ReefGeek
 

I was thinking about ordering a T5 light fixture from reefgeek. I was just wondering who else on the forums has ordered from them, what you ordered, what shipping method you chose and how much you paid in duties/brokerage fees. I am worried that I am going to get stuck with a huge brokerage fee if I chose UPS, and am worried that I might receive broken bulbs if I chose USPS Airmail. Please let me know! Thanks

I would be more worried about broken bulbs with UPS from my experiences.. :confused:

From my experience it is best to have them send it by the US Postal Service. You never have to pay brokerage. All you pay is GST, and the $5.00 handling charge. There is never any duty because of the Free Trade Agreement. Before anybody argues about the duty, that has been my experience with quite a few US orders. :mrgreen:

Quite often they wont even charge you GST or the $5 handling charge.
(At least from my experiences.)

Yes that is true. Some days when they don't feel like working they will forget it. :biggrin:

actually ontop of the GST you now have to pay PST.

I of course would not think of that because I live in Alberta. :mrgreen:

PFFFT.... we have tons-o-money we don't have no stinkin PST

yeah but squiddy lives in bc.

Sorry to hear that :razz: J/K

I don't think you have to pay PST if the product is made in the states

I purchased a T5 Tek-light with 8 bulbs from ReefGeek about 18 months ago.

I had it shipped UPS.

The UPS brokerage fees are ridiculously high for low-value items. However, for a fixture and bulbs costing hundreds of dollars, a sixty dollar brokerage fee is immaterial.

ReefGeek packages their bulbs incredibly well, you could drop them 50 feet and most likely they would not break.

If I were doing it again I would order from OA if they still sell the Tek-lights, at the time I bought my lights OA didn't stock these but I think now they do. I was happy with my ReefGeek order but I prefer to keep my money local and support good local businesses.

As far as PST, on any item shipped from the U.S. you pay GST plus PST, plus a brokerage fee. For U.S. mail/Canada Post, the brokerage fee is $5.00, for UPS there is a sliding scale depending on the item's cost, the brokerage fee table is on the internet somewhere.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I am tempted to have them sent via USPS but I was told that there is no coverage on the bulbs if I go with them. I don't know what their track record is on breakage but I would hate to have $100-$200 worth of T5 shards in a box when it gets to my house. I wish I knew someone in the US that could bring them over the border for me.

I am still undecided.

did yo ucall oa and get a quote?

No I didn't but I am planning on getting the retrofit kit now instead of the light fixture... mainly because of the three free daylight bulbs that I won't be using. I don't think OA gets the retro kits in. I called Greg just now and talked to him about it and I still can't decide how to have light sent.

Sooo very frustrating!....

I've got a pair of the cora-vue retro kits on my 40g reef and I'm very happy with them. Just make sure the kit you get has the proper T5 reflectors, they're shaped like an M, the ones shaped like a V lose a lot of light.

I've done a lot of research and the ones from Reefgeek seem to be the best. I know the light will be good.. just worried about the shipping part of it. I think I am going to go USPS and cross my fingers...

You could always fly down there and pick it up in person.. :razz: :mrgreen:

I purchased my Sunlight Supply Tek-T5 Retrofit kit from OA this summer. Unfortunately I had to wait about a month for the bulbs to come in from Germany. I'm not sure what the bulb selection is like now at OA though. If you do decide to by from the Yank's, than you might want to check out this site as well.

http://www.aqualuxlighting.com/retrofitkits.html