Sick and tired of missing out on deals only available in the US! Canadians what to do (1 Viewer)

[Colin Banfield]

The point is I'm not buying from a store. I'm buying from an individual selling a piece of gear. I don't have to pay GST to anyone if I buy something from you, Serge or anybody else.

 

[Serge Breton]

on top of that you are buying something outside the country. Sure on a $50 purchase i don't mind paying tax of $7.50(not $50 brokerage on a $50 item though).
If i get the AVR 8000 though at $1227US i'm looking at a little under $300CAD in tax alone. This is no small amount for buying something that wasen't manufactured or purchased here. This only has a negative effect on my pocket book and creates a positive cash flow for our government to misspend as they please.
Yadda, yadda, yadda This thread is really helping me, i have no need for a counsellor since i can just let everything flow freely here. kinda feels good really until i have to take out the wallet that is.....

 

[Antoine Peltier]

so has anyone used Etronics to ship stuff to Canada? From what I gather they provide and all-inclusive price that covers EVERYTHING, including duties and taxes.

 

[Colin Banfield]

Serge, I think the real issue is that the government can track the purchase so they take their cut. If they had a reliable way to track transactions among individuals within Canada, I bet they'd tax these transactions too!!

 

[henning hoffmann]

Colin, are you sure about that?

I know that for provincial sales tax, you are required by law to charge PST on an item, even if it's between individuals. Nobody does it, but it IS the law.

 

[henning hoffmann]

Jon SS,

If you're purchasing an American made item from the US, no duty applies. If you do like I did and buy a non-American made item from the US, then duty DOES apply. It's different depending on... uh I forget. The % duty depends on either country of manufacture or type of item, I forget.

Henning

 

[Brae]

Hey, could someone in Canada get me a Canadian price on a Servo-15 with tax included? The only thing I can get is a list price quote due to Paradigm's in-store pricing management. I can figure out the conversion rate and UPS shipping as necessary.

If anyone could I would greatly appreciate it. :b

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Duty depends on the country of manufacture. If it is USA, Mexico, or Canada, then there is no duty at the border, tax is different though. Canada Customs do charge GST & PST on everything you bring in, used or new, don't matter. As Andrew said, if the total declared value is around $50-$60US, you might not get charged at all. I think if the tax being charged would work out to be less than $2.00 CDN, then it is waived.

 

[Wayne McRae]

Brae, I think your looking around $1400 to $1500 Canadian inc. all taxes. Works out to around 1K for you.

 

[CraigF]

I buy plenty of stuff in the U.S., and have learned the shipping issues the hard way. To sum it up, if at all possible do not ship UPS unless the dealer uses the "special" UPS shipping. They must have some account/arrangement with UPS to do this, I don't know the details, regular shippers should be able to do it, ask. This is VERY cheap compared to normal UPS shipping. Brokerage, insurance, taxes, etc. etc. is all included in the cheap price. Otherwise you will get hosed. I have never had ANY problems with ridiculous charges from FedEx ground. No brokerage fees ever! Sometimes they don't even charge me the 15% (Ontario) taxes..come to think of it, I don't think they ever have (mistake of course). USPS is the cheapest shipping if item isn't too large/heavy, you will pay the taxes though. There should be no customs duty on this A/V electronic stuff, and I've never been charged any.

J&R ships to Canada. Their prices aren't the lowest, but much better than in Canada. They pack stuff very well, double-boxed, pros. I'm also interested in a new HK 8000 or 525. Paid the price at Future Shop for a 320 earlier this year and swore never again. Be sure to check warranty issues. For instance, Panasonic doesn't seem to care where you buy, Sony does. I have not got the HK stance re-clarified, but IIRC they did not honor the warranty in Canada if I bought in U.S., that's why I bought at FS. Since I had absolutely no problems with 320, I'm more open to taking a chance to save a big chunk of $$$.

Exchange rate these days is ~1.58, which would be ~1.63 with VISA...don't forget that when figuring if it's worth it. GST gets charged on shipping fees too!

Edit: the cheap UPS shipping method is called UPS Express. It seems to be faster than regular UPS too.

 

[JohnnyG]

For instance, Panasonic doesn't seem to care where you buy, Sony does. I have not got the HK stance re-clarified, but IIRC they did not honor the warranty in Canada if I bought in U.S., that's why I bought at FS.

Panasonic certainly does care. If you got to their Service Center at the head office in Mississauga, there's a big sign on the wall stating as much. I can also verify that H/K is the same.

 

[Serge Breton]

John,

i would be more than happy buying audio gear from you and understand you have to make a living doing this but my hard earned money has to go somewhere else unfortunately even if i take a chance with warranty issues.....

Yes some things are cheaper in Canada such as dvds, software and things like that but higher end electronics especially after considering the tax is way too much.

Take the HK AVR 8000 as i mentionned before as an example selling at Future Shop right now for $4600 with tax. Even if i get a deal for $3500 with tax the One Call deal blows this price away at around $1867! That's where my money's going! (hope i got it) If i have warranty problems later, i'll just have to spend the $25 to ship the unit back to the US for servicing. Minor inconvenience really.....

 

[CraigF]

Panasonic certainly does care. If you got to their Service Center at the head office in Mississauga, there's a big sign on the wall stating as much. I can also verify that H/K is the same.

The point is to be sure to check, if you care about warranty. Panny used to not care where you bought, so they said last year, but I have never had occasion to test it! This is why I'm very wary of buying big ticket items from the U.S., even if I drive them over myself. If I lived near the border, no sweat if warranty repair required. Sometimes though, like the HK 8000 regularly selling for less than half what it does in Canada, all in pricing, that's when you take a chance. For something like the 525, I think you could bargain to within Cdn$150 of the U.S. price, little enough to maybe not take a chance. It does not help that HK continues to put misleading list prices on their web pages, prices that not even their U.S. dealers quote as MSRP. FS apparently bases their prices on full list, as quoted on HK pages.

My experience on buying factory-direct from the U.S. is that all warranties are valid. I suppose this is obvious considering the circumstance, and factory-direct purchasing can sometimes be a bargain too.

 

[Brae]

Ok, thanks to all those that got me the price for the Servo-15. Now, I need to find someone that can acquire the product and get it to me, safely, cheaply, and honestly.

 

[Serge Breton]

Brae,
that $1500 price will be even cheaper since you will be refunded the tax if you buy yourself. If someone up here buys it for you than you do not get any tax back. Makes sense doesen't it? :frowning:

 

[Colin Banfield]

Come to think of it, you're right. You have no choice when the individual transaction leaves a paper trail, e.g. buying/selling a car. For everyday transactions, I don't see what the point is of a law that is impossible to enforce (especially when the average person on the street probably doesn't even realize that the law exists!)

 

[CraigF]

Just a note for the person wanting the H/K receiver. H/K still requires an item to be warranty serviced in the country where it was purchased, received clarification from their Marketing Communications Manager today.

 

[Serge Breton]

Looks like i'm getting my AVR 8000 shortly. I'm pretty anxious to see how this thing performs. I'll be using my ATI 1502 for the mains and for hometheater purposes this should be all i need with all the surround modes one could want. $1900 CAD, can't beat it!
I'll ship it to the US if the unit ever needs servicing. I could ship this receiver back and forth 50 times before i would start to bridge the gap between the price difference here VS across the border.

 

[CraigF]

Yes, that's the way to do it...or, even if you have to pay for the service full out at H/K in Canada. Considering the huge price difference, and that the 8000 is not a new model and seems to be pretty reliable, it would be hard to lose. For models where the saving is Cdn$1-200, probably not so worth it.