GamesForCanada.com (GFC) - Friendly Package Forwarding Service for Canada & The World

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GFC is Back in Business! Worldwide Package Forwarding & Item Ordering Services ^_^.

1) Direct Request (DR) Services - The service that started it all, our Direct Request (DR) Service allows you to buy just about anything you want from the USA and have us order it and ship it directly to you. This is perfect for those of you who are unable to buy from USA merchants that will not ship to Canada directly or who do not accept Canadian/International credit cards. We charge $2.00 per item ordered plus shipping. Additional fees apply for items weighing more than 5 pounds shipped or more than $150 USD in value. Our online form will calculate everything for you automatically and there's no obligation to buy anything until you check out with Paypal. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about our services.

2) Package Forwarding (PF) Services, Address & Rates - [PREMIUM SERVICE] If you want to order the items yourself, you can! You can order from any website that ships to the USA. Ship the items to our secure UPS mail box and we will repackage them and ship them to you in Canada (or any other country for that matter). Typical fees apply for this service as usual and you pay only $1.00 per package received at our mail location. Quick, easy and GREAT for limited-time sales when the Direct Request option may not be quick enough. Please note we cannot ship: meat, cigarettes or other nicotine items (including electronic cigarettes and their accessories), alcohol, weapons or gun accessories (including paintball/airsoft), pornographic materials, toxic chemicals (including several cleaning liquids), fertilizer or any items that are illegal to ship internationally. Also, any items containing NI-CD or LI-Ion Batteries can no longer be shipped via USPS (Laptops, cell phones, handheld game systems, etc.) and must be shipped via UPS instead. If you have questions about a particular item, please contact us first before ordering.  You will receive an Email invoice with PDF attachment explaining line-by-line details of all charges and full payment options. GFC PF Service Requires Premium Membership which costs $10.00 a month or $100.00 a year (discount of two free months) and is available in our GFC Store. Full details on website.

3) GYROS Updates - After you have ordered your items, filled out the forms and notified us of your order we will add your items to our GYROS page (generally within a week or less). Once your items have been received, we will invoice you for the shipping costs + our service charge. After receiving your payment, your items will be shipped out to you in a timely manner and you will receive an Email with all relevant shipping information ^_^. If you have any questions feel free to Email us at [email protected] .

Service Charges (Free Members):

GFC Charges $2.00 per item forwarded for standard or "Free" Members. Please note that an item in this case refers to each item within the packages you ship to us. So if you were to order say 2 DVD Movies, an Umbrella and a Towel, this would count as 4 items total. Items that are sold in "Lots" such as multiple baseball cards will be counted as one item, subject to our discretion. Also, UPS Charges me to pick up the packages, so there will be an additional charge of $1.00 per package received. I will add into the invoice for you when I get your iitems in.

For larger orders, an extra $5.00 USD surcharge is added for each 5 pounds your package weighs OR per $150 in value of their total contents (example: a 5 pound package would cost an additional $5.00 USD, a 10 pound package would cost an additional $10.00 USD OR a $150 item (or group of items totaling $150 or more) would have an additional $5.00 USD charged, a $300 group of items would have an additional $10.00 USD charged). Please note that this will be either a weight or cost surcharge and not both, but the greater of the two will be what is charged. An item weighing 14 pounds will still only be $10 added as it didn't yet reach the 15 pound mark. This will be shown on your invoice and will be clearly explained. In the near future, this service charge will be automatically calculated for package forwarding items the way it is currently automatically calculated on our Direct Request 2.0 system.

So Again the things to remember:

1) Ship to the address above
2) Ship all packages in my name (James Parks) and if you want to include your information as a “Gift Message” on the order, you certainly can do that. This is required though to be in my name as the UPS store will only sign for packages in my name and will refuse all others.
3) You MUST fill out the Direct Request (DR) form on the link above to let me know what’s coming
4) Once I receive your DR submission and all your items, I will invoice you for the shipping cost plus service fees.


Service Charges (GFC Premium):

GFC Charges $1.00 per item forwarded. Please note that an item in this case refers to each item within the packages you ship to us. So if you were to order say 2 DVD Movies, an Umbrella and a Towel, this would count as 4 items total. Items that are sold in "Lots" such as multiple baseball cards will be counted as one item, subject to our discretion. Also, UPS Charges me to pick up the packages, so there will be an additional charge of $1.00 per package received. I will add into the invoice for you when I get your iitems in.

