Canada gets SCREWED!! (1 Viewer)

[Schnitz]

I am looking to buy a receiver from the U.S. because even with shipping and everything it's cheaper. I find out that if I buy from the U.S. I will get NO warranty with the receiver. I will only get a warranty if I buy from over-priced Authorized Canadian Dealers. This sucks.

 

[Marty M]

U.S. is really after Canadians, aren't we? First we blame you for the Mad Cow and now this.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Yup its unfortunate but true. The best you can hope for is that you buy from an authorized dealer and should you have a problem later on you'd just have to ship it back to them for warrenty work. Depending on how much you save this could still work out to be cheaper then buying up here...esp with todays exchange rates

 

[brentl]

I wonder whether companies that use "Borderfree" for Canadian shipping are more willing to work for you should a warranty issue arrise??

I'm looking at a Denon 2803 that would be about $300 cheaper than local ... That's 25 % off my BEST price

B
Sorry, that was 2803 NOT the nonexistant 2804!

 

[Howard_You]

If you don't want to take your chances ordering from the US your best option is to wait for an end of model clearout or boxing day sales ( a bit late now or try and negotiate with a local dealer.

I picked up a NAD T742 for C$650 a couple of months ago (normally retails for C$1000) and know they're on sale from C$550-C$700 right now depending on where you are in Canada. This roughly corresponds to the best price you can get on this receiver in the US (approx US$450). It's an excellent receiver especially for music but is 5.1 only.

H/K & Denon seem to be the worst, I know FS had $250-$300 off the H/Ks during the boxing week sale, even at that price they're still a little higher than the US.

I know Outlaw audio warranties their products for sale in Canada, their 1050 reciever is now discontinued but if you can wait they are planning of having a new model available towards the end of this year.

Good luck!

 

[Kevin. W]

What kind of receiver are you looking at? Have you negotiated a price with the local dealer yet? I looked at the US for my Yamaha RX-V1400. With exchange, duty/taxes the price was within $100 of what I could get it in Canada for. Peace of mind and warranty played a big role in my purchase.

Kevin

 

[GregClarke]

I having been looking into replacing my 333es with HK but the prices here are terrible. Now I see an AVR325z delivered to my door for less than $600cdn from Ecost using Border Free.
These are the refurbs from HK and Ecost is apparently not HK authorized (see other threads) otherwise this is so tempting.
Anybody try this route to get an AVR at a reasonable price?

Greg

 

[Howard_You]

Greg,

If you're dead set on gettin an HK you might want to order from jandr.com at least they're authorized so theoretically you should be able to send the unit back to the US for repair if necessary. I didn't see any AVR325 units on their website but it might be worth giving them a call.

Since you're in Ottawa I strongly recommend going to either Sound Advice or the Audio Center on Merivale and check out the NAD T7x2 line though, the prices are very good right now since the new NAD T7x3 line is arriving and personally I prefer the sound to my older HK AVR30.

 

[Mort Corey]

Hang in there Schnitz...with the dollar dropping in value like a stone things should look different soon. :frowning:

Mort

 

[Wayne Ernst]

But, damn, those of us here in the U.S. get shafted when we buy speakers that are made in Canada. There's no way we can get them at prices the Canadians are paying.

I guess in the end it all works out:

Canadians: Cheaper speaker prices + higher priced receivers

Americans: Cheaper receivers + higher priced Canadian Speakers

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Our software tends to be nicely priced as well...esp not that the coupon wars are over (sniff sniff I really miss those days!)

 

[Roy Wallace]

Hey guys:
I just wanted to add my two cents to this cross border topic.
I buy stuff from eBay all the time, and whenever I get something shipped from the US, Canada Post includes a bill for the GST along with a five dollar "handling fee".
Of course the amount of the tax is proportional to the value of the item.:frowning:
It is a bit nicer with our dollar creeping up a bit lately, though.


