Before proceeding any further, please note that this guide is now several years out-of-date, you probably want to check before proceeding with anything.

Recently I ordered a hakama from Bu-Jin Design in Boulder, Colorado. Unforutnately, despite the fact that Canada and the United States are members of NAFTA, the savings of “free” trade have never quite trickled down to the proletariat. As a result it is prohibatively expensive to ship some items from the United States to Canada. Fortunately Ottawa is located approximately 45 minutes from upstate New York and the The UPS Store in Ogdensburg accepts parcels for Canadians and holds them for pick-up. Though you have to pay for the trip to Ogdensburg and Canadian GST as well as Ontario PST at the border, in many cases this is still tens to hundreds of dollars cheaper than direct shipping to Ottawa. Indeed some retailers and manufacturers still don’t ship outside the United States.

If you would like to take advantage of this shipping method, here are the mailing instructions to get a package shipped to you care of The UPS Store in Ogdensburg:

Your Name
Your Phone Number
c/o The UPS Store
2981 Ford Street Extension
Gateway Shopping Center
Route 37
Ogdensburg
New York 13669

They will usually call you once the package arrives, however it may be prudent to ship your parcel via registered mail or courier so that you can track it via telephone or the Internet and call them once it shows as having been delivered. Their phone number is: 315-393-1188.

Their current charge is $5 USD for the parcel and it will cost you $2 USD each way to cross the bridge to the United States. Make sure you have proper ID (passports are strongly recommended these days) and that you have a means to pay the taxes when you cross back to Canada as misrepresenting the purposes of your trip is a serious offence and can result in jail time, especially in today’s environment.

Thanks to Alan of Bodensatz Brewing for the original tip many moons ago.