preferred method of shipping from the US ?

[Delphinus]

USPS is the most economical by an order of magnitude. You might pay about $5 in brokerage fees.

UPS charges a flat rate of $50. It might have gone up since I used UPS last, as it's been a while. Flat rate means it might be a good deal if you have several hundred dollars worth of stuff coming, but under $100 or thereabouts it becomes a horrible deal. I learned this the (very) hard way when I ordered a $20 fogger for a terrarium some years ago, thinking I got such a great deal because they were $40 locally, and then I had to pay $50 in brokerage when it arrived. Lesson learned.

Fedex, I think it might also be a flat rate, not sure, been a while.

Either Fedex or Purolator uses Peace Bridge Brokerage, who bills you separately. Again something I learned the hard way. Package arrived C.O.D., so I thought when I paid that fee, that I was done. Nope. Something like 3 months later I got an invoice for $80. Of course I had forgotten by that point that I had ordered something, and the invoice just said for "customs brokerage" so I had no clue what they billing me for. So naturally I ignored it, thinking it was a scam or something. Then I got another letter from PBB and this time the tone was somewhat nasty. But at least in their angry threatening tones they did mention what the brokerage was for. So I paid them and said in MY letter with the cheque "next time put some more details down about what you brokered." (I mean sheesh, come on, really.)

Anyhow I always ask for places to send me things (it doesn't matter what it is - aquarium stuff - books - camera stuff - bike stuff - whatever) via USPS whenever feasible. But not all places will - if they offer a discounted rate on Fedex or UPS or whatever, it's usually because they have a deal to single-source their logistics with that company - so they're obliged to not offer any other methods. Something to watch out for. Again, sometimes it's not a big deal but when ordering smaller, less expensive things, that brokerage can really turn a good deal into a not-so-good deal.