US vs Canadian DVD pricing (1 Viewer)

[Chad E]

Although I don't buy from Amazon.com as much as some others seem to, I don't recall ever having been charged the GST and the administration fee on a shipment from Amazon.com in recent years. I might have been charged the GST back a number of years ago, but I also might be confusing them with another vendor.

I always thought that was because Amazon.com ships orders to Canadian addresses from a distribution centre on this side of the border. Is that the case?

 

[Gord Lacey]

I'm pretty sure that's correct. I haven't been charged GST or the $5 fee either.

Gord

 

[Richard_Gregory]

Well, if you want to know how bad things could be, consider that in the UK, imports from anywhere not in the EU valued £18 or over (ie, very roughly $35 US dollars) get slapped with a 3.5% import duty charge (for DVD's anyway, this varies according to the type of goods) and then 17.5% VAT (our dumb euro tax, one of the "benefits" of being in the EU) on top of that. And then the British Royal Mail charge you £4 (about $10) on top of THAT for administering the package (they pay the taxes and then reclaim the money)...and they ask you to trek off to the post depot to pay and collect.

So we have a constant battle to decide whether to order lots of small packages to save on taxes by keeping under the import allowance (but spend more on shipping), or save on shipping and have large packages that get charged taxes. And of course for something like a $40 boxset you can't avoid the taxes at all.

So be grateful, things could be a lot worse!

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Does Amazon.com protect your orders with bubblewrap or that popcorn foam stuff when you order box sets?


I had a horrible experience with Amazon.de last year in which I had to have them reship my item 6 times (no exagerration!) and in the end, since their policy was not to use bubblewrap or any form of protective packaging, I had to settle with a refund after recieving so many damaged and dented boxes from being sent from overseas for weeks in transit in a cardboard box being banged around. Does Amazon.com do the same thing - just toss a box set in a box by itself and ship out? I'm very picky about getting my boxsets with dented corners or marks of any sort on the front and that's why I've never ordered online... but it looks like I have no choice anymore. It's that or overpriced sets with bilinguial packaging and missing features.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

My experience is the same as Joseph's. Amazon.ca has shipped things in just cardborad, which for some flimsier box sets means they are crushed by the time they arrive.

 

[Al Shing]

Sometimes you can get a good deal in Canada. When I was in Vancouver in July, the HMV store on Robson had the 24 Season Two DVD box set for $29.99 CDN.
It still costs around $57 at Best Buy in the US.