Gear Basket

[Stephen]

@wabene and @freedom glider
Cost me about $55, somewhat depending on length and weight, I think.
You can put stuff in your cart an go to checkout, put in your address, and it will tell you ship cost.
I have seen two ship options, FedEx and DHL.
FedEx seems to be less and I haven’t had any problems with that.

As for payment, I once had payment fail three time on one card. Called bank, they couldn’t help me. Had them call Visa, I think it was, still no help. Used a different card, and the charge went right through.
Moral of the story is, it could be a card by card and bank by bank issue.
The problem is most likely bank related fraud protection algorithms. Foreign transactions trigger that sort of thing.
I would try and use a card that doesn’t have foreign transaction fees.

[lilcliffy]

Varuste?
Pay-pal.
No problem.

[freedom glider]

Varuste?
Pay-pal.
No problem.

that is great to hear. paypal was not an option when i was trying. the prices at varuste are good even with shipping included - and the selection was great.

[Stephen]

Varuste?
Pay-pal.
No problem.

How?
I see just two payment options at Varuste:
Payment method

Credit card ………………………………………… 0.00 €
Prepayment invoice / wire transfer …1.53 €

Do you use the “Prepayment invoice / wire transfer” option and then somehow use PayPal to pay the invoice Varuste sends you by email?
Screen shot from Varuste page:

[Stephen]

I sent Varuste an email asking about payments using PayPal.
They sent me the reply, below.
The fact that @lilcliffy says he gets the option to pay with PayPal, and Varuste saying that option is sometimes available, I have to think the PayPal option is not always available. Like maybe it’s country by country. @lilcliffy is in Canada, and gets that option, I’m in the US, and don’t.
It would be interesting if @lilcliffy could post a screenshot of PayPal as a payment option. Has anyone in the US or in Canada, or any other country seen PayPal as an option to confirm any of this?

“PayPal is indeed quite often available to be chosen as a payment method, but you'll see all available methods at the checkout when finalizing your order.“

[lilcliffy]

Will do- I have ordered from them 3 times now- been able to use Paypal each time.

[lilcliffy]

One pair of Alfa Free in the cart (not buying them!)

[Stephen]

@lilcliffy, perfecto!

I never see PayPal as an option.
I’m just guessing that option is country dependent.

But, are you really being charged a premium of $16.68 CAN to use that option?
That seems steep to me.

And, not to be a downer, but shipping for the same item to the US was 10.55 €.
But you have “Free” health care in Canada!

[lilcliffy]

And, not to be a downer, but shipping for the same item to the US was 10.55 €.

10.55EU is currently $14.68CAN.
Pretty close considering the differential in shipping volumes from the EU to USA vs CAN.

~$15CAN to ship from Finland seems pretty good to me!

Don't care about the Paypal charge- Varuste's prices and customer service are second-to-none- literally- I have never seen better- worldwide!

Question-
Are US customers paying duty from the EU?
CAN has a trade deal with the EU- I only have to pay local sales tax.

[wabene]

The US has a funny loophole where if you purchase something online that is shipped from a different state or country, sales tax is not charged in the transaction. I think if the item is shipped from a different state, but the retailer has locations in your state, then you are charged. And no duty from the EU is charged.

If I have this wrong please correct me