Purchasing From U.S. Vendors: Taxes, Duties, Shipping, other Issues, etc.

[que3jxp]

If you are getting something from the US, there is almost never duty. Only tax.

[lars]

The Criterion blu-ray of "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959) has a manufacturers list price of $39.95 and a sale price of $27.99 on Amazon.com an American online retailer. The Canadian equivalent Amazon.ca on the same blu-ray shows a manufacturers list price of $54.99 and a sale price of $41.24. Is this difference of $15.04 in the manufacturers list price from Criterion for real, or does Amazon.ca just make up these list prices themselves to justify their very high sale price? As I post this on Feb.3rd, the difference in the Canadian and American dollar is less than 1 cent. This is a good movie in case you haven't seen it, with a release date on Feb.21st.

[wilspin]

I have spoken with the president of Solid Signal. Apparently shipping to Canada has cost him dearly as those who ordered did not always pay the Fex Ex handling as I did and it was charged back to him. So now we have lost the price advantage and good service and selection due to some jerks. If this is you please contact them and settle up now! No Excuses I warned you all about the bill that comes a month later from Fed EX

[roger1818]

IMHO, the business model that Fedex and UPS have for brokerage is ridiculous. Receive the item and then wham a month later a bill arrives with no warning? At a minimum they should bill you on receipt, like Canada Post does. If you don't want to pay, RTS.

You may have warned people on this forum, but how about all the others who found them via Google.

[wilspin]

Fex Ex is much better and only they do the post delivery billing at a much lower rate that UPS. Forum or Google; just an excuse.It does not matter (this forum appears on google) if you have imported anything you know how this works. To stiff some one cause you can does not help anyone. This kind of thing is why stuff cost more here.,

[Jase88]

I've always had to pay UPS brokerage fees on delivery?! *confused* Are they now charging these fees after the fact?

[wilspin]

Fed Ex has a policy to keep the shipment going rather than stopping at the border. They pay on your behalf and collect later. Handling charge is also much less than UPS. When the collect later was not paid they charge it back to the shipper. Apparently a lot of us chose not to pay.

[Wayne]

I am looking for a new receiver - looking at the FS web site I see that they have the Yamaha RXV371 for a "final clearance" price of $269. Other Canadian retailers seem to have a similar price or higher. Yet when I google this model I see that the MSRP, at least in the US, is $249 (see http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio..._u/?mode=model).

Looking at online US retailers like Amazon or Newegg you can find this receiver for around $179.

Is it typical that we are still getting screwed in Canada for items like this when the C$ is at parity or higher?

[EastVanBC]

I think so.

I've noticed in the past that when I find an item on Amazon Canada, the same item is cheaper on Amazon USA.

[Danno100]

Perhaps we are getting less screwed, but still screwed. It even happens with things like the Apple TV2. Before the new model came out, it was $119 in Canada (+ HST) or $99 US (+ state tax). So at Best Buy Canada, the total price was about $134 and in Michigan it is $105. This is a 35% difference.

That is why I bought my latest Pioneer receiver and two Apple TV2's in the US.

[majortom]

is it a matter of supply and demand?
less product spread across fewer potential customers = higher price?

[ScaryBob]

It's more like <greedy Canadian distributors> + <high consumer shipping fees> + <lack of competition> = <ripped off Canadians>. This has been going on for 50+ years. Companies that have direct distribution channels in Canad seem to sell more competitively but most things that go through Canadian distributors or subsidiary are overpriced. Not much can be done except to the avoid the overpriced products, shop aggressively and import directly when necessary.

FS and BB are the worst when it comes to overpricing. They sell many products at above Canadian list, import rebranded models to avoid price matching (especially with A/V receivers) and often fail to disclose the status of discontinued or clearance products. I've seen products "on sale" at BB and FS that were actually discontinued items available for 1/2 the price as a clearance item elsewhere.

[remush]

The companies will tell you that the higher costs of wages, real estate, overhead spread out through fewer stores are the reasons for the higher prices up here. Maybe true, but they can get away with these prices because we can't take advantage of the cheaper American competition, reason being duties and weak exemptions.

[Wayne]

So any ideas where to get one of these receivers? I currently have a perfectly fine Yamaha AVR that is about 4 years old. The problem is that it doesn't have HDMI capabilities and I want to simplify my wiring setup for my bedroom system that looks like hell right now due to big, bulky component cables. My TV has several HDMI inputs but since I have a surround sound system I have to feed everything through the AVR first.

[DSgamby]

My local newspaper has a letter to the editor regarding this about 2 weeks ago.

Here and there
Monday, February 27, 2012

I heard a comment about why Canada charges more for merchandise than the U.S., and saw a letter to the editor comparing U.S. and Canadian prices (Shopping Realities, Feb. 23). It has been stated that we charge more “because we can.”
I can’t believe people do not understand why our prices are different. Canadian retailers often have to buy from the U.S. We have to pay a brokerage fee, taxes and there is often a middle-man who takes his share. Our operating costs are also higher. Look at how well we pay our employees. Our minimum wage is $4 more per hour than that of Minnesota.
People complain that there are fewer local stores to shop in. Those people need to look at why. Failure to shop locally will put small business out of business
If you want to work high-paying jobs and live here but then spend large amounts of money at U.S. retailers both online and in-store, you cripple the economy and the future of this city.
Those whose jobs depend closely on our local economy are the ones losing out at a rapid rate. As the money leaves the city, so do the jobs, the shops and the services.
We are fortunate to have so many diverse businesses here in our city. Thank your local retailers and entrepreneurs by shopping local.
Mona Foss
Thunder Bay

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/edit...here-and-there