Canadian Pentaxians

Tako Kichi · 06-03-2014, 04:31 PM

Today I received a used lens in the post and wanted to let fellow Canadians know about my experience.

I have been looking for a particular lens for a while and scoured all the usual sources looking for a good deal. In the past I have always bought used lenses from B&M stores, Canadian or US sellers on Ebay or from forum members here in the marketplace. As I wasn't having much luck finding anything in my price range I decided to cast my net further afield and looked at lenses for sale on Ebay from Japanese sellers. I found several for sale for much lower prices than I'd seen anywhere else and decided to bite the bullet and make a purchase hoping I wasn't making a bad decision. It turns out my fears and trepidation were unfounded!

The parcel consisted of a large box which was very well padded inside and the lens was in it's original box which was wrapped in bubble-wrap. Once I opened the box and the original leather pouch I found the lens to be perfect in every way. If I didn't know it was a pre-owned lens I would swear it was brand new, I couldn't find a mark on it and despite the Ebay listing saying "There is almost no dust in the lens" I couldn't find a single dust particle in it anywhere!

Attached to the lens box was a small brown envelope that contained a very nice hand-written letter, a hand-made origami crane and two sachets of Japanese tea! I found this little surprise 'care package' to be a really nice gesture and most thoughtful on the part of the sender (who I suspect to be a young Japanese female).

Shipping was extremely fast (5 days from Japan to my door incl. a weekend) and very reasonable at $22 USD. Canada Post dropped it off without any payment being required which was another bonus.

The bottom line is that I am very pleased with my purchase and would have no qualms about buying from a Japanese Ebayer in the future.

Tako Kichi · 06-16-2014, 01:51 PM

Just a heads-up for Canadians buying online from Adorama and using PayPal and Bilsi shipping.

I tried to place an online order last night and ran into difficulties. Today I phoned Adorama and it took two conversations with two individuals and a return call from Adorama to sort out the issue but it was sorted in the end.

It appears that certain items (for whatever reasons, either legal or cross-border related) cannot be shipped to Canada via their Bilsi shipping agent and if you have such an item in your cart the option to select Bilsi shipping never appears on the shipping option of the checkout page. This is what confused me last night as I just couldn't get the Canadian shipping option to appear as it normally does.

If this should happen to you the only way (currently) of solving the issue is to empty the cart and start adding items again but watch the shipping options and as soon as the Bilsi option disappears you know you've found the culprit. Simply delete that item from the cart and add the rest of your items. Of course that means you cannot order the offending item from Adorama unless you want it to ship via UPS or Fedex and eat the extortionate brokerage fees. As it happens I was able to find an alternative item on Ebay with shipping from the States via the US Postal Service.

Even though I had problems trying to place my order I must say that I got exceptional service from both of the Adorama employees I spoke to who were very courteous and helpful in trying to solve the problem.

bdery · 06-17-2014, 05:17 AM

What's Bilsi?

Tako Kichi · 06-17-2014, 07:57 AM

Bilsi is the name of the shipping agent Adorama use for shipping to Canada. They take care of the Customs paperwork and actually carry the goods over the border. Once in Canada the packages are passed on to FedEx for delivery within Canada. Bilsi's brokerage fees are very reasonable, unlike the fees charged by both UPS and FedEx.

Last edited by Tako Kichi; 06-19-2014 at 08:23 AM.

**jva59** · 10-02-2014, 09:27 PM

I'm a new Canadian resident, formerly resident in the States, and find that KEH has a lens I covet. Does anyone know what I can expect if I order it? A hefty duty to be paid when collecting it from post office, or will be like the US, completely unpredictable whether duty is imposed?

bdery · 10-03-2014, 05:41 AM

I would ask KEH about this, and if possible request USPS as the shipping method.

johnyates · 10-03-2014, 07:50 AM

Originally posted by jva59

Does anyone know what I can expect if I order it?

You need to call them and arrange your transaction to be shipped USPS. You'll likely be assessed GST and PST unless the value is $100 or less. You can also expect the shipping cost to be ~$40. If you don't do this, they'll ship by courier, who will ding you for a 'brokerage fee' in addition to the sales taxes.

**jva59** · 10-03-2014, 10:51 AM

Originally posted by johnyates

You need to call them and arrange your transaction to be shipped USPS. You'll likely be assessed GST and PST unless the value is $100 or less. You can also expect the shipping cost to be ~$40. If you don't do this, they'll ship by courier, who will ding you for a 'brokerage fee' in addition to the sales taxes.

Thanks for the advice!

kp0c · 10-03-2014, 01:41 PM

Originally posted by bdery

Henry's is a pretty good source, sort of like the Canadian B&H. They're pretty keen on special orders, too. Good for studio equipment, in particular.

In Quebec, there are Lozeau and Gosselin, two pretty big brick-and-mortar stores (one in Montréal, the other in Québec city). Good advice but they don't carry a lot of Pentax stuff.

Online, my favourite source is clearly prodigital2000. I bought a K20D, K30, K-3 and 60-250 from them, they were always the cheapest, and often cheaper than the best US price. They are an eBay store linked to a camera store in Ontario. You can also request quotes in CAD when they list an item in USD, you'll get even better deals this way (I paid 1150$ all included for the K-3 back in November).

amazon is nice for some odds and ends. The Canadian site is getting better all the time.

Wow, great advice on requesting a CAD quote! Thx.

