Buying from Lee Valley Canada

[zelk]

I am interested in importing some bench planes from Lee Valley, Canada and before contacting them, was interested in finding out from the forumites their experiences with the company, in particular

1. after the various taxes/duties, was it much cheaper than buying locally
2. how long did it take to receive the goods
3. any valuable advice.


Regards,
Zelk

[More_Firewood]

Hi

In February I bought a Veritas® Bevel Up Smoothing Plane from Lee Valley.
Once I had placed the order they emailed me and asked for my shipping option so I chose the UPS Express. Their emailed when it was shipped. I can not remember exactly how many days it took but it was roughly what they said.

In Summary:
Carbatec = Veritas® Bevel Up Smoothing Plane $369.00 + shipping

Lee Valley landed in Sydney for US $275.78

The shipping options were:
*Surface Mail 8-12 Weeks $47.32
*Xpresspost 8-10 Business Days $85.72
*UPS Express 5-6 Days to Major Centers $66.78


Andrew

[Wongo]

First lee valley is a great company and their customer service is second to none. I have dealt with them 3, 4 times and they were great each time.

Re saving, you are probably saving around 35% on each plane but you need to pay for postage, tax and wait for weeks. Obviously the more you pay for postage the quicker they will get to your place. Tax is a hit and miss thing but if you are not buying too much then you are less likely to be taxed.

So here is the deal, if you are only after a couple of small planes then you are better off going to carbatec. That way you pay a bit more for the planes but you don’t pay for postage, no tax and you get to play with them as soon as you get home.

If you are going to spend a lot then your saving on the planes will be big. BUT more planes means heavier parcel means more money to pay. You might have to pay tax and the worst thing is you have to wait and wait and wait and wait.

I think it is a matter of finding the balance between the 2.

Man I hate typing.

[Wongo]

What are you buying by the way?

[hitch]

Zelk I have investigated purchases from Lee Valley but each time did not proceed because delivery cost negated (almost) the purchase price benefit. Weight and size become problems. The total cost/risk equation did not stand up however that is not always be the case as I have purchased from OS supplies quite often. For private purchases under $1k no Aus taxes/duties apply. Delivery time of course is determined by delivery options offered by the vendor and price you are prepared to pay.

Good luck.

[Wongo]

Good point hitch. I forgot to mention risk. I believe some delivery options do not include insurance. If the parcel is lost then it is your problem. It is unlikely but.

[hitch]

Too true Wongo. No insurance = No deal

[jmk89]

I have bought directly from LV a couple of times. If you tell them what delivery method you want, they will tell you what the price points are and this can help you to decide what to buy to get the best value.

I tended to buy the things that the Aussie retailers don't typically hold (one was the dowel maker - although it was on the catalogue for some retailers, it is actually a backorder item, so it was faster and cheaper for me to get it direct), so there is no realistic comparison.

However, I can say that in the cases where there was a direct comparison between buying direct and buying locally, the saving was there but it wasn't huge (maybe 10%) and for that you take the risk.

[zelk]

What are you buying by the way?

Well, I 'm glad you asked

As I explained to Derek Cohen, its my birthday coming up and the family, appears to be, more than happy to heavily contribute to a gift of my liking. I am obviously considering bench planes and I need to choose 3 out of the 4 Veritas planes that I am interested in, which are, including local prices and weight

1 Low angle block plane $239, 0.8kg
2 Bevel up smoothing plane $369, 2.3kg
3 Low angle jack plane $395, 3kg
4 Bevel jointer plane $439, 3.8kg

I am sure that with the up and coming Sydney show I could get at least 10% discount. According to Andrew I could possible expect 25% discount. I wonder how they calculate the freight costs.

Regards
Zelk

[jmk89]

I suppose that the discount may be greater at the moment compared to when I bought because the AUD is stronger than it was then.

[Howdya do that]

I have bought heaps of stuff from Lee Valley and like Wongo said the service is second to none.

Most recently I ordered some box chain, hinges, knobs and drill bits took the UPS postage option. Ordered Thursday arrived Monday (amazing).

If you do order from them make sure you get the tool & hardware catalogue you'll be drooling for hours.

[Wongo]

Zelk, you are not turning 38 are you?

Go to their website and add the planes to the shopping cart. You should be able to get a quote first before going any further.

Do that now and we will take it from there.

[zelk]

Zelk, you are not turning 38 are you?

Go to their website and add the planes to the shopping cart. You should be able to get a quote first before going any further.

Do that now and we will take it from there.

If only I could say yes to your first question
Zelk

[zelk]

Zelk I have investigated purchases from Lee Valley but each time did not proceed because delivery cost negated (almost) the purchase price benefit. Weight and size become problems. The total cost/risk equation did not stand up however that is not always be the case as I have purchased from OS supplies quite often. For private purchases under $1k no Aus taxes/duties apply. Delivery time of course is determined by delivery options offered by the vendor and price you are prepared to pay.

Good luck.

Hitch or anybody else,

Private purchases of $1000, is that including freight costs?

Zelk

[Howdya do that]

$1,000 excluding shipping.

The process for orders is
You place the order on the website. Then Lee valley send you an e-mail with freight options. you can then either except or decline the order.