What shipping options does Metals 'R' Us offer? Price, speed, and the honest trade
You pick from what the couriers actually quote for your cart: usually three or four options, most often Canpar, Purolator, GLS, or UPS. Canpar carries 44.8% of our orders because the value is real, and it's also the option we field the most delivery complaints about. You're trading price against speed and reliability, and here's how to choose.
What shipping options does Metals 'R' Us offer?
Whatever the couriers quote for your actual cart. We don't run one house carrier and mark it up. When you enter your postal code at checkout, we ask the couriers what your real box costs to move, and you pick from what comes back. Most carts see three or four choices: usually Canpar, Purolator, GLS, or UPS, with FedEx, Canada Post, ICS Courier, and DHL in the mix depending on the lane.
You're choosing between three things that pull against each other: price, speed, and reliability. No carrier wins all three, and the cheapest one is cheapest for reasons. This guide is what we'd tell you at the counter about which is which.
Which shipping option should you choose?
Start with what the job actually needs, not the smallest number on the list.
If the metal isn't holding up a job that starts Monday, take the cheapest option and enjoy it. If a crew is standing around waiting on your bar, pay for the faster service and don't think about it again. The gap between the two is usually $5 to $20 on a normal parcel, which is less than an hour of anybody's shop time.
Here's the honest shape of it, from what customers actually pick and what lands:
| Option | What it's good at | The trade |
|---|---|---|
| Canpar Ground | Price. It's the value pick and it's what most of our customers choose | The slowest of the ground options, and the one we field the most delivery complaints about |
| Purolator Ground | Light and short parcels, and anything close to home in the Maritimes | Costs more as the pieces get long or the box gets heavy |
| GLS Ground | Long pieces heading to central and western Canada | Not always the cheapest on small, light orders |
| UPS Standard | Predictable tracking and handling | Usually a few dollars above the value options |
| Free pickup in Dartmouth | Costs nothing and skips couriers entirely. 12.7% of our orders go this way | You have to come to Burnside |
Why do most customers choose Canpar?
Because the value is genuinely good, and on most parcels it's the cheapest real option on the card. Over the last 90 days, Canpar Ground carried 44.8% of everything we shipped, nearly half. Nobody's steering that; it's just what people pick when they see the prices side by side.
Now the part you should hear before you pick it. Canpar is also the option we field the most delivery complaints about. If your parcel is going to be the one that shows up late or gets handled roughly, statistically it's more likely to be this one. That's the trade you're making for the lower price, and it's a perfectly reasonable trade on a bar of 44W angle that's going to sit in your shop until the weekend.
We keep offering it because customers keep asking for it, and because for most orders the value is real. We'd rather tell you what you're buying than quietly take the option away. If the delivery matters more than the ten dollars, pick a different line at checkout. That's what the list is for.
How are shipping rates calculated?
Live at checkout, from the couriers, on your real cart. The quote prices the weight of the metal, the length of the longest piece, and your postal code. What you see is the courier's own rate plus the box and packing materials, on its own line. We don't bake shipping into the metal price and we don't add a margin to the freight.
That's why the same cart costs different money in Halifax and Whitehorse, and why a dense little brass order can ship cheaper than one light, long bar. Couriers price size as much as weight. Want the number before you commit? Build the cart and the checkout shows every option for your address before you pay anything.
One tip worth knowing: pieces under 48″ ship at the best parcel rates. It's a tip, not a limit. Two 40″ pieces usually beat one 80″ piece on shipping, and most frames have a joint there anyway. Here's the full picture on how metal ships in Canada.
How fast will your order arrive?
Two clocks, and we only control the first one. Ours is cutting and packing: order by 1pm Atlantic on a business day and your pieces are usually cut and packed the next business day. That's what normally happens, not a guarantee. Every piece is cut to order, and a busy saw queue is a real thing.
The second clock is delivery, and that one belongs entirely to the option you picked at checkout. A cheaper service takes longer. A faster service costs more. We won't guess transit days in a blog post, because your postal code and your carrier choice know better than we do. The checkout shows the real options for your address, with the price against the speed, before you pay.
Can you skip shipping entirely?
Yes, and 12.7% of our orders do. Pickup at the shop is free: order online, choose pickup at checkout, and collect it at 85 Gloria McCluskey Ave in Burnside Industrial Park, Dartmouth. Orders are usually ready within one business day, and the same 1pm Atlantic cutoff applies.
If you're anywhere near Halifax, run the numbers before you pay a courier. The $40 order minimum still applies, the shipping line just disappears. In a hurry? Call 902-468-1112 before you drive and we'll tell you honestly what the saw queue allows that day.
What if your order is too big for a courier?
Then it's a quote instead of a cart, and it's routine. Anything past 96″ a piece, or heavy enough that the couriers stop quoting, goes on a quote request: send the alloy, size, and length, and we'll price the metal and arrange the freight together. Lengths up to 21 ft are a normal request here.
Heavy carts sometimes fall back to a flat rate called Economy Shipping when the couriers return nothing at all. It shows up on about 5.8% of orders, almost always the heavy ones. If you see it and the number looks rough for what you're buying, send the quote request instead and we'll price the freight properly.