4-7
Days to Canada
200+
US stores covered
$14.99
Forward fee
60
Days free storage
The Canada playbook in eight guides
Selectido publishes a deep guide for every major reason a Canadian customer crosses the border. Start with the flagship playbook, dive into the store-by-store breakdowns, or jump to the editorial roundup of every US-only product Canada actually wants.
Flagship Playbook
The complete US-to-Canada shopping playbook
The complete US-to-Canada shopping playbook — stores, customs, carriers, and the full cross-border strategy in one read.
Read the playbook →
Target
Shop Target US from Canada
Target left Canada in 2015 — here's how Canadians still shop it through a Minneapolis address.
Target playbook →
Trader Joe's
Get Trader Joe's delivered to Canada
Trader Joe's doesn't ship — we walk the aisles for you on live video and bring Cookie Butter home.
TJ's guide →
Costco US
Costco US exclusives shipped to Canada
Costco US inventory Canadian warehouses don't carry — Kirkland US, US wines, US electronics.
Costco guide →
Sephora US
Sephora US exclusives from Canada
Sephora US has 2x the brand catalog of Sephora Canada — Patrick Ta, Tower 28, full Tarte, US-only Drunk Elephant.
Sephora guide →
Stanley
Stanley US-exclusive colorways
Target & Walmart exclusive Stanley colorways shipped to Canada — drop-day live shoppers grab them at retail.
Stanley guide →
How-to
Canada package forwarding guide
How package forwarding to Canada actually works — addresses, customs, carriers, costs, consolidation.
Forwarding guide →
Editorial
Best US products Canada can't get
Editorial guide: every US-only product worth crossing the border for, organized by category and store.
Read the roundup →
The Canada cross-border reality
Canada has its own retail ecosystem — Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws, Indigo, The Bay — and that ecosystem covers a lot of everyday needs well. But it doesn't cover everything, and the gap between what's available in the US and what's stocked in Canada is wider than most shoppers realize until they go looking.
- Target exited Canada in 2015. All 133 stores shuttered after a rushed expansion failed, and Target.com has shipped nowhere in Canada since. Target-exclusive Stanley colorways, Cat & Jack kids' apparel, Goodfellow menswear, Hearth & Hand with Magnolia home, and the bulk of Target's beauty floor are reachable only through a US address.
- Trader Joe's has never opened a Canadian store. No locations, no shipping, no plans. The Cookie Butter, Joe-Joe's, Everything But the Bagel Seasoning, frozen orange chicken, two-buck wines, and pumpkin-spice everything that Canadians ask about year after year are only available by walking into a US store.
- Sephora Canada carries roughly half the brand catalog of Sephora US — about 175 brands in Canada versus around 350 in the US. Patrick Ta, Tower 28, the full Tarte US lineup, certain Drunk Elephant editions, Glow Recipe's US-only items, and Rare Beauty SKUs land in the US months before they cross the border, if they ever do.
- CUSMA sets two de minimis thresholds for shipments from the US. Postal mail gets a low CAD $20 tax-free threshold. Express courier (UPS, FedEx, DHL — what we actually use) gets CAD $40 for sales tax and CAD $150 for duty. Above those levels you owe GST plus provincial sales tax, and sometimes duty depending on category.
- The real reason Canadians cross the border isn't always the discount — though US Black Friday remains genuinely deeper than its Canadian equivalent. It's selection. Specific colorways. Brand availability. Items the Canadian distributor never picked up. Limited-edition drops that vanish before they cross the 49th parallel. Selectido exists to close that selection gap without putting a shopper on a plane.
The simple frame: if a US store ships only inside the US, you give them your free Selectido Minneapolis suite address and we forward to Canada. If a US store sells only in-person (Trader Joe's, Costco warehouse exclusives), you book a live video shopper who walks the aisles for you. Two services, one Canadian doorstep.
How Selectido works for Canadian shoppers
- Get a free US shipping address in Minneapolis. Sixty-second signup at selectido.com gives you a real Minneapolis suite number. Use it at Target.com, Sephora US, Costco US, Walmart, Best Buy, Stanley.com, or any US retailer that refuses to ship to Canada. No subscription, no setup fee, no contract — the address is free to hold whether you ship one package or twenty.
- Order to your US address, or book a live shopper. If the store ships within the US, just check out with your Minneapolis suite as the destination — we charge in USD via Stripe, so Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Wise, and Revolut all work. If the store doesn't ship at all (Trader Joe's, in-warehouse Costco exclusives, Apple in-store-only configurations), book a live video shopping session at $75 USD per hour and your US shopper walks the aisles on FaceTime while you direct.
- We ship to your Canadian door in 3-7 days via UPS Cross-Border or DHL. We receive at our Minneapolis hub, photograph contents free, hold for up to 60 days while you consolidate other US orders, then ship via the carrier you choose. UPS Cross-Border and DHL Express are the workhorses; USPS Priority International is the budget pick. Customs paperwork handled, honest declared values, full tracking to your Canadian doorstep.
Start with the free US address.
No subscription, no setup fee, no commitment. Hold the suite as long as you like and ship whenever you're ready.
