Getting Guitar Center to ship used gear international: Can it be done?

[Musiscience]

Title says it all. There is an instrument I can't find used in Canada, and is readily available in the used section of GC for a great price.

That being said, they wouldn't ship to Canada the last time I asked them. Therefore, I ended up: paying taxes twice, driving a long way, and waiting for hours at the border. It's a huge waste of time and money.

Is there a way to get them to ship to Canada through USPS, or is it a lost cause?

 

[ArtDecade]

The best thing about shopping online with GC is that when the instrument comes in royally fucked, you can just drop it off at the closest store for a refund. I wouldn't trust using a proxy to get something out of a GC especially when it will be a mess when you finally get it. Plus, by using a third party, you'd be stuck with it.

 

[somethingsomething]

I don't think you want to trust the sort of people Guitar Center employs with shipping a guitar internationally.

 

[CanserDYI]

I don't think you want to trust the sort of people Guitar Center employs with shipping a guitar internationally.

The Ops manager at my store is probably the best packer/shipper I've ever seen. He consistently gets calls from people telling them he packs things like a tank, so I know YMMV.

 

[Musiscience]

The best thing about shopping online with GC is that when the instrument comes in royally fucked, you can just drop it off at the closest store for a refund. I wouldn't trust using a proxy to get something out of a GC especially when it will be a mess when you finally get it. Plus, by using a third party, you'd be stuck with it.

That actually a good point. I was lucky with my last purchase from them (a used AZ2204), but it might be unwise to repeat that risk.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Title says it all. There is an instrument I can't find used in Canada, and is readily available in the used section of GC for a great price.

That being said, they wouldn't ship to Canada the last time I asked them. Therefore, I ended up: paying taxes twice, driving a long way, and waiting for hours at the border. It's a huge waste of time and money.

Is there a way to get them to ship to Canada through USPS, or is it a lost cause?

Your best bet is calling the specific store the item is at and asking the manager. I've had generally better outcomes/interactions that way vs. just using the website. But I've never needed them to ship internationally.

 

[Musiscience]

Your best bet is calling the specific store the item is at and asking the manager. I've had generally better outcomes/interactions that way vs. just using the website. But I've never needed them to ship internationally.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot today and see what comes out of it. 3 stores have the same item around the same price, so I might as well triple my chances.

But point taken about the habitual poor packing and lack of returnability outside the country...

 

[Dumple Stilzkin]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot today and see what comes out of it. 3 stores have the same item around the same price, so I might as well triple my chances.

But point taken about the habitual poor packing and lack of returnability outside the country...

Do you know anyone in the states that can play middleman?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I've ordered a stupid amount of stuff off of GC Used, and other than a couple outliers, things were usually packed well enough. YMMV.

 

[budda]

Put up a wtb here and check fb and kijiji canada allll the time.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Let us know how calling the specific stores works out for you.

Out of curiosity, what guitar are you looking at?

 

[TedEH]

^ Ninja'd - Curious what you're looking for that isn't available from L&M or Steves or something.

 

[nightsprinter]

I would say do what Max says. If they say no- dependent upon how bad you really want it- buy it and have it sent to someone else's house you trust in the U.S. and then have them ship it to you. You'll unfortunately have to pay twice for shipping but if your middleman uses Pirate Ship for a label, it might not be too bad.

FWIW If one of you asked me to do something like this, I'd do it because I ship guitars a couple times a week so I'm going to the UPS store for dropoffs anyway.

 

[SalsaWood]

You won't know unless you ask.

I haven't done it with guitar center, but I've reached out to foreign shops to buy from their stock and never been told no. I've bought from South America twice and Thailand. I found the guitar I wanted from browsing foreign sites, shot em an email or a phone call, the rest was business as usual (granted my bank stays out of the way). Worth noting I live in the USA, though.

 

[Musiscience]

Put up a wtb here and check fb and kijiji canada allll the time.

Just did this morning (WTB), and have been checking FB marketplace and Kijiji for weeks without luck.

^ Ninja'd - Curious what you're looking for that isn't available from L&M or Steves or something.

Schecter SLS Elite-5 bass. Been eyeing a bass for a while and narrowed it down to that model.

It's available at "local" stores, but only new at at twice the price. The thing with the used section at GC is that you can find some incredile prices. Even used, things have been stupidly overprice in Can the past 2-3 years.

Do you know anyone in the states that can play middleman?

Unfortunately not. If I can, I'd like to avoid local taxes, which should be easy if they ship int.

 

[budda]

@Musiscience if you are buds with your l&m asst mgr, ask them to keep a lookout.

Kijiji set to Canada, right?

 

[gh0styboi]

Honestly, I don't trust GC to walk a guitar to my car in a hardshell case under armed guard with a CIA detail. There's no way I'd trust them to ship internationally.

 

[Thesius]

There are many companies like reship that can help proxy for you. A little expensive iirc

 

[TedEH]

It's available at "local" stores, but only new at at twice the price.

My first thought is that I feel like I've been through this process of thinking I can get a better deal by buying something internationally because the local prices seem higher for no reason - until you go through the exercise to find that the local price is usually just the same as everyone else's price, plus the exchange rate, plus the shipping and import taxes, etc. already done for you. So while the sticker price is lower, in the end you pay it anyway, but in a more roundabout manner.

 

[Thesius]

My first thought is that I feel like I've been through this process of thinking I can get a better deal by buying something internationally because the local prices seem higher for no reason - until you go through the exercise to find that the local price is usually just the same as everyone else's price, plus the exchange rate, plus the shipping and import taxes, etc. already done for you. So while the sticker price is lower, in the end you pay it anyway, but in a more roundabout manner.

This is why we commit mail fraud and declare lower value

Not that I would ever condone or participate in such an evil act