I'm currently in a long distance relationship. My girlfriend lives in Canada, and I often buy her gifts from Amazon. I have Prime so shipping is no problem; however, issues arise when I have to send her the package. International rates are insane! I sent her a few stuffed toys a few months ago and shipping cost $25 - more than the animals themselves. Should I just ship straight to Canada? Will shipping still be free with Prime? Will it affect my ability to receive packages? I do include some homeade things, and I like to send them together. What should I do?
I am assuming you are in the US? I think Prime free shipping is only in the country you are registered with. It also depends on the item, I always found there was some small print to prevent free shipping. It maybe cheaper for you to receive them and then post them on yourself, as shipping directly may incur higher costs and custom charges.
Perhaps you could try to use amazon.ca or shop at Canadian websites. There are many Canadian websites like Bestbuy.ca for electronics, indigo.ca for books, gap/oldnavy.ca for clothes. The shipping should be cheaper and perhaps free if you buy over a certain amount and shipping it to a Canadian address. I think this could help with duties and taxes as well. I live in Canada and try not to purchase things from the states if I don't have to, the shipping can sometimes be free but it's the duties and taxes that are outrageous.
You'll need to find out how much it would cost if what you bought your girlfriend was shipped to her directly. If it's slightly higher then it would be better to get the items delivered to you then ship them. Choose the option that will save you money.
These are some good suggestions. I used to ship to friends in Canada occasionally, and it was very expensive. I've shipped a few items from my store to Canada also, and it's slightly less expensive than shipping to the EU, which is ridiculous, in my opinion, considering we share a border. I think there should be agreements between the two countries to lower the costs, so we can both increase our cross-border trade. I hope you come back and let us know what you decided to do ultimately, and which was the lower cost option.