Pricing snapshot for Canadians
One flat forwarding fee, one transparent hourly rate for live shopping, no monthly subscription, no setup fee. All amounts in USD; your card processor handles the conversion at the daily rate.
| What you're paying for | Cost |
|---|---|
| Free US shipping address (hold and consolidate) | $0 |
| Package forwarding fee, per outbound shipment | $14.99 USD + actual carrier cost |
| Live video personal shopping | $75 USD per hour |
| Live shopping multi-hour discount | 15% off bookings of 2+ hours |
| Suite storage | 60 days free, then nominal hold |
| Photograph contents on arrival | Included |
| Sample landed cost: USD $200 order to Toronto | Roughly CAD $310-340 all-in |
How the sample math lands: a USD $200 order arrives at our suite, we charge $14.99 to forward plus roughly $22 for UPS Cross-Border to Toronto. The package crosses the border, the carrier collects 13% Ontario HST on the declared value plus a small brokerage fee, and the total settles in the CAD $310-340 range depending on the exchange rate that day. Bigger purchases see the same pattern with proportionally lower per-dollar overhead. Splitting a big order into two shipments under CAD $40 each can dodge sales tax on small items but only makes sense up to about USD $200 total — past that, the forwarding fees outweigh the tax savings.
Frequently asked questions
How long does shipping from the US to Canada take with Selectido?
Most Canadian addresses see delivery in 3-7 business days from the moment we hand off your outbound shipment in Minneapolis. UPS Cross-Border to Toronto and Montreal typically lands in 3-4 days, Vancouver and Calgary in 4-5 days, and Atlantic Canada in 5-7 days. DHL Express is a touch faster on average. Add a day for in-house processing, photographing your items, and choosing the best rate. USPS Priority International is the budget option at 7-12 days.
What about CUSMA and the Canadian de minimis thresholds?
Under CUSMA (the trade agreement that replaced NAFTA), Canada applies two separate de minimis values to shipments from the US. For postal mail, the threshold is CAD $20 — anything above gets taxed. For express courier shipments (UPS, FedEx, DHL — the carriers we actually use), the threshold is CAD $40 for sales tax and CAD $150 for duty. That means low-value packages clear without tax, mid-value packages get GST plus provincial tax, and high-value packages may also see duty depending on category. Most apparel, beauty, and electronics from US retailers are duty-free; you mostly just see sales tax.
Which Canadian provinces charge HST versus GST and PST?
Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island use a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) that bundles federal and provincial together — Ontario at 13%, the Atlantic provinces at 15%. British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan charge 5% federal GST plus a separate provincial sales tax (PST) of 7%. Quebec applies 5% GST plus 9.975% QST. Alberta, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut only see the 5% GST. The carrier collects whatever applies at the door before handing over the package.
Can Selectido actually get Trader Joe's products shipped to Canada?
Yes. Trader Joe's has never opened a Canadian store and does not ship — not domestically inside the US, and definitely not internationally. The Selectido workaround is live video shopping: you book a session ($75/hr), your US shopper walks the aisles of a Trader Joe's near our Minneapolis hub on FaceTime or WhatsApp video, and you point at the Cookie Butter, Joe-Joe's, Everything But the Bagel Seasoning, frozen meals, wine, and snacks you want. We pay at the register on your behalf, bring it back to our facility, repack for international shipping, and forward to your Canadian address in 4-7 days.
Do I need a US Costco membership to use Selectido for Costco US?
No. Selectido carries an active US Costco Gold Star membership at our Minneapolis hub, and your shopper uses it during your live session. You see the warehouse on video, pick the Kirkland Signature US-only items, US-only wines and spirits, US-specific electronics, or seasonal drops you want, and we check out under our membership. A Costco Canada membership does not give you access to Costco US inventory online either way — even if you have one, costco.com requires a US payment method and ships only inside the US. Live shopping with us is the cleanest path.
How do cross-border returns work?
If a retailer accepts returns, we can ship it back. The cleanest path is to send the item back to our Minneapolis suite within the retailer's return window, we drop it at the carrier or in-store, and the refund hits the original payment card. You pay the return carrier cost from Canada and the $14.99 forwarding fee, but you skip the international RMA headache most retailers refuse to deal with. Beauty, apparel, and electronics from Target, Sephora US, Costco US, and Best Buy are routine. Final-sale items and grocery from Trader Joe's are not returnable on either side of the border.
Which carriers does Selectido use from the US to Canada?
Three primary options. UPS Cross-Border (Standard or Worldwide Saver) is the workhorse for most Canadian destinations — 3-5 days, predictable customs handling, broker fee included. DHL Express is faster and a touch more expensive — 2-4 days for major cities, great for time-sensitive drops like Stanley colorways. USPS Priority Mail International is the budget choice — 7-12 days, handed off to Canada Post for final delivery, lighter on small declared-value items but slower and with less granular tracking. We quote all three at checkout so you can pick your trade-off.
When is the best time to shop US stores for Canadian delivery?
Three windows beat the rest. US Memorial Day (late May) opens summer apparel and outdoor gear. US Labor Day (early September) is the cleanest moment for back-to-school electronics and dorm goods. US Black Friday and Cyber Monday (late November) remains the deepest discount window of the year — and crucially, US Black Friday markdowns at Target, Best Buy, Sephora US, and Costco US run noticeably deeper than the Canadian equivalents. Plan your live shopping or forwarding orders for early in the sale window so we ship before the carrier surge slows everything down. We also recommend consolidating two or three orders into one outbound shipment to save on per-package fees.
Ready to cross the border?
Start with the free US address and pick a Canada guide to read while you wait for your first US order to arrive at the suite.