I intended to order the 2012 Trailer Life Directory today as a Good Sam member, but here is what I discovered. Cost for US residents=$12.45 (book)+$4.50shipping
Cost for Canadians=$12.45 (book) + $16.95 shipping
Needless to say, I didn't complete the order. There is absolutely no excuse for this discrepancy. We can buy most US products here for a few bucks more, but we've had a free trade policy with the US for many years. This is nothing more than marketing exploitation. We actually spend more time camping in the US than Canada, (just returned from a 1 month trip through Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, NM, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan). There is no reason why Good Sam can't send a truckload of Directories to a distributor here in Canada for distribution. Hopefully Good Sam will respond to this post.
Yup its the shipping charge, and not just Canadians.
The shipping charges are different for orders within the US also.
It's calculated at the time of check out by zip code.
Go to any Camping World, big Sports store like Bass World, Gander Mountain, RV dealerships w/camping stores and pick one up they all sell the book. Saves the shipping charges.
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us".
Pretty ridiculous when shipping/handling is more than the item but this is nothing new. Ebay is just as bad (actually sellers not eBay itself) where the item can be cheap but shipping/handling is way out of line. Other places to are just as bad which is why I try to only buy from Canada. Myself and my son used to sell lots of stuff on eBay and we only charged the actual shipping, never a so called handling fee nor inflated shipping costs. I really doubt that if you had of ordered it the the postage would be that much.
And USPS down there is actually pretty reasonable for shipping unlike Canada Post. About a year ago I bought a replacement battery for our mac portable and initial shipping was good. Anyways battery decided after 4-5 month to not hold a charge any more. I got a hold of the seller and they said fine they would replace it but I had to return the battery that was bad. Original cost and the same cost for them to send the battery was $4.50. Canada Post for the same package etc was over $10.00. After 3 bad batteries I decided to look elsewhere and got one out of BC for around the same price but get this, shipping by Canada Post was more then to have them ship UPS (Courier Ground) so I had it shipped UPS and it was here the next day.
Anyways I too hope things might change but who knows.....
The shipping company controls the cost and I am certain that free trade agreement or not there are many customs/import fees/red tape that must be dealt with by them.
You probably won't understand this unless you live here. Free trade allows the exchange of products to and from US/Canada so that our products can be distributed in the US and visa-versa. We buy everything from tomatoes to pianos originating in the US, usually at a marginally higher rate than you would pay in America. Products are bulk shipped between countries. This is much different than shipping one item through customs. Good Sam is a corporation serving both countries equally. My membership cost is the same as a US resident pays. We have Good Sam parks here in Canada honoring the same club/discounts. Would you buy this directory if you were gouged for a shipping/handling charge amounting to more than the product itself?
The paperwork required to ship things between these so called free trade countries of yours and ours is crazy. I decline orders from Canada, and suspect many more do as well.
JDHotnspicy wrote: We actually spend more time camping in the US than Canada, (just returned from a 1 month trip through Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, NM, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan). There is no reason why Good Sam can't send a truckload of Directories to a distributor here in Canada for distribution. Hopefully Good Sam will respond to this post.
Maybe, Good Sam has sent the truckload of directories to the your Canadian distributor. And that distributor added the shipping and handling cost to get it to you. Or maybe, next time buy it while you are in the USA.
'12 F350 SB, CC, SRW, 6.7 PSD, 3.55 RAR, 6 spd auto, Ultimate Lariat pkg
2011 Open Range 393RLS 14,250 GVWR
Pullrite Super Glide 18K
This is why a lot of Canadians come to the Belleville, MI Camping World store to buy what they need. They leave the boxes/packing material in the dumpster so they don't have to pay all the duties and taxes plus no postage and handling. To bulk ship a lot of books would require a distributor. I think if you check the stumbling block for seeing Camping World stores in Canada is at your government doors.
JDHotnspicy wrote: You probably won't understand this unless you live here. Free trade allows the exchange of products to and from US/Canada so that our products can be distributed in the US and visa-versa. We buy everything from tomatoes to pianos originating in the US, usually at a marginally higher rate than you would pay in America. Products are bulk shipped between countries. This is much different than shipping one item through customs. Good Sam is a corporation serving both countries equally. My membership cost is the same as a US resident pays. We have Good Sam parks here in Canada honoring the same club/discounts. Would you buy this directory if you were gouged for a shipping/handling charge amounting to more than the product itself?
Free trade doesn't have anything to do with shipping costs though. The book is probably pretty heavy and the shipping costs set by the shipping company. Just pick one up at a store next time you are in the US, since you state you are here often.
And it isn't just the shipping. A canadian friend of mine had something sent to her (it was sort of large) and it took four weeks to get there, and yep very high shipping cost. If it would have been something she was ordering rather than something a friend needed to get to her, I am sure she wouldn't have ordered it. But that isn't anything to do with free trade, that's just how much the shipping company charged to ship it.
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