For larger orders, an extra $5.00 USD surcharge is added for each 5 pounds your package weighs OR per $150 in value of their total contents (example: a 5 pound package would cost an additional $5.00 USD, a 10 pound package would cost an additional $10.00 USD OR a $150 item (or group of items totaling $150 or more) would have an additional $5.00 USD charged, a $300 group of items would have an additional $10.00 USD charged). Please note that this will be either a weight or cost surcharge and not both, but the greater of the two will be what is charged. An item weighing 14 pounds will still only be $10 added as it didn't yet reach the 15 pound mark. This will be shown on your invoice and will be clearly explained. In the near future, this service charge will be automatically calculated for package forwarding items the way it is currently automatically calculated on our Direct Request system.

So Again the things to remember:

1) Ship to the address above
2) Ship all packages in my name (James Parks) and if you want to include your information as a “Gift Message” on the order, you certainly can do that. This is required though to be in my name as the UPS store will only sign for packages in my name and will refuse all others.
3) You MUST fill out the Direct Request (DR) form on the link above to let me know what’s coming
4) Once I receive your DR submission and all your items, I will invoice you for the shipping cost plus service fees.

Estimated Shipping Costs:

The following are shipping estimates for standards weights. This will give you a pretty good idea of how much it will cost to ship your item to Canada. If you live in another country, feel free to inquire by contacting us directly.

For all items from 0 - 4 pounds we typically use USPS First Class Mail:

$00.00 = 0 Pounds / Digital Items
$09.00 = 6 ounces
$09.00 = 7 ounces
$09.50 = 12 ounces
$11.00 = 1 Pound
$16.50 = 2 Pounds
$22.00 = 3 Pounds
$27.50 = 4 Pounds

For all items from 5 pounds and up we typically use USPS Priority Mail:

$38.00 = 5 Pounds
$40.00 = 6 Pounds
$42.50 = 7 Pounds
$45.00 = 8 Pounds
$47.50 = 9 Pounds
$49.50 = 10 Pounds
$52.00 = 11 Pounds
$54.50 = 12 Pounds
$57.50 = 13 Pounds
$55.00 = 14 Pounds
$62.50 = 15 Pounds
$60.00 = 16 Pounds
$63.00 = 17 Pounds
$70.00 = 18 Pounds
$72.50 = 19 Pounds
$75.00 = 20 Pounds
$77.50 = 21 Pounds
$80.00 = 22 Pounds
$83.00 = 23 Pounds
$85.50 = 24 Pounds
$88.00 = 25 Pounds

For any items over 25 pounds, we'll have to manually invoice you.

On Hold & Unclaimed Merchandise:

GFC allows you to send items to our secure UPS Package Forwarding address (listed above). After you order your items it is your responsibility to properly fill out our Package Forwarding (PF) Form on our website located here: http://www.gamesforcanada.com/package-forwarding.php . Once you do this, we will be notified of the items you have ordered and you will pre-pay the shipping/service charges up front for us to process and re-ship them to you.

The first 30 days are free to hold all Package Forwarding items.This is plenty of time for you to successfully order from the various stores that you want and submit our PF form to notify us. This also allows for adequate time for you to request us to combine items into a single package.

After 30 days, there will be a $5.00 USD charge per ITEM per week (flat rate fee) until the payment has been paid in full. Since you are pre-paying for the item costs, you will be responsible for both shipping to your country, our GFC Service Charges and any processing fees associated with the transaction.

After 90 days, GFC will not be responsible for unclaimed or missing merchandise sent to us at our Package Forwarding address. We suggest that you fully insure all orders sent to our address in case of loss or damage as we will not be responsible for missing or damaged goods.

 
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Goomba can you please help me search for these two games:

Burnout 2: Point of Impact (Xbox)
NBA Street (Xbox) - this is the original, vol 1

I can't find reasonable (CDN) prices for these online.
 
poiuiu, I can definitely order those for you if you like :) I have an account on overstock so that wouldn't be a problem at all. Phorty Ounce, I'll see what I can do. Shouldn't be any problem locating those games :) I'll get back to you ASAP. Thanks!
 
