Canadian supplier recommendations

[MGM]

I know this topic has been discussed over the years, but I'm hoping for some updated information and personal experiences.

I buy almost everything from NDA.ca. I've found their prices to be very good (Can prices are even better than NDA US) and customer service is great. They do have a minimum $100 order, but somehow I routinely meet that no problem ;-) Shipping is....well, Canada has certain geographic realities that mean we can't have cheap shipping. We make up for it with health care ;-)

But, I can't get micas, and I've already purchased all of the FOs that I want. TBH, I've already got all the EOs that I need, and more FOs than I need, so maybe I really just need micas or other colorants, so far?

I also found something on the old threads about Home Hardware lye being no good, but it seems that that has been resolved.

And, I will bring up a tip I learned on one of the old posts....when you buy your oils from a supplier vs a grocery store, you are paying 13% HST on them because they are not food items. Someone on the old thread said that everyone sells food-grade oils, so they're not taxed, BUT THEY ARE, because they're not sold as food. So when you are looking at the prices at Costco or Walmart or wherever for food oils, those prices must be 13% + 14% (shipping on my last order) higher than your online supplier to make it worthwhile (actually, it's even a few % higher, because we pay HST on the shipping, too!). I hadn't thought of that before, so will stick to stocking up on oils locally. (ps, why so much HST? well, gotta pay for that health care one way or another )

So...where do you shop? Where (else) should I shop?

 

[NMac]

Hello. I'm not sure where you are in Canada, but we purchase our supplies from Voyageur Soap & Candle in BC. They are reasonably priced and their shipping times are good.

 

[Misschief]

Like NMac, Voyageur is my go to for almost everything except olive oil and lard; I watch for sales at my local grocery stores. Lately, I've also been purchasing from Windy Point and Candora. They have some things that Voyageur doesn't.

13% HST?? Here in BC, it's 7% PST and 5% GST.

 

[MGM]

Like NMac, Voyageur is my go to for almost everything except olive oil and lard; I watch for sales at my local grocery stores. Lately, I've also been purchasing from Windy Point and Candora. They have some things that Voyageur doesn't.

13% HST?? Here in BC, it's 7% PST and 5% GST.

You save 1%. We have 8% PST and 5% GST. The H stands for "harmonized" (essentially combined it so they could tax more things ;-)

I was looking at the prices at Voyageur...FOS are 20-40% higher than NDA but their micas seems significantly less than Mad Micas (I'm contemplating ordering micas to my US connection and getting them in a few months....but I want them now now now). Any must-haves from Voyageur?

 

[NMac]

We are fairly new to the soap making business. We found Voyageur because our supplier we started with stopped shipping things. I have to say I can't think of any must haves other than the Blackraspberry Vanilla fragrance. Oh the Love Spell fragrance was a big hit as well, but it turns the soap bright yellow.