5d ago

Buy Canadian is easy, but Buy Local has been challenging.

Does anyone else feel restricted because of shipping fees?

I know that many of us have ditched Amazon, but it's hard to ignore their free shipping policy.

When you're looking for Canadian products sold by Canadian companies, and have to pay $10-$20 extra for shipping because it's not available locally, it's like a premium on top of a premium.

And yes, some places offer free shipping past a certain amount (usually well over $100), which just incentivizes buying extra stuff you don't need.

I mean, shit, you can get products shipped from China for free, so why can't we offer free or very low cost shipping within Canada (via Government incentives)?

Does anyone have any tips to ease this pain point?

21 comments

I’m training myself to accept shipping fees as something that was always there. Amazon free shipping is just a hidden fee - the deliveries are still costing money. Amazon just masks that cost.
I see it the same as food delivery services having „free delivery“ when in fact they’re fucking the restaurants and drivers to get the piece they want.
It still rankles when I’m ordering something from Ontario that’s 8 bucks and shipping is 12.
- Amazon wasn't masking the cost so much as intentionally running at a loss for a decade to wipe out all other vendors and consolidate the entire market.
- Regardless of how Amazon is doing it, I'm sure many people simply buy from them because of the free shipping. When I was using them for grocery items, they'd list products for less than local + they'd deliver it free the same or next day. It's very hard to beat that, but I'm trying.
  I'm trying to take advantage of any “free shipping” being offered by Canadian businesses out of town or out of the province. But if I only need $20-30 worth of a food item, it kills me to have to pay almost as much to ship it.
  I'm seeing this being even more of an issue when I'm looking at supporting farmers who don't sell their products locally, but they also aren't set up to be shipping cheaply, either.

That's my problem. I have a lot of stray cats around me, so I buy a lot of cat food.
Locally an 8kg bag is $32.
If I drive 60km round trip to walmart, that same bag is $25.
Amazon with free shipping, that bag is $22.
Not a huge difference but I don't have a lot of money and it adds up fast, especially since I buy 5-6 bags a month. ($10 savings on a bag X 5 is $50 a month, or $600 a year.)
Edit: A few of the rodents (I spilled treats on the floor and they were kind enough to help clean up the mess.)
- Everyone's situation is unique and we all just need do our best in whatever ways we can. Hopefully there will be better alternatives in the future as the market adapts to consumer demand.
- I hear you. When we were fostering, we tried not to burden the shelter with supplying food, so Amazon or Walmart were very convenient (free shipping and lower prices from what you'd find locally for the same items).
  But for pet food to feed our own, there's a MASSIVE increase in cost just from buying made in Canada products. Our cat food expenses are more expensive for two cats eating Canadian cat food, than it was for five adults eating brand name American cat food.
  It's hard to balance, but you just gotta do what you can.
  One suggestion in your case is to contact retailers who have products reaching their Best Before date, as they may be able to offer a much lower price. I know that shelters often get nearly expired products as donations, and they easily make use of it!

There's probably more we can do to improve our internal shipping networks, and maybe the simplified interprovincial trade stuff will help with that
As a temporary workaround, maybe you can see if there are people nearby who also need the item you are purchasing? Buying something in bulk and sharing it with others, could help somewhat
- As a temporary workaround, maybe you can see if there are people nearby who also need the item you are purchasing? Buying something in bulk and sharing it with others, could help somewhat
  This is a nice solution for many, I'm sure. I may look into local buyer's groups to see what they can offer. I think most of the ones I've seen deal with bulk meat, and I'm vegan, so... LOL
  
  I'm in NS and I discovered a couple places in ON and westward that makes peanut butter. My plan, to purchase a case of 10 or 12 jars. Which I can no doubt consume myself in a year but will consider trading with neighbours for eggs or produce during summer time.

Yeah, it's tough. Sorry, don't have a good solution. Best I've done is to write down different things I'll need at some point soon-ish, then buy all those things at some retailer offering free shipping or, noting where I could get them, stopping and getting them as various plans etc take me through the city.
But I'm lucky enough to be able to afford things I don't need yet and sort of have storage space, which not everyone can afford.
- Yes, I've been building a database of "things I'll need to buy, but not just yet", and it's cool to discover new Canadian companies in the process!
  I don't mind stocking up on things, and traditionally do that with certain items. It's the one-offs that might be easy when you're shopping on Amazon, but are harder to find cost-effective alternatives to, that I'm stuggling with.
  Still, every day I find something new and tweak how my money is spent, so it's worth the effort!
  
  and it's cool to discover new Canadian companies in the process!
  Fully agree! I've also definitely started impulse buying stuff based on local or made in Canada etc and then coming home like "huh, well, now I guess we're learning some butternut squash recipes."

If you are living in the city, are you able to pick up some items from a supplier, to save on the shipping for local items (note the cost is your own travel costs and time)? Then it will be even faster delivery than Amazon as a bonus.
Shipping is a real cost and Amazon and Aliexpress have made us ignorant of it and lazy. One tip is to perhaps group up shopping in bigger chunks?
- What I've been trying to do with food items directly from farmers, is to see where they sell their products locally. Most are at farmer's markets (which aren't year-round) and others are at specialty shops that are even more out of the way.
  Some things, I just bite the bullet and take some extra effort to go get. The Canadian yeast I bought for bread making had me bike over to the next municipality to pick up. Which I'm happy to do!
  One tip is to perhaps group up shopping in bigger chunks?
  Yup, I've been doing this for certain (non-perishable goods and non-food consumables), but shelf-life and product type can make this difficult or impossible to do on a practical basis.
  I am in the process of optimizing my pantry, and will do the same on a need-to basis with other areas of my life. I really only plan to buy things that I can reliably get locally or with little effort, while still supporting Canadian businesses.
  I'm proud to say that I haven't given Walmart any of my money since the trade war began, despite being a place I would shop at multiple times a week.
  
  Look into community supported agriculture boxes. It's like a subscription box to a local farm. They usually deliver - maybe not to your door, but close.
  
  I gave up Walmart and am shopping mainly at Longo's. I've shut out Best Buy for Canada Computers. Amazon has been a tough replacement though. I'm using well.ca but their selection isn't as expansive (as expected).
  When my dad finally moves out of my house I think I'm going to try what you're recommending and getting stuff directly from farmers. It's something I should have done ages ago.

Technically speaking, there's no such thing as free shipping. It's built into the price, and for low dollar value items, the ship cost is spread out over other products in a merchant's business model. Whether its FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) or FBM (fulfilled by merchant), the merchant is the one paying the shipping, not Amazon. You can be sure though that Amazon is getting a smokin' hot deal from CanadaPost for that volume business. Just my guess, but CanPost is offsetting the lower profit margins for shipping Amazon's packages by charging more for smaller volume Canadian merchants who ship direct to the consumer.

For those who I've in Quebec, it's been standard practice to put a Fleur de Lys symbol next to the price on local products (both online and in stores).
It was a massive push from the government from around pre-COVID, and there was even rebates for Quebec companies who needed an online presence. I made a lot of websites for these companies, even helped build some websites helping promote this.
I believe Metro and Super C also actively push local products.

@Showroom7561 Voila.ca is helping online grocery shoppers us identify Ontario products. 👍

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