Goomba is awesome. Ordered something off eBay for me and kept me updated throughout the process. He even rewrapped the game and put it in a box so it doesn't get damaged on the way to me. I'll let you guys know when the game gets here, but so far, I am very very impressed with his service. I'm honoured to be his first customer. :cool:
 
Thanks Usuyami, I appreciate the good word of mouth ^_^ Yup, you're officially crowned as the first customer! I have a few others with orders but yours will be going out first :) I expect you should get the game in about a week or so, depending on how long it stays in customs (something I don't have control over unfortunately). Glad to be of service! :)
 
Goomba! Canada's new best friend.

Just wondering if you could possibly order one of these for me? :D

http://www.nyko.com/nyko/products/?i=133#

Nyko Store doesn't seem to want to ship to Canada, and I have no connections in the US.

I'm looking to get a black version (which will be updated onto the site tomorrow; April 23) and if it's not too much trouble for you I wouldn't have any problem footing all the bills and then some!

If it's too much then don't worry about it, but if it's possible that would be great too!

Awesome thing you're doing for us, thanks!
 
Dear Rex,

Correction: You now have a connection in the US :) I can absolutely go ahead and order that for you (granted the black one won't be available until tomorrow like you said). There is almost nothing I cannot order, so just fire away ^_^ Feel free to PM me and I'll get in contact with you for your mailing address, where to send the payment, etc.

You're very welcome :) I can't wait until the site goes live this week. It's exciting for me too!
 
Oh and Rex, just so you know there will only be 300 available for the black ones (I'm sure you already know that) so I'll do my best to make sure that you get one! Anyone else interested in ordering a black wireless Nyko Nunchuk for the Wii? They are EXTREMELY limited edition ^_^ Let me know by tomorrow :)
 
Goomba, you are the American CAG-er of the forever!

Keep in touch and let me know how the Nyko nunchuk goes! A group of friends of mine came over one time and one accidentally took my nunchuk with his other controllers.

I've never gotten it back since and have been waiting for this to come out!

Goomba, are you interested in Ketchup chips? I'll send some down to you haha.
 
One more day until the site goes live for Beta Testers ^_^ I'll be sending information here for you guys tomorrow sometime in the evening. I was wondering if any of you wanted me to order anything for you from the Valve store? I'm putting in a few orders myself. Let me know!

Sincerely,
JJ Parks :)

PS: I'm excited to say the least ^_^
 
Me too Magiic. Let me know if there are any products you'd like to see on the site :) I will be offering certain bonuses and discounts to Beta Testers ;) hint hint.
 
Okay Gamer602 I've added you ^_^ Any products you want me to add to the catalog? So far almost all the games I've added to the site are ones people have requested (for obvious reasons). I'm going to be adding hundreds of items as I go along, but it takes a lot of work with making thumbnails, editing item descriptions, etc. so I'd like to start with games / items you guys are actively requesting :) Thanks!
 
Hey Goomba, can I be a tester for the site also? This is pretty exciting! Can I also be a Platinum Member? :lol:
 
I can already tell this is going to be a very, very, very, very good business model for you, Goomba.

EDIT: I know you are busy, but did you have any luck tracking down Burnout 2 (Xbox) and NBA Street (Xbox)?
 
Actually, anyone can be a beta tester ^_^ It's just that the site won't have a TON of items when it first opens so I won't be heavily advertising it or anything. And I want you guys to let me know what you think of the layout, the overall look, checkout, etc. It's my first time putting together a complete e-commerce/shopping type site so it's been a ton of work (I enjoy that sort of thing though after all).

Phorty, I haven't found Burnout 2 or NBA Street for you yet but I promise I will =) Give me a couple more days to keep looking. Like you've said I've been ultra, ultra busy ^_^ I promise I'll try though!
 
I'd be down for beta also. The amazon.com Deal of the Day is sometimes too nice to pass up, but I have no US address.
 
The Beta officially starts NOW! Keep in mind this is a Beta meaning the entire site is not finished (actually it's almost there but there aren't that many products up yet). The key is to remember that most services you can simply request items directly from me (feel free to use the CONTACT US link on the website that way my CAG box doesn't fill up instantly).

Also, I'll be offering bonuses to anyone who orders from me during this Beta period ^_^

Here's the site:

http://www.gamesforcanada.com

I will be adding a ton of games, accessories and more detailed pages each and every day from now until infinity, and remember if you have a game, system, book, cd, anything really that you want on: Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, Gamestop, eBay, etc. etc. contact me directly and I can get it to you for actual cost of item + actual shipping costs + $2 service fee ^_^ Thanks guys! Please let me know what you think of the site. I'm going to open an official forum post on CAG after one week of the Beta. Thanks!

