Pat's Easy Change System and Canada

[SylvainG]

Anybody bought Pat's Easy Change System in Canada? Tried to buy and said it was not possible to send to my address. Amazon Canada price is way too high

 

[pmsmechanic]

Ask around. I have in the past had goods shipped to my closest border crossing about 1.5 hours away. I used to make regular trips but now have most goods shipped to Canada as it's less hassle. There are also brokers that will import goods. They aren't free though.

 

[SylvainG]

Yeah, I've used myusaddress.com in the past but the pandemic has put a hold on that. Not sure if they are open for in place pick up yet.

 

[houska]

Amazon.ca price jumps around. You can monitor it at https://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/product/B00U00AUNW

That's what I did, and bought it this summer when it jumped down to C$281 (+shipping), which was tolerable, if still more than U$ price converted to C$. Of course may not return to that specific $ amount given inflation, but if you can wait a bit you can see when price dips a bit.

Great product! I love mine.

As I side note, I used to get all sorts of stuff shipped to myusaddress.com in Ogdensburg, and pick it up every month or two there. That's been impossible due to the pandemic, and only made sense for me since pre-pandemic, I was driving to meetings in upper New York State every so often (I'm a hobbyist on my tractor, my income comes from other work). It's frustrating to pay more up here, but I'm resigned to it since making a special trip to pick up things in the U.S. costs time.

 

[PEJ5]

Anybody bought Pat's Easy Change System in Canada? Tried to buy and said it was not possible to send to my address. Amazon Canada price is way too high

I am interested, but not until they sign up a Canadian distributor/reseller and bulk ship product across the border. Until then, just too pricey.

 

[apps]

Anybody bought Pat's Easy Change System in Canada? Tried to buy and said it was not possible to send to my address. Amazon Canada price is way too high

Just saw this on sale at Princess Auto, free shipping.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/cat-1-and-2-fast-change-hitch-system/product/PA0008523995

 

[houska]

Just saw this on sale at Princess Auto, free shipping.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/cat-1-and-2-fast-change-hitch-system/product/PA0008523995

Good find.

I prefer to buy the original inventor's stuff rather than knockoffs, but at a certain point you do what you gotta do to get what you need at a reasonable price point. The amazon.ca price of the original is quite outlandish now; it was much more reasonable 6 months ago.

I'd suggest shopping for it in person, if possible, to check it's built well. I've seen a friend's knockoff (not sure of mfr) where the build quality was rather poor. In particular one of the "teeth" that come in and out was sticky, so you had to fiddle with it every time. And it had come to him with one of the adjustment screws damaged (easy to replace, but still). Since this is a convenience tool, I'd pay +$50 to $100 to avoid poor build quality and reward the inventor, but admittedly not the +$200 today's market conditions require to do so if you're Canadian!

Editing to add: I guess on the Princess Auto version, you engage and disengage the spring-loaded(?) "teeth" by turning the little "snorkels" on top? I'd want to make sure that's working well and yet also not too loose. Pat's original version has a pretty elaborate locking lever there, and -- from the picture alone -- I'd worry about about the Princess Auto one jiggling loose if your 3ph implement is something that jiggles a lot. But maybe it's good.

 

[mrmikey]

Amazon Canada price is way too high

It's that way on everything, if it was the exchange rate plus maybe a bit more for shipping I wouldn't mind but the price difference for most anything in Canada is an out and out ripoff. Why....I have no idea nor has anyone been able to explain it to me...........Mike

 

[houska]

It's that way on everything, if it was the exchange rate plus maybe a bit more for shipping I wouldn't mind but the price difference for most anything in Canada is an out and out ripoff. Why....I have no idea nor has anyone been able to explain it to me...........Mike

Lots of stuff is more expensive (there are some genuinely higher supply chain costs, plus lower competition, plus vendors can just get away with it since Canadians expect it).

But lumber, for instance, tends to be less expensive up here, due to U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber. Ditto some attachments made up here in Canada. For instance list price on a Wallenstein FX85 skidding winch is U$5590 in the US, and C$5790=U$4625 up here in Canada.

 

[mrmikey]

..plus vendors can just get away with it since Canadians expect it)

Sad but I do believe that is correct a lot of the times, we're so complacent and used to getting ripped off we've come to accept it as normal........Mike