Where to buy from (Canada)

Hi,
I just started looking into Arduino and I'm really interested in playing around with it. I looked at the different shops listed on the arduino buy page and from those located in Canada, only 2 offered "starter kits" (creatron inc and robotshop) But the kits they sell don't have lots of stuff and I want to start with a huge starter kit (like MakerShed's starter kit)
I'd buy the makershed's kit if it wasn't for the ridiculously high border fees.

Any good alternative from shops located in Canada? Or maybe it would be better to only buy the parts included in makershed's kit but seperately?

Thank you

Border fees aren't really as bad as you'd think - you'll generally pay GST & PST only. If it's shipped by Canada Post you'll have maybe a $5 brokerage fee. UPS doesn't charge extra and FedEx will wave their ridiculous fee it you clear the package yourself.

I don't think I've ordered from makershed so I don't know how they would ship. The starter kit looks like fun. Somebody did a review of starter kits on this site - you might look for that.

If you do go the bits-and-pieces route, digikey.ca is a really good deal. Prices are good and there's a flat $8 shipping under $100, free over that.

I like robotshop by the way and creatron is fun because they have a retail shop in Toronto.

Where are you in Canada.

I believe Fundamental Logic is based in Canada, but they don't have a major starter kit. They do have relatively cheap components that you could bit and piece together like someone else said.

I would like to second the digikey suggestion as well.

Check out: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_list.asp?CatID=90&SubCatID=312

I've bought from them a couple of times and have had good service and their prices are good.

Lefty

Thanks for the reply. I live in Montreal (no creatron shop for me! ) I checked shipping rates from MakerShed and they are 30$ from USPS (so it'll have border fees) and 60$ for FedEx.

I looked at fundamental logic and it didn't look like it had a lot of stuff. Maybe it's because they don't have everything for sale online. As for Digikey, I couldn't find anything about arduino and their online order form is.. well.. non-existing (enter part number and quantity? too old school for me)

I think I might go with hvwtech (found them after googling for "Arduino Canada Buy Online" or something like this) They have the Arduino experimentater's kit and they also sell tools that I will need to work with small electronics.

edit : thanks for the reply retrolefty, I hadn't seen your answer when I posted :stuck_out_tongue:

Digikey is like a wholesale vendor, you can buy in non-bulk, but it really works like a bulk seller.

You can search for an item by keywords in the search bar, narrow down by category, specs, etc. When you find it, you add a certain amount to your order. You can get some great deals if you know what you want, and even better deals if you buy more than 10-25 (bulk rate pricing is shown on the side).

HVWTech is sort of the non-BEAM part of Solarbotics. Good people with a good reputation, in business for quite a while, and one of the companies that went off and did their own Freeduino design (in addition to selling real Arduinos now), so they're pretty knowledgeable rather than being just a reseller...

solarbotics has a kit:

http://www.solarbotics.com/products/ardx/

I bought some stuff from them recently (shipped to Denmark -really!!)
I can recomend them.

Re: Where to buy from (Canada)
Reply #7 - Today at 02:11:52 solarbotics has a kit:

http://www.solarbotics.com/products/ardx/

I bought some stuff from them recently (shipped to Denmark -really!!)
I can recomend them.

That's pretty nice looking. I didn't know they were in Calgary.

Khao,

Try robotshop.ca they have a varied selection from a number of vendors as completed units or kits. They are located in Quebec and offer local pick-up (86 Boul. des Enterprises #108, Boisbriand, Quebec). I have purchased parts from them and had them shipped via Canada Post at a reasonable cost.

TJMCK