PS: Anyone that wants a $1.50 off their order can use the coupon code:

PAYPALBASIC

when checking out. This is essentially me passing the savings of you using Paypal to Paypal payment (no fee) on to you. I'm not allowed to actually charge you more for using Paypal checkout as that breaks the rules, so instead I can reward you for using the alternative service. If you use that coupon code though, you have to select "CHECK/MONEY ORDER" as your checkout type and contact me to let me know you're going to use Paypal to send to my Personal account. If you use the coupon and then check out with Paypal on the website I will have to cancel that particular order. Make sense? Thanks guys!
 
PS: The artwork on the top is NOT final. It's just a placeholder. I will be using the game controller with the Canadian flag as my logo, but not with that background ^_^ just so you know. I don't want to hold up the beta for two weeks while I do graphics changes though.

Also, if you come across any games without pictures just keep in mind that I will often add games first (text only and price) and then go back and add the descriptions/images. I am doing custom thumbs for each game in Photoshop as well as medium/large versions which takes time. Some games it's easy, some it's not. Thanks!
 
just got off work, going to check it out in a bit and give my impressions

Edit: logo could use some work like azumanga said
bargin is supposed to be "bargain"
i really like your slogan, staying true to us Canadians :applause:
 
From a design standpoint, I think you should make all of the options on the top of the page fit on one line and possibly create a graphic bar of those options (toolbar) instead of having the options on two lines. You know what I mean? Kind of hard to explain.
 
Looking good so far!
From a design standpoint, I guess you should just spice it up a little. The logo looks pretty cheap.
I'll be in contact with you when I get money :D
And a sign up link is needed :p
 
Looking good so far. Just two things to report.

  • Some parts of the layout are duplicated, such Search (placed top right and in both sidebars) and Categories (horizontal list on the top, vertical list on the left sidebar). Might want to clean that up a bit.
  • After reading the text on the frontpage, and the bit about signing up, I couldn't actually find a link to sign up. I seen a few links for logging in, but as a new user I wouldn't have known this same page would direct to the sign up form as well (even if that's convention for some sites). Might want to put a prominent button somewhere on the front page that says "Sign up" or something to that effect.
 
Are the prices in CDN or USD?
Test Orders for Videogamesplus vs. Goomba

Video Games Plus:
Rondo of Swords $34.99
Persona 3: FES $34.99
Total: (shipping, tax, etc):
$84.07

GOOMBA:
Rondo of Swords: $29.99
Persona 3:FES $29.99
TOTAL: $68.97

Throw in a 13% tax and $5.00 more if its shipping from the US (assuming its tagged by customs)
TOTAL: $82.93
IN CDN: $84.12

So, videogamesplus is cheaper.
Not saying that GOOMBA won't have much better prices, but just so you guys don't forget about customs.
 
you don't need three search boxes

otherwise it looks fantastic!!! I'm going to order Chaos Wars from you...

and to Azumangaman, if Goomba marks the games as gifts, shouldn't be a problem with customs.
 
[quote name='jeffx']
and to Azumangaman, if Goomba marks the games as gifts, shouldn't be a problem with customs.[/quote]
Yeah, if he does that, the deals will be incredible.
 
[quote name='Azumangaman']Yeah, if he does that, the deals will be incredible.[/quote]

This is Goomba we're talking about here!

And the site was functional for me. It can look like whatever you want it too, just as long as you're giving the Canadians a helping hand with US deals! And who knows, maybe people like their search bar on one side as opposed to another, you're just catering to both haha.

I signed up for an account, site is looking good so far and I can't wait to contribute!
 
Signed up, site looks fine to me. I'm not as picky as most but the main point here is to save money, not look at pretty pictures. I'd be completely fine with all text as long as the site remains easy to use and navigate. Just my $0.02 CAD though.
 
Wow, you guys gave me a TON of feedback. I love it :) That's exactly why I wanted to have a "Beta test" period before putting it live. Let me address a few of the things you brought up:

1) I'm using an open source shopping engine called ZenCart. It's totally customizeable, but I'm a bit new to the program. I'll get it looking prettier, don't worry :) I'm all about custom logos, and spicing it up. For now, like a few of you said, my main goal is just to make sure the site works and that it loads properly and then I can work on it from there.

