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All you Canadians...does anyone deal with a supplier up here for stuff like pre-wired distributors, photo-etched parts, wheels and tires and factory color paints? If you do, please post the name of the supplier and/or a link to their website.

Thanks in advance, Greg.

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I used to carry aftermarket parts five years ago but the sales in Canada were so poor that I stopped. I had several well known lines of detail parts but Canadians preferred to buy in the U.S., preferred to pay in U.S. dollars and pay extra shipping and take a chance on customs. My pricing was more than competitive. I stopped importing parts and closed my website. 

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Been searching myself for on-line stores based in Canada for aftermarket items too, but they seem to be a unicorn.

99% of the aftermarket vendors are American and I get the impression that there is not enough margin in the products to offer competitive discounts to Canadian sellers to offset the cost of importing the goods.  Howard's post is a refreshing perspective and confirms my observations.

Had contemplated opening my own on-line store last year before Hobbico closed down Revell.  Would have had to been a high volume seller right out of the box to qualify for preferred dealer pricing, or offer free shipping (expensive in Canada) to potential customer in order to compete with sellers based in the USA.  Could not see enough profit in it  to justify the cost of start up.

The only two active on-line stores that I am aware of based in Canada are:

https://www.clearlyscale.com/

-Sells in USD only.  

-Sells mainly resin products

-Recently read that the owner/operator is having health issues that may affect deliveries.  Personally not confirmed this.

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/maple-leaf-modelworks

-3D printed products

 

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Paul Meadows of Paints, Models and More out of Alberta has what you may need. He is the Canadian dealer for Zero paints, along with Top Studio, Studio27, Plamoz,  Model Factory Hiro, Hobby Design, C1, Beemax, Belkits and much more. Just email him and he will send you a spreadsheet of everything he has. 

1-403-669-6270

 info@paintsmodelsandmore.com

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Elm City Hobbies does mail order of basic stuff, though the online catalogue indicates many things are sold out. Not sure if the web site just needs updating, or what. https://www.elmcityhobbies.com/shop/index.php

And then there is Udisco in Montreal, but they are on a downward slide the last few years. I've never ordered from them but been to the store a couple of times. Stock of some supplies will be limited. https://www.udisco.com/

Edited by Bainford
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I order stuff from Great Hobbies and sunward hobbies to bad Model Express closed up I use to buy from him. And there a few canadians that sell but its all american funds. Keith Marks for decals woopie Kat decals and clearly scale I would not buy from him heard that some guys got stuff from him and missing parts. I know he has heath issues and last year but what about the other years that he was in business. So I stay away from guys that sell in canada but just ask american money to me that is so wrong that is my 2 cents just take how you like.

 

John Pol

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17 minutes ago, John Pol said:

I order stuff from Great Hobbies and sunward hobbies to bad Model Express closed up I use to buy from him. And there a few canadians that sell but its all american funds. Keith Marks for decals woopie Kat decals and clearly scale I would not buy from him heard that some guys got stuff from him and missing parts. I know he has heath issues and last year but what about the other years that he was in business. So I stay away from guys that sell in canada but just ask american money to me that is so wrong that is my 2 cents just take how you like.

 

John Pol

Until Recently there haven't been any issues with Clearly Scale.... it is the best quality resin that i've ever used. Jeremy has only owned Clearly Scale for like 3 years........ I have probably over $1000 worth of his product from the start up until last Christmas , and not once did I ever have an issue. 

The thing about it is.... the US guys buy more and its easier to just sell in USD, its that simple.

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On ‎2019‎-‎01‎-‎22 at 9:27 PM, Howard Cohen said:

...sales in Canada were so poor that I stopped. I had several well known lines of detail parts but Canadians preferred to buy in the U.S., preferred to pay in U.S. dollars and pay extra shipping and take a chance on customs. My pricing was more than competitive. I stopped importing parts and closed my website. 

After hearing you paste everyone here north of the medicine line as foolish buffoons wanting to pay more for everything, I doubt you'd have my business either  <_< 

It could be there's a teensy possibility that modellers will order from businesses promoted on the sites they haunt the most and if there doesn't appear to be a somewhat local source that's publicized, it will most likely be overlooked. Just curious where you advertised and under what name...

