Heads Up Canadians, Foreign Buyers. It Just Got Tougher to Deal With Jerry's Gaskets

[Erik]

As I was submitting my order to Jerry's Gaskets just now, I saw a message pop up that should cause some concern for Jerry's Gaskets Canadian and other foreign customers. Jerry's no longer will mail directly outside of the US. If you wish to buy from Jerry's, you are going to have to use a US based postal handling service.

How does this work? You will have hire a service in the US that will provide you with an US address that you can send your packages to. I've been using a company called Cross Border Pickups which works in the Toronto area, for a few years now, and it's worked well.

What's the down side? Other then an increase in cost, the biggest problem will be time. Don't figure in getting an order from Jerry's in a couple of days anymore. There will be delays caused by the service having to receive your package, log it into their system, and then send you an email that it's arrived. You've then got to fill in the paperwork for customs, pay them, wait for them to repackage your shipment, and then send it on again.

Is this the end of the world? Nope. You can still get parts from Jerry's. But you better plan ahead, because everything will now take significantly longer. Plus, there will still be more costs, as you are paying for shipping twice, and extra handling. Plan ahead for the stuff you need. Or if it's an emergency, look for places like Rock Auto, that will have you the parts in a few days.

One other thing I noticed was that often packages sent from the US, with lower values, would not be charged tax or duty if they were sent directly through the USPS and Canada Post. However, once I started using the service, then I'd pay on every order.

Will I stop shopping with Jerry's? Nope. I still put my order in after I saw the change. But I'll certainly think about it some more and plan more carefully.