I'm in Canada and thought I'd post this for other Canadians. I've ordered a couple of times from MD and think they're great. Their shipping charges are the lowest for any US online company that I've dealt with. And they use UPS which is as fast as it gets. Unlike Pet Solutions you don't have to wait for a month for USPS ground... with no tracking... and pay more for the shipping by USPS then you'd pay at MD for UPS. Their prices are awesome & selection is great.
One thing to keep in mind. There is no duty on aquarium equipment coming into Canada. But when goods are shipped UPS, UPS clears customs for you the customer by default. And they charge through the nose for this service. I had a small order ($100 or so) and UPS wanted to charge $30 for clearing customs. Of course you'll pay PST & GST, but you can avoid the brokerage fees. All you do is wait for the email from UPS saying that MD has shipped a product to you. That email will have a toll free # to UPS. Call that # and tell them the tracking # and say that you will clear customs yourself. Then they will call you when the product gets into town. You go to the UPS warehouse, get the paperwork and clear customs, get the paperwork stamped, and get your package from UPS. In Winnipeg the UPS warehouse & Customs are about 5 minutes away from each other. All in all it takes about 20 minutes. You don't have to do anything at Customs, just tell them it's personal use products. Pay your taxes & go back to UPS. It depends on what your time is worth. I can leave home & do all of that in less then an hour and save at least $30 (the minimum brokerage charge from UPS).
MD could help out by filling in the "country of manufacture" column and saying that all goods are made in the USA.
One thing to keep in mind. There is no duty on aquarium equipment coming into Canada. But when goods are shipped UPS, UPS clears customs for you the customer by default. And they charge through the nose for this service. I had a small order ($100 or so) and UPS wanted to charge $30 for clearing customs. Of course you'll pay PST & GST, but you can avoid the brokerage fees. All you do is wait for the email from UPS saying that MD has shipped a product to you. That email will have a toll free # to UPS. Call that # and tell them the tracking # and say that you will clear customs yourself. Then they will call you when the product gets into town. You go to the UPS warehouse, get the paperwork and clear customs, get the paperwork stamped, and get your package from UPS. In Winnipeg the UPS warehouse & Customs are about 5 minutes away from each other. All in all it takes about 20 minutes. You don't have to do anything at Customs, just tell them it's personal use products. Pay your taxes & go back to UPS. It depends on what your time is worth. I can leave home & do all of that in less then an hour and save at least $30 (the minimum brokerage charge from UPS).
MD could help out by filling in the "country of manufacture" column and saying that all goods are made in the USA.
