hourly basis

i'm pretty sure if ppl think about it and compare cost vs. benefit, some things may just not be worth it

there are other factors, such as 'not available to ship to canada' - perfect reason, or the time to ship and cost to get it across the border the UPS/FedEx, fair enough, but when its a buy in canada vs buy in states, its not always black and white

for full disclosure, i buy EVERYTHING in the states (and with amazon prime, you're only 2 days of free shipping), but i'm in tsawwassen, if i weren't, i'd have to rethink it

I'm not disagreeing with anything you mentioned at all. These are all things to consider. Free personal time is worth more to some than others, all depends on what you do with it and how much you value it. If I'm spending my 2 hours free time watching TV shows I downloaded several months ago, saving that $50 is a worthwhile use of that time instead. So everything is relative. Hell I'd wake up a couple hours early on my day off to save $50 and score a tank and few jerry cans of cheap gas.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by 4444

you clearly are a lucky person who doesn't have to work and therefore can only go on weekends - i appreciate during the week is a lot quieter, but getting downtown to point bob during rush hour before they all close just doesn't happen

I work office hours, but I guess fortunately I do have the flexibility of going in a bit late if necessary, so sometimes I go to Point Roberts right at 8am, and I can still get to the office downtown by 9:30am. If that doesn't work, then I go on Saturday.

[beanzzz]

Originally Posted by EX-R

Just had gift cards sent to tsb in an envelope and I just found out that they reject envelope mail if you're not renting a mail box from them. Does anyone know what information I need to get from the sender in order to find out from USPS where the mail is?
Posted via RS Mobile

I ordered a couple Waffle Keys off eBay and the seller sent them in an envelope, the thing couldn't have weigh then an ounce. This was with TLC and P2P but I'm sure they deal with letter mail similarly, especially when your paying $3 something.

[nns]

So I was in line at Pt. Roberts earlier coming back into Vancouver. This guy in a lifted FJ cruiser with WA. plates pulls out of P2P, and does a left turn right into the middle of the line up. So he cuts in line of like 30 cars. That's not enough. He decides to start hitting his horn, cursing, and bitching about the line up. Basically, just being an all around prick. Cutting in line isn't enough, he has go act like an even bigger douche now. I get up to the window, and I tell the border guard about him. I tell him how unstable he was and how much cursing he was doing.

I hope they stretched his asshole inside out. We don't need pricks like that in Canada.

[Ronin]

I saw a HUGE lineup yesterday around 6 when I went but by 630 when I was leaving, it was all gone. ZERO line. Just enough time for me to get my package, gas up and buy some chocolate milk.
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[dyan]

Just curious, when shipping something from the UK to point roberts/ canada, would there be mandatory 12% tax and brokerage fees?

[Lancerion]

Originally Posted by Bigbaddie

Just curious, when shipping something from the UK to point roberts/ canada, would there be mandatory 12% tax and brokerage fees?

I never once had to pay those when I buy from UK and ship to US.

I once bought from the same UK seller and shipped to Canada, got charged the 12%.

[Jet]

Originally Posted by Ronin

I saw a HUGE lineup yesterday around 6 when I went but by 630 when I was leaving, it was all gone. ZERO line. Just enough time for me to get my package, gas up and buy some chocolate milk.
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Was it Darigold 1% choco milk?

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by Bigbaddie

Just curious, when shipping something from the UK to point roberts/ canada, would there be mandatory 12% tax and brokerage fees?

Doesn't matter where it's shipped from to Point Roberts... you're still subject to the same customs when bringing it into Canada. Almost everything has 12% HST, and then certain items will have extra duties on top.

[JKam]

Wtf... The line today at 830am to cross the border is longer than a month ago at 11am
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