I just find pinball resource easiest to deal with..... and fastest shipping .... although... ordering reminds me of the soup nazi on Seinfeld... on misstep and "NO PARTS FOR YOU!!"

It's tough for sure. I run a hobby shop, and have been into r/c for my entire life. It's the same thing in almost any hobby. Unfortunately, it's just expensive to ship stuff into Canada from the US. USPS is the only method I will ship. It's always gonna be the cheapest and less risky IMO. I want to order 25$ of LED's soon, and the shipping quite is 32$us. It's what I want, so I just suck it up. Simple as that.

Edit, I just wanted to note too, I used that non-tracked "cheap" marco shipping method this summer. It took 3 months for delivery, and no one could help me in any way. Def not recommended. I did my first PBL order recently, and the shipping was fair for the amount I ordered and arrived in 6 days. +1 to them!

You have to be creative with their shipping to Canada. Small orders that can fit into the usps e-packet is actually an excellent shipping rate!!! Maybe only 2 bucks more than us. But the bigger the order the worse it gets! i agree using Nitro to make your order, done it many times, but that may just be for the locals?

I recently bought some items from Marco, $80 US worth of pinball stuff. Not big items, but a flipper rebuilt kit included, so not totally light. When I put in the shipping it was crazy high, and I was annoyed (like others in this post).

I started playing around with addresses, and the way I entered my address (same address) made quite a difference. I have a PO box, so I first put in PO Box XX, 101 Streetname Drive. High price, $45 if I remember. I then put in XX - 101 Streetname Drive and it reduced it to $17 US shipping, which is typical for US-Can shipping. Arrived in 3 weeks.

Late update as I was away. I picked up the package today and was dinged another $15.17 for customs charges. I cant find a postage total anywhere on the box, but no way this small box of 25 rings and 4 protectors cost $43.95 to ship.

$200 to re-ring a game. LOL. I wont ever buy from them again. ( wasn't Marco, to be clear but another top seller )

Our shipping to Canada is about 12-15$ normally for most sized orders of larger kits.

You guys can also check with nitropinball.com and see if they have it in stock, they are in CA

Plus the ridiculous shipping fees from Iglobal they do not forward tracking numbers and they tend to hold product .... Things Marco confirmed shipped disappear into a Twilight Zone for days as the broker pickups and I'm assuming there collected so they get cheaper freight charges...
Ordered from Marco and got the tracking number 2 days after my package arrived ....
If you call Marco they don't seemingly care how your order gets to you as they have been already paid in full !
Try using reshipit.com can be cheaper and faster !

It's a lot. Just have to try to hold off till you place bigger orders and now that there are a few of us in Saskatchewan we should consider group orders. I don't mind waiting an extra week for my stuff if someone wants to handle mailing it out to everyone.

I just orderd 8 drop targets and decals and 5 rubber shooter tips from marco, shipping was around $11 on a $50 order not terrible, if you keep it small and light its not bad.

This order was my worst so far, $43 US for shipping on 4 plastic inlane protectors and a few rubber rings.

To top it off, SuperBand rings don't work on the Hobbit slingshots....

Not bad done this a few times normally have it in a week or two.

marco (resized).png

I ordered from Marcos and they shipped it June 23rd. Still haven't gotten it yet....

Just wondering what the delivery time usually is for Marcos? (From people experiences)

(Same thing for retroRefurbs.....still waiting and they shipped June 25th)

Apparently with the influx of stuff coming from China and Japan into Canada through Amazon, CBSA is months back logged on the checks. International mail from the US also gets delayed due to this queue. I've had a small package from Italy take over 90 days to get here via standard post despite showing it arrive into Canada after 2 weeks. On many packages sent economy snail mail, tracking is not even available.

If you don't want to wait months for your items and want to have some ability to monitor it - always splurge the extra fee for traceable freight such as UPS, FedEx, DHL or Purolator. Motorcycle parts from Rocky Mountain ATV or LED lights from PinBulbs... always track.

Well thanks for the information. Although it's not reassuring.

But for future references/purposes, I'll use better shipping options and try to scout for Canadians companies to order from first before ordering internationally.

FYI for others.....

Marcos shipment came in July 18th (from South Carolina)
Retro Refurbs came in July 20th (Europe)

That's using plain shipping.

I abandoned my order with Marco the other day and got an email offering 10% off shipping... something is better than nothing. The order was only $8 or so yo ship and that seemed reasonable.

Just placed a very small order from Marco.......$3.99 USD shipping. Yeah it will take a while but not bad....cheaper than the US shipping options actually!

Pinball Resource didn't have this part (credit button spring).

I live close to the border and have a US mailbox but because I am paying with a Canadian credit card Marco won't even allow me to ship it to my US address? Their system makes me go through iGlobal. I still had it shipped to my US address as it was 3 times faster. Unfortunately the shipping was 3 times more as well.

Next time you're in the US by gift cards or just one that's refillable to use.

You could also try an entropay virtual card. You can setup a USD address with it.

Marco has gotten alot better, the absolute WORST is pinball life, I hate it when they have stuff I need...

Sooooo Marco has removed the e packet option from their site recently. Small orders used to cost about 9-11 USD for shipping. Now shipping rates are running $35 +/- for a small package. This is absurd!

I asked them about it, and they said because the untracked e packages were getting lost. BUT they haven’t explained why the TRACKED e-packet option is gone too. Anyone else complain to them? You should!

I believe the e-packet thing changed overall because the USPS was subsidizing most of the cost, and we were losing millions on it. It was part of the teriff battle the current administration is waging.

FWIW, I live in the US and think Marcos shipping is obsurd on small stuff.

Awful development. The e-packet was the only way to get small items without having to pay 50 bucks for delivery.

Good thing I don't need any parts... nobody touch my machines!