 

mike 

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I do.

Carry both Parts By Parks and Detail Master pre wired distributors.

Pegasus Wheels (when I can get them as they are slow as molasses going up hill in January restocking)

Photoetch not so much, but I can order it. Mostly Detail master, as my suppliers have gotten out of Model Car Garage

Factory color paints, I use Scale Finishes. Keep some in stock, but they are slow movers, with thousands of colors, hard to stock what everyone wants/needs. But I do orders to him about every 3 months, and will bring in whatever colors you want.

 

https://www.elmcityhobbies.com/shop/

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot of product in the shop. I go with the notion that if it has been ordered into the shop at one time, I leave the item on the website, so if someone wants to order it, they can just refer to that item, and I can order it in. Just because it says "out of stock" just means that it isn't in the shop, but can usually order it. As per the notice right at the top of the home page in red and yellow:

Remember, if you see an item out of stock, or don't see the item you are looking for, just ask, most times I am able to specially order it in for you!

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Thanks for contributing to the discussion Scott.

The hobby is virtually nonexistent and poorly supported in my region. The nearest hobby store supporting non-military or non-gaming items is roughly an hours drive. Difficult to access with kids and full time employment.

 I appreciate your offerings and continued support for the Canadian market.

Keep up the good work ?

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Thanks for this thread. I typically buy stuff at PM hobby in Calgary (3+ hours drive away, so I get there rarely). There hasn't been much in the way of aftermarket stuff available there, other than maybe the AMT parts packs, sometimes a few pegasus wheels, bare metal foil if you're lucky.

Glad to learn about Elm City Hobbies!

I recently received some custom decals from WhoopieKat and I'm happy with them. All transactions are in US dollars, probably because the bulk of customers are American.  http://www.whoopiekatdecals.com/

 

 

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23 hours ago, Scott - Elm City Hobbies said:

I do.

Carry both Parts By Parks and Detail Master pre wired distributors.

Pegasus Wheels (when I can get them as they are slow as molasses going up hill in January restocking)

Photoetch not so much, but I can order it. Mostly Detail master, as my suppliers have gotten out of Model Car Garage

Factory color paints, I use Scale Finishes. Keep some in stock, but they are slow movers, with thousands of colors, hard to stock what everyone wants/needs. But I do orders to him about every 3 months, and will bring in whatever colors you want.

 

https://www.elmcityhobbies.com/shop/

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot of product in the shop. I go with the notion that if it has been ordered into the shop at one time, I leave the item on the website, so if someone wants to order it, they can just refer to that item, and I can order it in. Just because it says "out of stock" just means that it isn't in the shop, but can usually order it. As per the notice right at the top of the home page in red and yellow:

Remember, if you see an item out of stock, or don't see the item you are looking for, just ask, most times I am able to specially order it in for you!

I've ordered probably 5 or 6 times from Elm City. Great to deal with and ships pretty fast. :)

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On 1/26/2019 at 4:43 PM, Scott - Elm City Hobbies said:

I do.

Carry both Parts By Parks and Detail Master pre wired distributors.

Pegasus Wheels (when I can get them as they are slow as molasses going up hill in January restocking)

Photoetch not so much, but I can order it. Mostly Detail master, as my suppliers have gotten out of Model Car Garage

Factory color paints, I use Scale Finishes. Keep some in stock, but they are slow movers, with thousands of colors, hard to stock what everyone wants/needs. But I do orders to him about every 3 months, and will bring in whatever colors you want.

 

https://www.elmcityhobbies.com/shop/

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot of product in the shop. I go with the notion that if it has been ordered into the shop at one time, I leave the item on the website, so if someone wants to order it, they can just refer to that item, and I can order it in. Just because it says "out of stock" just means that it isn't in the shop, but can usually order it. As per the notice right at the top of the home page in red and yellow:

Remember, if you see an item out of stock, or don't see the item you are looking for, just ask, most times I am able to specially order it in for you!

Scott, sent you a PM

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