Pachinko Balls in Canada

[Polara Pat]

So, I've been trying to find a source for balls and so far the the only option looks like ebay. Unfortunately I live in this exotic wasteland known as Canada that may as well be North Korea if you are an American ebay vendor. Those who will ship internationally generally charge more than the price of the actual balls. Total cost for balls shipped is over .$10 each, too much if you ask me. The unfortunate truth is that I do a ton of cross-border shipping and it usually isn't that expensive, even for heavier packages. There is however a small customs form that has to be filled out so I can see that being a bit of a deterrent.

Alright, rant over.

Do you folks know of anyone in Canada that wants to sell some balls? Or maybe a source out of Japan.

I'll be honest, this game isn't quite as fun with only 20 balls.

Thanks in advance.

Pat

[Drunkenclam]

Balls are heavy when buying in bulk as they are 5.5g each. So for 1000 its 5.5KG. That bumps up the shipping cost.

[whitedawg]

So, I've been trying to find a source for balls and so far the the only option looks like ebay. Unfortunately I live in this exotic wasteland known as Canada that may as well be North Korea if you are an American ebay vendor. Those who will ship internationally generally charge more than the price of the actual balls. Total cost for balls shipped is over .$10 each, too much if you ask me. The unfortunate truth is that I do a ton of cross-border shipping and it usually isn't that expensive, even for heavier packages. There is however a small customs form that has to be filled out so I can see that being a bit of a deterrent.

Alright, rant over.

Do you folks know of anyone in Canada that wants to sell some balls? Or maybe a source out of Japan.

I'll be honest, this game isn't quite as fun with only 20 balls.

Thanks in advance.

Pat

The mailing costs to Canada from the U.S. are atrocious and if it's shipped by a courier service like UPS or FedEx even worse. I'm close to the U.S. border and have a Post Office box in Point Roberts, Washington which accepts not only USPS mail but also packages from UPS and FedEx. Point Roberts doesn't have an airport and isn't accessible by road from the main part of Washington State as you have to cross the border into B.C. at Blaine, Washington then cross the border again at Tsawwassen, B.C. to get to Point Roberts, but yet the shipping ends up the same as for the rest of the U.S., go figure. Because of its unique position and security it's used for the U.S. Witness Protection Program.

I've also ordered parts from Japan and the U.K shipped directly to me and the shipping costs have always been quite reasonable, I've not yet been charged duty. Since Pachinko is more popular in the U.S. do a search for Pachinko on ebay.com as well as ebay.ca which will give you maximum search results. I buy most of my balls from Golden State Traders and have never had any complaints with them versus another U.S. company which I won't get into but would advise not buying from.

If you do a lot of cross border shopping and plan to expand your Pachinko, and perhaps Pachislo, collection then you may want to get a U.S. Post Office Box. It costs about $70.00 U.S. a year and pays for itself in one courier shipment by avoiding brokerage fees and duty, which the border will usually wave for small items.

If that's not feasible for you then figure out where you want to get balls from, what the total cost will be shipped to Point Roberts, Washington (98281) and what it will cost to ship them from Vancouver to Nelson. If it's within a decent price range then I don't mind helping you out. Balls generally cost me 6 to 7 cents each by the time you take currency exchange, the total cost of the balls and shipping into consideration, to a U.S. Post Office Box, not counting gas and time to go get them.

[Polara Pat]

Balls are heavy when buying in bulk as they are 5.5g each. So for 1000 its 5.5KG. That bumps up the shipping cost.

Too true but many vendors simply don't ship internationally.

[heima]

PM sent.

[Polara Pat]

Scored 500 shiny orbs from Golden State Traders last night, hopefully I didn't outbid any of you fine folks. I had to ship them to an American address that I use which is a pain but shipping for 500 is free in the U.S.

Thanks for all the tips and advice.

[whitedawg]

Glad to hear you managed to get some orbs. I've bought from Golden State Traders and their quality and service has been excellent.

[luckydog]

USPS and customs forms are a pain, you have to fill them out and then clerk has to manually put in all info on their computer.

I've has a priority mail package take a month to get to Canada buyer, Canadian customs tied it up that long!!

a few packages just disappeared in thin air even with customs tracking and I had to refund payments plus shipping!!

That's why I don't sell outside of the U.S. on Ebay

[Polara Pat]

USPS and customs forms are a pain, you have to fill them out and then clerk has to manually put in all info on their computer.

I've has a priority mail package take a month to get to Canada buyer, Canadian customs tied it up that long!!

a few packages just disappeared in thin air even with customs tracking and I had to refund payments plus shipping!!

That's why I don't sell outside of the U.S. on Ebay

I get that it's a pain, especially if you don't "need" to make the extra effort to sell your product but the rest of the world thinks it's annoying. There are ways around this as well. We just get a stack of customs slips from the post office and fill them in ourselves at home so you're not wasting time at the post office. It still needs to be submitted but generally doesn't take that long. We sell stuff all over the world and it's generally cheaper and faster to send packages to Australia than the east coast of Canada, go figure.