Ordering Out of Country?

duffy

Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
531
Location
Eastern WA.
I see members and just people in general on sites from all over the world seeming to be buying, selling and trading items and wondered about any problems with sending and getting stuff out of the country. The reason I bring this up is that I was trying to get a thermostat for an older refrigerator and all of the places I checked showed it discontinued except for a place in Canada. The place called Reliable Parts has stores in the US and Canada and the canadian store showed 9 of the part I needed. I tried to call and my call wouldn't go through so I tried to order online and it switched me to the US store. I called the US store and told the nice lady what was going on and asked if THEY could get the part from Their Canadian store and she told me No. Because of Homeland Security they cannot ship parts between stores out of the country. I told her that was the dumbest thing I ever heard of and she agreed. I also sort of wonder if the EPA has something to do with it as they seem to want to destroy everything old and functioning that we have so we can buy new and fill up the landfills. We can let thousands of immigrants in but I can't get a part for my beer fridge.  Sort of sounds like a new Iron Curtain.
 

Kdog

Moderator
Joined
Apr 26, 2013
Messages
1,808
Location
SW Ohio
Sadly, DIY is a thing of the past. 

We are living in the entitlement age. No one wants to fix anything, throw it away and get a new one. If you are lucky, your town still has a mom and pop hardware store. I no longer have as the last one closed in December. Big box stores sell parts yeah, right.  They order them if they are available, cannot tell you anything about your repair project and maybe you get the right part.

LOcally, I have 2 sources one is a used parts place where you can get almost any appliance part as well as instruction on how to fix the item and often, he has one somewhere that is already dis assembled so you can see what you are facing.  The other is an appliance sales and service company and they have a lot of parts in stock and even alternate parts that work and are willing to tell you how difficult the project is gonna be.

 I get a lot of parts from China and although I hate to admit it, the parts are usually OK and most of the time I get them 7-10 days. Canada is a bit different and not usually a savings, takes a bit longer to get but they come thru and the parts work.

I did find a site where most appliance parts are available. Reasonable prices shipping and delivery, only problem is if its out of stock, they may not get anymore.
The site http://www.repairclinic.com/ also has a number of online manuals and exploded diagrams to assist you with finding the part
 

hookup

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
2,698
Location
VA
I've gotten parts from Canada, but have to pay huge taxes on the parts.

I've gotten stuff from China cheap - and quality. Have to wait a bit, but well worth the price.

I've gotten stuff from Japan too - very high quality, high price, quick delivery buy you pay for postage.

We're such a global society now, that just about everywhere's in reach through the USPO, UPS, or FedEx
 

Fin and Fur

New member
Joined
Jan 15, 2016
Messages
349
Location
Redmond, OR
I'm a diesel mechanic so I can't help you with refrigerator parts. Thought I'd give my two cents though. If you have something old it's repairable. If you have the new crap it was junk to begin with. I am seeing things change toward what I call "planned obsolescence." It seems like they make parts that are destined for failure. And they're not just wearable parts but large components. You can find a replacement but sometimes the cost is so outrageous it's not even worth repairing. They would rather you scrap it and go buy new is my theory.
 

duffy

Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
531
Location
Eastern WA.
Kdog, repair clinic shows the part but it's NA but thanks for the link, I'll keep it for other things. That's what I'm talking about guys. I repair anything and everything I can. I worked with two old auto mechanics and that's what we did, we fixed parts not just replaced them. We would take apart switches, clean them up and put them back into service unless they were totally burned up. Full service shop bumper to bumper we rebuilt everything except toasted electronics! What I'm saying is that I cannot even Contact this place to order the part! No email that will work, no phone# that works nada. It's like I want to order a nuclear reactor from iran, although that would probably be easier. The part is $47 in canada, there's one on ebay that I think is used and they want $80. It just doesn't make sense. I've gotten farm machine parts from Canada before but this is just like you cannot get it. There are universal switches that may work and I might have to go that route if I cant make this one work, but with our "global economy" I just thought it was really strange that I couldn't just order it from them.
 

Hawnjigs

KISS
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
4,226
Location
Ogallala, NE
No more ordering fishing gear on eBay shipped from China for me. Liked the price of some crosscut rabbit so ordered 5 colors from a vendor with the fewest negatives. 2 months later only 2 colors arrived so opened a case for a refund of the missing 3. Long story short, seller refunded me LESS than the price of a single color and eBay closed the case. Figgered I could at least leave a negative on the seller but nope, too late to post feedback.
 

Bucho

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
919
Location
Kiel, Germany
My long-time one-stop jig craft supplier Barlows fishing has given up figuering out what the EU wants from them with respect to new VAT bureaucracy. No more shipping to EU until further notice. Luckily, I have a friend spending a few months in Florida who promised me to forward some strategic supplies s.a. wire forms, Pro Tec powder paint and such.

In the long run however, I will have to resort to custom mold making and Chinese sources for beads, swivels etc. - simply because they are better at dealing with EU bureaucracy. I have turned to Alibaba more than once, and have to admit it works fine. The bucktail teasers for instance are a friction of the price I paid at U.S. ebayers - and probably of the same origin.

I too had issues with a chinese ebayer selling fluorescent "bucktail" teasers that turned out dull synthetic. I complained straight away, agreed on 50percent refund but endet up with the whole amount refundet, no props. The Chinese are not overly accurate with their product description in general, but once you have learned to anticipate certain differences in their general attitude and rely on the trading platforms mechanisms, you can get used to it. Speaking of which, I believe Ali express is much better than e-bay in this regard. They know their countrymen.

Much of what they offer is over-capacity of branded products which means excact same quality at much lower price. Why not cut out a few distribution levels?
 

hookup

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
2,698
Location
VA
I stoped buying anything directly from China on eBay or Amazon. Never get what's advertised and to go through the issues to return just isn't worth the hassle. Never tried Ali
 
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