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Any fellow Canadians ever order a receiver from SoundCity? (1 Viewer)

BrianL

Auditioning
Joined
Oct 18, 2003
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I'm looking at ordering a refurbished HK 225 receiver from Soundcity (Soundcity Outlet) and I have a couple of q's. This is my first time ordering a large item from across the border so I was wondering what sort of "hidden" costs might I expect beyond the price of the receiver and shipping. I know I'll have to pay PST and GST but will that be it? I also understand there will be duty as well but am unsure how they calculate that. I also hear the term "brokerage fees" being mentioned by some. Also, will warranty be a problem since the unit is meant for the US?

Thanks in advance
 

Phil Levy

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
71
If you really want to order out of the US, I highly recommend using a Borderfree affiliate such as etronics.com or ecost.com. Both have a "Canadian checkout" button that will give you a landed price ALL IN to your door, in Canadian dollars. You also won't have to personally deal with any hassles that may arise, etc.

You can look up other borderfree affiliates on borderfree.com but those are the two main ones for home theater gear.
 

BrianL

Auditioning
Joined
Oct 18, 2003
Messages
14
Thanks for the heads up. I've considered ordering from ecost but the problem is that ecost is not an official HK approved dealer so any products purchased from ecost will not be covered by HK's warranty. From HK's website, SoundCity is an official e-dealer but I'm wondering if the warranty would even apply if the unit is shipped to Canada. I'm also wondering if the total "landed" price that is computed by ecost would be the similar to the price if I went the SoundCity route. Does anyone know the answer to the above two questions?
 

Phil Levy

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
71
If you buy from a US dealer, I'm pretty certain you do not get a warranty regardless.
As for the question about SoundCity - Hmm... Take the item, add in shipping, convert to CAD, add PST/GST (or HST depending) for your province, and add probably another ~$100 for brokerage to get a rough estimate.

Also - HK's list of official web-dealers is outdated. You might want to email them for a more accurate list. For example, 6ave.com isn't listed but when I emailed H/K about it they told me they were an authorized dealer.
 

ChrisLazarko

Supporting Actor
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Aug 13, 2003
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867
I buy all my equipment from SoundCity, I actually go to the store though since I live close to it. If it isn't too inconvient for you, call them up. Ask one of the guys there if they could tell you, i'm sure they have shipped stuff across the border before... they are very nice there so you should be able to find out.
 

JohnnyG

Screenwriter
Joined
Dec 18, 2000
Messages
1,522
An item brought across the border (in either direction) will not have warranty in that country.

Some dealers (myself included) sell H/K refurbs in Canada, but that SoundCity price is pretty phenomenal. When buying from the US, double the price to get a rough idea of the 'landed cost'.
 

Howard_You

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 16, 2003
Messages
60
The warranty will certainly not be valid at HK Service centers in Canada. Whether or not you can send them to a US HK Service center if it's an authorized US online dealer I don't know.

etronics is a good site to use to calculate the final landed cost.

Some etailers will provide their own warranty coverage for one year, you'd have to ship the receiver back to the US for repair or replacement. It may or may not be worth it in your case, I guess it depends on how much money you're saving and if you get a lemon or not.

I feel sorry for the Canadian retailers (well, the small guys anyway :) ) in that their cost appears to be higher than US retail, presumably due to a single Canadian HK distributor. Some of the other major brands have much less of a disparity between US & Cdn prices (i.e. NAD & Onkyo come to mind), but HK does have that nice warm 'signature' sound.

Say, John, have you had a chance to try out the new AVR230? Does it sound any better than the AVR225?

Thanks,
Howard
 

Phil Levy

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
71
I managed to get an HK525 for $1150 new in Toronto, so I guess it's all about finding a shop who is willing to deal. It's still a bit higher than the landed cost from etronics, but I felt much more comfortable about it.
 

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