Roy

 

[JamieS]

It makes some sense to me that Canadian made speakers would be cheaper in canada. just as a US made receiver SHOULD be cheaper in the US.

However there is something seriously fishy about an overseas made Denon being 200-300 more expensive than Canada IF it is from an authorized dealer. After all they would need to provide warrany for it. I don't buy the protect "local" dealer. These guys are gonna tell me I HAVE to buy it from X and I can't drive some miles to buy from someone else. As long as it is authorized it should make no difference. If 2 recievers are identical made in the same factory and have the saem warranty WHY is there a price difference.

I looked at a denon 2200 DVD.

In canada even with a dicount over $1000 with Taxes CAN. Through Borderfree from Etronics less than $700 after shipping, exchange and duty. I mean come on we are talking over 30% difference. over $300 !! Something just sin't right.

 

[Muhammed]

I think what you're seeing right now is just some lag based on the Canadian selling prices of the products and the current exchange rate. Keep in mind that the Canadian dollar only recently gained heavily against the US dollar, which is why it works out much cheaper to buy a receiver in the US (it probably would have been WAY cheaper to buy the receiver in Canada about 2.5 years ago when the rate was closer to 1.6)

If the Canadian dollar stays strong, I think retailers will eventually modify the MSRP prices accordingly (if you work out US list price vs. CDN list price, you'll see they usually correspond to the old exchange rate).

I agree that if you wait (and assuming the exchange rates stay put) the prices in Canada should drop.

 

[Howard_You]

Muhammed,

What you say makes sense and as much as I'd like to believe it to be the case I don't think it's true at least for all manufactureers.

I have looked at H/K receiver prices over the past year or so for the AVRx25 line as I was planning on getting one to replace my pro-logic H/K AVR30. The MSRP prices in the US were substantially lower than the Canadian MSRP prices to begin with. In addition, what seems to quickly happen in the US is that the unauthorized etailers drop the prices substantially below MSRP, the authorized dealers really have not choice but to follow suit. This results in prices about 1/2 of what they are in Canada(after shipping) since here the H/K receivers typically stay right around MSRP (except for boxing day sales etc.) This has also happened for the AVR x30 series. For instance, the AVR230 has a MSRP of US$550 in the States and C$950 in Canada, already a big gap with the current exchange rate, and even using the US$1 = C$1.4 rate from awhile ago it's still a substantial difference. Now, the AVR230 can be had at etronics for US$350 but the lowest I've seen it advertised in Canada is C$875 and it typically is advertised at MSRP. During the Boxing Week sale at FS it was C$700 which is still a good $200-$250 more than one ordered from the States.

This is part of the reason I ended up buying a NAD. IMHO it sound better than my H/K and the AVR325 that I listened to in a store and the price was right. As much as I like H/K they're just was overpriced in Canada. If I really wanted one I'd order from the States and take my chances with the warranty.

 

[brentl]

"There's no way we can get them at prices the Canadians are paying."
But you forget that you can get both the PST and GST back if you live in the States. Canadians get screwed for both when it comes across the border.

B

 

[Cameron Wright]

If they know about it

 

[JohnChu]

Hey .. I took the risk .. I bought an Denon AVR 3803 for $648.06 ... plus I pay $80 US shipping.... So I paid $728.06 * 1.3= $946.478 .. and it goes for $1600 Cdn tax not included... which is $1840 ... so you figure how much I save...


John

 

[Schnitz]

Onkyo just put a nail in the coffin. I called Onkyo directly and asked if I purchased a receiver from the U.S. could I send it back to the U.S. authorized retailer for warranty service. Onkyo reply "Once the receiver crosses the border there is no more warranty, Period". That puts an end to that idea.
Thanks for the responses.

 

[Cameron Wright]

.....But they wouldn't know... If the dealer is'nt far away just take it to them, or I'm sure if you are real friendly with them they would send it back from the shop and the shop would send it to you when its done... never know...