Koi Blog

Almost every week, I am contacted by one of our Canadian neighbors who is looking to purchase my products. The Canadian market would be a wonderful market to tap into. Many of the products that I offer are not readily available there and the hobbyists are at wits end trying to save their sick fish. However, although I am eager to help where I can, there are some major obstacles that prevent me doing so in a timely fashion. Although in most cases I can ship the product the same day as I receive the order, I have no control of what happens once the package leaves my business.

All packages, whether sent UPS or via U S Postal Service wind up going through customs. The average time a package spends in the hands of customs is about 7 days. If the customs service decides to let it continue on to the customer, valuable time has passed. In many cases, the fish has taken a turn for the worse or has died by the time the customer receives the medication. The customer is also charged a customs fee that they are required to pay upon arrival. All of this causes the customer to have a bad experience.

I have the names and phone numbers of two Canadian suppliers that I gladly share with folks who are in a terrible hurry to save their fish but the suppliers can't get certain medications legally in Canada.

So my point here is that although I am able to ship to Canada, the long time between ordering and delivery makes it an unpleasant experience if your fish are sick. Ordering to have on hand just in case is the way to go, in my opinion.