Canadian Shops?

[gzb10]

Hello from Canada! Just signed on as a new member; I hesitated for some time but when I noticed that some of you write with fountain pens as well, I knew I had found my brethren.

So here's the deal. Years ago I experimented with both a Wilkinson DE and a Shick DE (butterfly head), neither gave me a good shave so I drifted towards disposables and even (yikes!) electric razors. The magic was lost. I'd like to get back to the safety razors like in days of yore. It looks like Merkur is THE razor nowadays. Are any of you familiar with Canadian on-line stores that sell these products; I certainly haven't found any. I cringe at the thought of paying in U.S. dollars and then getting dinged with Customs as well. Any thoughts?

Have a great weekend!

[gage0921]

www.menessentials.com

[cwspen]

I'll ellaborate on that a bit.

www.menessentials.com lists price in USD but ships from Quebec to Canadian addresses. You'll pay 7% GST + PST if you're in Quebec. But you won't get smacked crossing the border.

There's also a www.menessentials.ca site. They list prices in CAD, and ship from Quebec too. However, with the current exchange rate it's cheaper to buy from the .com site and pay in USD.

[gzb10]

Gentlemen, I've wipped out my credit card and I'm going shopping!!!!

Thanks a lot!

Gideon

[Hephaestus]

Crabtree & Evelyn have stores in Canada. If you do not have one close, they will mail to you. I have been happy with C&E products, and feel that they generally represent good value.

You can see a listing of their Canadian stores here:
http://www.crabtree-evelyn.com/Stores/nonus.asp

-Ryan

[vox_rox]

I'll ellaborate on that a bit.

www.menessentials.com lists price in USD but ships from Quebec to Canadian addresses. You'll pay 7% GST + PST if you're in Quebec. But you won't get smacked crossing the border.

There's also a www.menessentials.ca site. They list prices in CAD, and ship from Quebec too. However, with the current exchange rate it's cheaper to buy from the .com site and pay in USD.

Fantastic information! I've been lurking on this board for about a week now, basically to get some info on which DE to jump into to start. After reading pretty much everything (thanks Kyle and everyone else who has such sound reasoning!), I decided to start with a Merkur HD. Then, of course, I needed to actually acquire one.

I had pretty much the same question as the original poster, and then this info about mensessentials.ca comes up.

Get this: I ordered a Merkur HD ($35 US) and 10 Merkur Blades ($5 US), and the whole order with tax, shipping, etc. came to $48.75 US. The conversion at the time of purchase brought this to $53.95 CDN.

Then, I went to the Canadian site and entered the EXACT SAME order, and it came to $63.59 CDN. Almost $10 CDN more.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, I'll keep you posted on how the new wet shave world works out for me.

Thanks again everyone, what a great resource this is.

Peace,

Pierre

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There is no such thing as strong coffee, only weak people.
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[Kyle]

Pierre,

Welcome to B&B. Congrats on your first wet shaving order!

[vox_rox]

Welcome to B&B. Congrats on your first wet shaving order!


Hey Kyle,

Thanks, but I fear it wont be my last. I saw members talking about their RAD problems, and just thought that it wouldn't happen to me. So here I am, having just placed an order, and I already want more.

I still think the Futur looks so cool, I'm sure I'll own one. I'll put it right beside the Progress that I suspect will work better but look not as good. Maybe I'll put one of those super-sexy Parker Model 84 razor's in the en suite so that I don't have to run from one bathroom to the other for shave gear. Maybe a matching brush for each one, maybe a SuperSpeed for my travel bag, and I'll.........

See, I'm afraid, and I HAVEN'T even shaved once with a DE yet.

Still, baby steps. The HD is on the way, with the Merkur blades, I'm crossing my fingers, thinking good thoughts, and armed with all the info from this place, I'm on my way.

Peace,

Pierre

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There is no such thing as strong coffee, only weak people.
---

[Kyle]

Hey Kyle,

Thanks, but I fear it wont be my last. I saw members talking about their RAD problems, and just thought that it wouldn't happen to me. So here I am, having just placed an order, and I already want more.

I still think the Futur looks so cool, I'm sure I'll own one. I'll put it right beside the Progress that I suspect will work better but look not as good. Maybe I'll put one of those super-sexy Parker Model 84 razor's in the en suite so that I don't have to run from one bathroom to the other for shave gear. Maybe a matching brush for each one, maybe a SuperSpeed for my travel bag, and I'll.........

See, I'm afraid, and I HAVEN'T even shaved once with a DE yet.

Still, baby steps. The HD is on the way, with the Merkur blades, I'm crossing my fingers, thinking good thoughts, and armed with all the info from this place, I'm on my way.

Peace,

Pierre

---
There is no such thing as strong coffee, only weak people.
---

Oh, believe me when I say that I feel your pain. Check out this thread (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1835) for some excellent advice from KUJO on how to keep a handle on the "disorders".