Welcome to BulkReefSupply.com

[snarkys]

Bulk Reef Supply is a source for all of your most common reefing supplies. We buy direct from the source and package in bulk. This results in dramatic savings.

We are located in the Minnesota, United States and very close to the Canadian border which allows for reasonable shipping costs. We have a close relationship with UPS and they have provided us with a special program that drastically reduces the brokerage fees. Any order under $200 in value has a flat $10 brokerage rate. For more details please check out our shipping page. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/i2/Shipping-and-returns/information.html

We are dedicated to providing quality products and service to our Canadian neighbors. Please feel free to share any thoughts on how we may be able to further improve our service to Canada.

***Special note*** If we are able to significantly increase the volume we send to Canada it is very possible we will be able to further reduce brokerage fees or even completely eliminate them.

[mark]

Good to hear and the brokerage fees, that's the main reason I stay away from ordering from the US as most companies insist on UPS (forcing the fees). Don't forget about USPS though.

[snarkys]

There are a variety of reasons why companies don't like using USPS. They are extremely unfriendly with businesses, tracking is worthless, time in transit is ridiculous, insurance claims are impossible... really in every other way than price they provide a substandard service.

We feel UPS serves us and our customers better and rather than focus on substandard services we want to focus on how we can make a quality service affordable. We feel this program has achieved that for 95% of our typical orders. If we can significantly increase the volume to Canada we will be able to get the brokerage fees even lower or get rid of them entirely. This would make UPS the obvious choice every time.


That said , if anyone requests in the customer comments that the package be sent USPS we will ship with them and refund the difference or contact you if there is additional charges.

[littlesilvermax]

He is right.

The post office for in Canada Deliveries, UPS (with decent brokerage fees) for X-border stuff. UPS charges $10, Post Office charges $5. Not too bad.

[findingnemo1]

Ordered from them just last week....Got a tub of carbon,d.i and phosphate remover plus some bottles for the do it yourself calcium additives...Very resonably priced.Great email service and it was 14.00 for brokerage and gst fees that i paid for when the dropped it off.

I'm impressed and will be back to shop for more:)

[Pan]

Yep, I too have used them quite often as well. Top notch.

[snarkys]

Thanks for the kind words : )

[dsaundry]

For those close to the border, you can always ship to several places. In Sumas there is Ship Happens. Pick it up and bring it back yourself. Just pay your tax. Sometimes they just wave you through if its a small order. Grab your cheese and milk too.:biggrin:

[Bryan]

True, but not worth the hassle unless you live close by. With the $10.00 brokerage fee Bulk Reef has negotiated you would probably spend more on gas let alone your time.

Ordered from BRS last month and was impressed. Was concerned UPS would muck up the billing and overcharge me, but they didn't. Just the GST/PST and $10.00 duty. I will be back..

[Bryan]

There are a variety of reasons why companies don't like using USPS. They are extremely unfriendly with businesses, tracking is worthless,


For those that absolutely need USPS. I think they have improved their tracking. Here is tracking info I received from USPS on a purchase from the US. Not sure what service the sender used, but I think it was priority mail with tracking. The delivery time wasn't so bad either. The delay from attempted delivery to delivery was because I never got around to picking up the parcel from the post office once the delivery card was left


Service Type: International Parcels

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered Abroad CANADA 02/08/08 6:44pm

Attempted Delivery Abroad CANADA 02/02/08
12:53pm
Attempted Delivery

Out of Foreign Customs CANADA 02/01/08 3:10pm

Into Foreign Customs CANADA 02/01/08 5:01am

Arrived Abroad CANADA 02/01/08 5:01am

International Dispatch UNITED STATES 01/29/08 11:01pm

Acceptance ALABASTER AL 35007 01/25/08 2:32pm

[kat]

on the site it lists the brokerage fees, but what are the actual shipping rates?

