ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

I looking for some Avalons, 68mm and 78a.

Steve Collins wrote:http://store.yahoo.com/3dm-sport/wheels.html

Thanks for the link Steve... I had looked there earlier and found that shipping to Canada was a whooping $40 US! That means that the wheels cost double for those of us up North. Hence my search for some lightly used Avalons.

cheers,
Erin

That is a lot for shipping. I bet if you called Dan he'd find a way to ship them more cheaply for you. He's a pretty reasonable guy.

Try buying them from a third-party retailer.

The key with shipping from the US to Canada (and vice-versa) is to use the Post Office. For some reason, UPS (preferred shipper of most skate companies, for some reason unknown to me) makes a huge deal of, and charges a huge premium for, shipping to and from Canada.

Erin:

I live in Toronto and get 100% of my skate gear shipped from the States.

My recommendation is to talk/e-mail the retailer and ask them to declare the value of the shipment for under $20.00 and preferably use the United States Postal Service.

If a shipment is under $20.00 then they are GST/PST and Duty free - so you only pay the actual cost of the shipping. My experience is a set of wheels should cost between $8.00 to $12.00 depending on the size. Big Flywheels and Avila's cost more due to the weight.

Other options is to have manufacturers sample written on the shipping invoice or having "Happy Birthday" written on the box and having the item declared as a gift.

Try one, try them all.

Hope it helps,

Rob

Erin,

Much in the same vein as Rob's suggestion, perhaps you should consider contacting Dan Gesmer directly? His e-mail is SEISMICSK8@AOL.COM. (I have no qualms about posting DG's e-mail as he does it online all the time.)

I do have to agree with you that the shipping and freight seems a little steep. Perhaps if you contact Dan directly he can find you a better price OR he may be able to direct you to a retailer who can ship to you cheaper. (Is there a Canadian outlet for 3DM?)

Another thought is to hassle your friends and neighbors into buying some wheels also. If you can put together a larger order, then the overall freight costs will go down per unit.

The US Postal Service is also the key for shipping stuff within the US too. I only order stuff via USPS Priority Mail due to poor service from UPS and Fedex. The USPS brings me stuff right to my door, and if they can’t leave the package there (such as If nobody’s there), they bring it back to the local post office to await my pickup. Neither UPS nor Fedex have service even remotely as convenient as that.

Thanks for the suggestions guys... appreciated. I'll keep the ideas in mind when I plan on buying gear new but by posting here I was kind of hoping to save a bit of coin by buying second hand gently used wheels. Then again maybe when it comes to slalom wheels there is no such thing as 'slightly used'.....? Could be my bad.... LOL

Check eBay. There are new and (sometimes) used Avalons on there all the time. Also the Buy-Sell-Trade section of the Northern California Downhill Skateboarding Association website.

You won't find used Avalons very often, as they tend to be keepers.

No worries... I'm gonna go with some Flashbacks instead. They are reliable, versatile and easy to get around here.

Again thanks for all your kind suggestions.

Hi we sell Avalons:

44.99 euro for a set of 4

Please visit our website to see what else we have:

http://www.sickboards.nl

If you have any questions, please ask.

Ride on

Martijn