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06-03-2014, 04:31 PM	#31
Tako Kichi Veteran Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: SW Ontario, Canada (ex-pat Brit) Posts: 1,296	Today I received a used lens in the post and wanted to let fellow Canadians know about my experience. I have been looking for a particular lens for a while and scoured all the usual sources looking for a good deal. In the past I have always bought used lenses from B&M stores, Canadian or US sellers on Ebay or from forum members here in the marketplace. As I wasn't having much luck finding anything in my price range I decided to cast my net further afield and looked at lenses for sale on Ebay from Japanese sellers. I found several for sale for much lower prices than I'd seen anywhere else and decided to bite the bullet and make a purchase hoping I wasn't making a bad decision. It turns out my fears and trepidation were unfounded! The parcel consisted of a large box which was very well padded inside and the lens was in it's original box which was wrapped in bubble-wrap. Once I opened the box and the original leather pouch I found the lens to be perfect in every way. If I didn't know it was a pre-owned lens I would swear it was brand new, I couldn't find a mark on it and despite the Ebay listing saying "There is almost no dust in the lens" I couldn't find a single dust particle in it anywhere! Attached to the lens box was a small brown envelope that contained a very nice hand-written letter, a hand-made origami crane and two sachets of Japanese tea! I found this little surprise 'care package' to be a really nice gesture and most thoughtful on the part of the sender (who I suspect to be a young Japanese female). Shipping was extremely fast (5 days from Japan to my door incl. a weekend) and very reasonable at $22 USD. Canada Post dropped it off without any payment being required which was another bonus. The bottom line is that I am very pleased with my purchase and would have no qualms about buying from a Japanese Ebayer in the future.

06-16-2014, 01:51 PM	#32
Tako Kichi Veteran Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: SW Ontario, Canada (ex-pat Brit) Posts: 1,296	Just a heads-up for Canadians buying online from Adorama and using PayPal and Bilsi shipping. I tried to place an online order last night and ran into difficulties. Today I phoned Adorama and it took two conversations with two individuals and a return call from Adorama to sort out the issue but it was sorted in the end. It appears that certain items (for whatever reasons, either legal or cross-border related) cannot be shipped to Canada via their Bilsi shipping agent and if you have such an item in your cart the option to select Bilsi shipping never appears on the shipping option of the checkout page. This is what confused me last night as I just couldn't get the Canadian shipping option to appear as it normally does. If this should happen to you the only way (currently) of solving the issue is to empty the cart and start adding items again but watch the shipping options and as soon as the Bilsi option disappears you know you've found the culprit. Simply delete that item from the cart and add the rest of your items. Of course that means you cannot order the offending item from Adorama unless you want it to ship via UPS or Fedex and eat the extortionate brokerage fees. As it happens I was able to find an alternative item on Ebay with shipping from the States via the US Postal Service. Even though I had problems trying to place my order I must say that I got exceptional service from both of the Adorama employees I spoke to who were very courteous and helpful in trying to solve the problem.

06-17-2014, 05:17 AM	#33
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	What's Bilsi?

06-17-2014, 07:57 AM	#34
Tako Kichi Veteran Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: SW Ontario, Canada (ex-pat Brit) Posts: 1,296	Bilsi is the name of the shipping agent Adorama use for shipping to Canada. They take care of the Customs paperwork and actually carry the goods over the border. Once in Canada the packages are passed on to FedEx for delivery within Canada. Bilsi's brokerage fees are very reasonable, unlike the fees charged by both UPS and FedEx. Last edited by Tako Kichi; 06-19-2014 at 08:23 AM.

10-02-2014, 09:27 PM	#35
jva59 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 2,409	I'm a new Canadian resident, formerly resident in the States, and find that KEH has a lens I covet. Does anyone know what I can expect if I order it? A hefty duty to be paid when collecting it from post office, or will be like the US, completely unpredictable whether duty is imposed?

10-03-2014, 05:41 AM	#36
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	I would ask KEH about this, and if possible request USPS as the shipping method.

10-03-2014, 07:50 AM	#37
johnyates Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Saskatoon, SK Photos: Albums Posts: 1,345	Originally posted by jva59 Does anyone know what I can expect if I order it? You need to call them and arrange your transaction to be shipped USPS. You'll likely be assessed GST and PST unless the value is $100 or less. You can also expect the shipping cost to be ~$40. If you don't do this, they'll ship by courier, who will ding you for a 'brokerage fee' in addition to the sales taxes.

10-03-2014, 10:51 AM	#38
jva59 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 2,409	Originally posted by johnyates You need to call them and arrange your transaction to be shipped USPS. You'll likely be assessed GST and PST unless the value is $100 or less. You can also expect the shipping cost to be ~$40. If you don't do this, they'll ship by courier, who will ding you for a 'brokerage fee' in addition to the sales taxes. Thanks for the advice!

10-03-2014, 01:41 PM	#39
kp0c Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Montreal Photos: Gallery Posts: 761	Originally posted by bdery Henry's is a pretty good source, sort of like the Canadian B&H. They're pretty keen on special orders, too. Good for studio equipment, in particular. In Quebec, there are Lozeau and Gosselin, two pretty big brick-and-mortar stores (one in Montréal, the other in Québec city). Good advice but they don't carry a lot of Pentax stuff. Online, my favourite source is clearly prodigital2000. I bought a K20D, K30, K-3 and 60-250 from them, they were always the cheapest, and often cheaper than the best US price. They are an eBay store linked to a camera store in Ontario. You can also request quotes in CAD when they list an item in USD, you'll get even better deals this way (I paid 1150$ all included for the K-3 back in November). amazon is nice for some odds and ends. The Canadian site is getting better all the time. Wow, great advice on requesting a CAD quote! Thx.