[Bryan]

Add an item to the shopping cart. It then gives you options to select the shipping mode and rates

[snarkys]

For those that absolutely need USPS. I think they have improved their tracking. Here is tracking info I received from USPS on a purchase from the US. Not sure what service the sender used, but I think it was priority mail with tracking. The delivery time wasn't so bad either. The delay from attempted delivery to delivery was because I never got around to picking up the parcel from the post office once the delivery card was left


Service Type: International Parcels

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered Abroad CANADA 02/08/08 6:44pm

Attempted Delivery Abroad CANADA 02/02/08
12:53pm
Attempted Delivery

Out of Foreign Customs CANADA 02/01/08 3:10pm

Into Foreign Customs CANADA 02/01/08 5:01am

Arrived Abroad CANADA 02/01/08 5:01am

International Dispatch UNITED STATES 01/29/08 11:01pm

Acceptance ALABASTER AL 35007 01/25/08 2:32pm

really hit more miss with USPS tracking you may get this and it may not update with anything until the day it arrives. So after receiving one of these it can be pretty unnerving when you don't get anything. While the above is a step forward it's not much help to me, the number one thing I want out of tracking is to know when it is going to arrive, the above just lets you know that your package still exists and it may be getting closer : )

we are happy to ship via usps upon request but we find it is only cheaper on high value packages or packages that are light and small. A very small percentage of our orders fall into those categories.

[findingnemo1]

Okay this is what we ordered:


1 x One Gallon (4.5 pounds) Granular Ferric Oxide PELLETS
Options $69.99 $69.99
1 x Two Gallons (6 pounds) Activated Lignite Carbon
Options
*Carbon Partial Size : Small (Most efficient)
+ $0.00 $26.99 $26.99
3 x 100ml Graduated Measuring Cups
Options $0.79 $2.37
3 x One gallon jug with one once dispenser
Options $3.99 $11.97
2 x One Cartridge Refill (1.25 pounds) Nuclear COLOR CHANGING Resin
Options $11.99 $23.98
Billing Information

Then this was the shipping and Grand total from Bulk Reef Supply:

United Parcel Service (1 x 15.35lbs) (Canada Standard): $27.94
Sub-Total: $135.30
Total: $163.24

Then when it got here i paid: $10.00 brokerage and $8.16 G.S.T for a total of 18.16 to the UPS man at the door:)

Pretty good deal i think....It arrived here in the 5 days as promised and no UPS site didn't update untill it was actually in my door. But it did tell me the date of delivery and showed when it went through customs so it gave you an idea....of where it was on what day...

[Bryan]

I agree, UPS is the way to go especially at the reduced brokerage rates, only reason I mentioned USPS is some folks can't get a UPS delivery. Lot of rural areas are not serviced by UPS or PO boxes.

really hit more miss with USPS tracking you may get this and it may not update with anything until the day it arrives. So after receiving one of these it can be pretty unnerving when you don't get anything. While the above is a step forward it's not much help to me, the number one thing I want out of tracking is to know when it is going to arrive, the above just lets you know that your package still exists and it may be getting closer : )

we are happy to ship via usps upon request but we find it is only cheaper on high value packages or packages that are light and small. A very small percentage of our orders fall into those categories.

[WhoPoopWrasse]

I don't know if I've just been unlucky but whenever I order anything from the U.S. shipped with UPS, it always costs me $25.00 brokerage fees plus the custom fees/taxes. It's happened 4 times now and even if it was a gift I still got stiffed with the $25.00 brokerage fee!!

Fedex on the other hand costs roughly the same to ship with and I've never once been charged anything, was that just good luck?

I actually hate UPS tracking, delivery date is constantly changing, example:

Last monday I ordered something from an online company in the U.S., it shipped the same day, tracking said delivery date: Monday, March 24th
never arrived so I re-checked tracking and it said rescheduled delivery for today the 25th. Two hours later my husband decides he want to go out so I re-check tracking, rescheduled AGAIN! for the 26th so I call UPS to see what's going on and she say, sorry delays bla bla bla, so we went out, just got home and I have a delivery notice at the door saying they were here but we were'nt :bad-word:
need I say more?

I think UPS stinks and Fedex rules!!

OK, I feel better now, just venting!:lol:

Now I'll go visit your website! :mrgreen:

[snarkys]

Fedex on the other hand costs roughly the same to ship with and I've never once been charged anything, was that just good luck?


someone probably marked gift on your package so you didn't have to pay the fees.

Fed ex brokerage fees are also pretty high. Value for duty ($33.75 for a $200 package) + $5.50 or 2.5% (whichever is higher)

http://www.stokecity.ca/FTN-FXG%20Brokerage%20Schedule%2003-01-04%20English%20Version.pdf ( this is 4 years old so it is probably even higher now)

If fed ex had a program like UPS has provided for our customers I would look at them immediately. Right now the $10 brokerage seems like it can't be beat.