If you're canadian and considering HSU or SVS (1 Viewer)

[Oleg Razgul]

or any other american company, I would suggest you order pretty soon here in the next little while. The canadian overnight rate cuts are going to depreciate the value of the dollar against the USD pretty significantly. The dollar already dropped over a cent on friday alone and is expected to drop a whole lot more in the coming year. Our exports are hurting =].


On a side note, I'm stuck between getting a PCi 20-39 and the pw-2200 v-2. Can anyone offer any advice on the comparibility of these two? Due to exchange/duty/shipping, I can get the pw2200 for 150-200 dollars cheaper than the SVS.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

tough call, I'd get the servo 15 maybe. They are all very close. I have a pci 20-39, but i am in the us, so it is significantly cheaper.

 

[Drew_W]

I wonder what it takes to setup SVS as a BorderFree merchant. If they did, and we didn't get slaughtered on products coming across the border, it could really open up another market.

 

[brentl]

That's a very interesting thought Drew.

I'll leave it to you to set it up.

It sure would be nice to know the "delivered" price!

Brent

 

[Drew_W]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I'm from SVS. By "we didn't get slaughtered", I meant we as Canadians.

I think with that in mind, my post makes a little more sense

 

[Mike.K]

It's the same thing with Outlaw Audio products. They use UPS exclusively for hteir Canadian deliveries and charge absolutley outrageous brokerage fees. A shame because as you mention above, there would be another very large market open up for them in Canada. As it is now, they lose alot of business because of this...me included.

Last year i bought an ICBM from Outlaw. At the time the exchange rate was terrible compared to now. The ICBM was 249.00 US, plus 25.00 US shipping. Factor in the duty (ICBM not made in the US) gst/pst...yoikes! When the UPS guy showed up at my door a week after i placed my order, he wanted another 107.00 before he would go away. I'm sure that more than half of that was UPS's brokerage fee. Imagine if i had bought a power amp from them!? I've heard of Canadians paying 600.00 more at their door when purchasing an Outlaw amp to the UPS guy to cover brokerage fees.

Crazy...

 

[MuneebM]

As a Canadian always looking for deals online, I feel I should add to this thread.

I usually look for things on etronics because of the BorderFree option - I think its awesome and I wish all online US-based retailers offered it! But unfortunately they don't, so when recently purchasing a whole new JBL 6.1 setup and an HSU STF-2, I had to bend over backwards to get it all.

Here's what I did:
- went on a trip to California, bought the HSU STF-2 from a CompUSA for $349 US, brought it across the border (by plane) and didn't pay a penny in duties or taxes (was there for 6 days, declared only $185 CDN on my declaration form and they asked no questions)
- ordered the JBL S310II floorstanding speakers from bhphotovideo.com had the option of having them shipped via UPS for $250 US to my door in Montreal (paid $320 US for the speakers, so shipping was almost as much!). I knew that if I chose this option UPS would charge me duties/GST/PST at my door and not to mention their ridiculous brokerage fees, so the speakers would end up costing me over $650 US total at my door, which is just as much as they retail for here! So, I set up a mail box at Mailboxes, etc. in Plattsburgh (only 120 km away), had the speakers shipped to my Plattsburgh address for free, paid NY sales tax (total was $343 US), picked them up, declared them at the border and paid $100.11 CDN at the border for GST/PST/duties. Total for the speakers: $456 CDN + $100.11 CDN + $15 gas = $571.11 CDN, and they retail for over $800 CDN (plus taxes) in Montreal!
- plan to do the same as above for my JBL S36II surrounds and JBL S-CenterII center channel

Mailboxes etc. also offers mail forwarding via USPS air, which is the best option since USPS air is least likely to get stopped at customs and they don't charge broker fees.

I'm thinking of setting something up such that Canadian shoppers can have things shipped to my mailbox and I can either pick it up or have it forwarded at a small fee. Any customers interested?

 

[brentl]

Drew; I knew what you were saying, but the guy that mentions it sets it up!!

Didn,t you know that?

Brent

 

[Ian-Fl]

To me it's an absolute insult to see what goes on at the border.
I've vowed to buy only Canadian speakers. There's just too many people handling the package and taking their percentage.
Bottom line is I think we're just too small a market for anyone to take notice of.

 

[ernie.bin]

For speakers, living in canada has worked out pretty well.

I've got paradigm studios all around and a pw-2100. Not only are paradigms (and other canadian brands) priced exceedingly well up here, but I'm happy to support a canadian company.

On the side of receivers though, they're so much cheaper in the states that it's ridiculous.

Lucky I live close to the border and can hop over to pick up packages from online stores.