2) The shipping (at the moment) is entirely weight based and is based on the actual weights of the items. For instance the games are listed as .4 pounds (4 ounces) and the Weighted Companion Cube (it even has "weighted" in its name after all) weighs a little more than a pound....

At the moment the shipping costs also include: My $2 service charge I'm asking as well as Paypal Fees. The reason I'm using the coupon code at the moment is to see how many people would be willing to send money to my Personal Paypal account rather than my business one as that would save me a lot.

My goal isn't to make a ton of money on each product, but rather to make a few bucks on each transaction and become popular enough to make money through a number of orders.

3) The duplication of the search areas was intentional, but if you guys think it's overkill then by all means I'll have only one. Don't want to over do it. Same goes for the sections...they automatically have the sections as a vertical spread on top and on the sidebar. I can play around with that :)

4) I like that you guys pointed out there is nowhere that specifically says "Sign up". That's a good point. I'm not sure why the default just says "Log in" or whatever. I'm going to have to fix that as well ^_^

5) I will definitely list them as Gifts so don't worry. That's how I always have done it on eBay and I don't see any reason not to. Besides, I was told that under $50 you didn't need to pay customs on things anyway. Is that not true? Fill me in!

Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me!

Just remember guys, I really am doing this as a service for you so give me some time to get the kinks out. I will make it worth your while. As always, you can contact me via CAG and can arrange me to just buy items for you directly. So far about 10 of you have done so and all the items have been ordered, just so you know.

Sincerely,
JJ Parks :)
 
Nitpicky, but probably best to keep Canada as the default country for signing up =P

Navigation-wise, I think the first page should be less about informing what you do and more about updates. Maybe not now, but later. Have a separate About Us page or something that explains exactly what it is you do.
 
Oh and about Canadian Dollars, I can definitely do the site in multiple currencies, that's not an issue at all. It's stupid of me to list in US dollars I suppose ^_^ didn't even think about that. Shows how something so simple can be overlooked when you're new to something like this. I'll work on everything you guys brought up. Don't be afraid to bring up more issues you have, I'll look into each and every one!
 
Updates:

I've gone ahead and changed a few things that you guys pointed out.

1) There is now only ONE search bar (sorry about that)
2) All prices default to Canadian dollars now with the option of viewing prices in US Dollars, Euros, British Pounds, etc.
3) I am now focusing on getting all the items listed as text only and then will be adding in pictures later on.
4) I fixed some of the misspelled words that you pointed out (can't believe I typed BARGIN...that's what I get for doing the updates on my iPhone on the bus lol).

What I'm working on now that should be fixed in the next hour:

1) Updating the shipping options so that items like the Weighted Companion Cube don't totally throw off the shipping amount.
2) Removing (temporarily until I figure out what I'm going to do about it) the option of paying with Paypal and keeping the only option Money Order (though of course you can checkout and then contact me on there or on CAG to let me know you want to pay by Paypal). Again, this is because for me toa ccept payments on my business account, especially from Canada where there's also a cross-border fee, I'd be paying about 5% per transaction. That totally would negate any of the savings I'd be giving you guys, so I have to figure out something ^_^
3) I'm going to make the opening text with a VERY clear signup button =P darn templates.

I'll be sure to keep you posted. Please keep your suggestions coming!
 
Thanks for the favourite (I have to get used to seeing that word written with an "ou" now haha). I took your suggestion also and changed my original message to have a link. The idea I originally had was that once I get the site to where everyone is happy with it, I'll repost a new link in the regional / Canada section with all the details of the site. Thanks again ^_^ Keep the ideas coming, you guys are awesome!
 
I think the British do spell words like "color" as "colour" so it very well could be that we Americans are just picky and stubborn. Or it could be something that came from French also, I'm not entirely sure.

As far as Paypal goes, do you guys think it'd be fair just to up the prices of the items 3% from the get-go and then just have the option to pay by Paypal directly on the site? That seems fair enough to me. Let me know what you think. Many games would still be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than in Canada or via typical shipping on most websites.

Also, what do you guys think about Pre-Played/Used games. Should I list them seperately as many websites do? So that there'd be one price for a new game and one price for a used game? Let me know ^_^ I think that'd work rather well but I don't want to clog up my catalog if people don't want to have it that way. Thanks again!

I'm going to bed in half an hour and I'll work a ton tomorrow as I don't work (finally a day off! my first in almost two weeks...yikes).
 
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