Bulk Magnesium Chloride in Canada
 

I am looking where to get bulk magnesium chloride in Canada. I had previously ordered a large supply from bulkreefsupply, but want to avoid ordering from the USA.

My reason for wanting to avoid ordering from the USA is that I got an order in for something else that I couldn't find in Canada and got stuck with a big brokerage fee that I hadn't expected. Plus, if I can find it in Canada now, I'd prefer to do it that way anyway. :biggrin:

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http://caco3reef.com/

Chris

Thanks!

Here (Link) is an explanation about avoiding brokerage fees.

A short run down is.

UPS/FedEx broker on your behalf for a fee
- You have a right to do it yourself.
- You can ask them for the customs forum, take it to the ( most cases ) local airport to have Canada Customs clear the package for you, stamp the forum and then you take the forum back to UPS/FedEx give them the forum; they release your package ( sans fees )

From my own personal experience when using this process, Canada Customs Officer that clears the package and asses the taxes due ( if any ) is generally nice enough to clear the package without adding tax, your milage may vary though.

This is a 100% fool proof way of not paying the brokerage fee ( taxes might be extra ) however you can tell UPS/FedEx to kiss their easy $15 fee goodbye.

I've been using this road salt for 3 years: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...esium+chloride I'm able to buy it from a local hardware store called Amco Wholesale. They used to call it Absolute Zero Meltdown but now its called Safe Step Magnesium Chloride Ice Melter. Its sold in a 50lbs bag for about $30 and I've gone through close to two bags of it while mixing it with Magnesium Sulfate.

I've seen some other people doing this and have always contemplated giving it a try. I don't know though, it just seems like a big risk unless I buy enough testing equipment to know that it really is toxin free. Then I wouldn't be any further ahead anyway.:lol:

The "local" airport were a package from UPS would come in for Ponoka is a little far and some stores such as BRS charge you directly for brokerage fees not UPS. The only time I buy anything from the states is if they ship USPS, but most items are becoming available in Canada and finally most stores are offering comparable prices to the US. I've got some really good deals from sponsors over the last couple years!

I think the 'risk' with that kind of product is consistency (or lack thereof). Contaminants might not be present in the bag you have or the next bag but perhaps in the future ? After all, this stuff is meant to spread on the ground so if there's a little spill of something innocuous, who is going to care, right ?

That being said, we all know about the issues with a certain brand of aquarium carbon a little while ago so there are never any iron-clad guarantees but at least with an aquarium product you have a reasonable expectation of it being safe on an on-going basis.

FedEx has flat $10 brokerage fee.

UPS has a varying fee which I have never been able to figure out their calculations. I paid just under $30 in brokerage fees (plus the actual customs duties) some years ago for a UPS shipment with a value of US$110.

Bulk Reef Supply prepays all the brokerage AND duties for you for a flat 15% on top of the subtotal. You should not be getting any additional duty or brokerage charges on BRS shipments. If you did, you need to contact BRS to straighten it out.

Maybe this has changed in the last year or so but I had brought in a $300 AIO tank from the US and it was shipped via FedEx. A week later I got an invoice in the mail from FedEx for $150 in brokerage fees. Luckily they smashed the tank to pieces so I didn't have to pay for it and I didn't ask to get a new one shipped by them either.

I won't use UPS either, not only because of a brokerage fee that can be anything they choose but also because even within Canada they have lost 3 of my last 4 shipments that were sent to me by them.

I have never had an issue with anything sent by Canada Post or USPS.

this all sounds nice regarding clearing customs, but dont you hasve to clear customs in the city/place the pacage enter's canada if you want to do it yourselve.

as far as I know, and I never did it, becouse of the unknown but if I would have something shipped to me and it would enter canada opn the main land, but I live on the island, than I have to go to the mainland to clear it.

or is it possible to clear the package locally at customs, regardless if the package enters canada on the west coast ore east coast ?

You may be confusing brokerage fees with duties and GST. Brokerage is what the shipping company charges for doing the customs paperwork. Customs duties is the tax that the government applies for importing goods to Canada (rather than buying within Canada...which is the point). GST is applied on top of Customs Duties.

I would love to see the invoice. Was it shipped Fedex Express or Fedex Ground?

The highest custom duties on goods is 20%, plus the 5% GST, plus the $10 brokerage fee. So a $300 tank should be $60 duties, $15 GST, $10 brokerage fee which equals $85. I've never seen anything different than this from Fedex. The only time you should get the charges by mail is if the paperwork fell off the package, otherwise you should get the charges on delivery.

I don't have the invoice anymore as I didn't pay it so it went to the shredder. Not sure which if it was Express or Ground, it came on a truck to my door is all I know. The invoice may have had duty on it but it was 50% of the bill is the part that I remember. When I called the phone number on the invoice to see why I'm paying so much and for a broken product that never even left the truck the rude lady on the other end of the phone kept saying that it was FedEx that broke the package not them as they aren't Fedex and I still had to pay the invoice. When I asked how come the invoice says FedEx right on the letterhead she hung up on me. I had to call back to a manager and they removed the invoice. It was a weird experience anyways. It's probably not the norm but I'm just lucky that way, p'd me off enough to never use them again though. Duty is another story and the odd time I actually get charged for it regardless of who the carrier is which suurprises me as it is the government who gets this money but they hardly ever charge me for it.

It sounds like maybe you were dealing with a contractor and possibly not Fedex at all. Here in Saskatoon contractors deal with all the outlying small towns. I wonder if the contractors were trying to charge you (which I believe is breach of contract).