Canadians buying from the USA (montrealers?)

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
Just a quick question for any Canadians who have purchased gear from the states.

I am in Montreal, and it has been some time since i've made a major purchase of over $1000 from American companies so i don't recall everything.

If you live in Canada, and you bought something from either spec comm, texas.. or BH photovideo, do you guys remember how much you had to pay in taxes once the item crossed the borders?

I understand that electronics are duty free, but right now i am debating if i should purchase a camera from a US company online, or go to a local dealer. The big thing is, the dealer may be quite a bit more expensive and i could care less about the Canadian Warranty, all I want is the best deal out there.

So, if you live in Quebec and have purchased, your input would be very valuable to me right now, but if you are elsewhere in the Country, I would ask you too to share your information with me so i can make an educated decision.

Thank you!

-Jon
 
Been maybe 20 years since I dealt with importing. I used to import a lot of electronics parts and , no, they were not duty free. maybe now, not then. At that time I think the exchange rate was around 85c/dollar then I'd have duty and the shipping weight which killed me.

My rule of thumb then was to double the US price and that's what I'd pay.

But since the C dollar is up, but I doubt elec parts are duty free, maybe try importing a cheap <100$ item and see what your costs are. Shipping weight is the big one. GST and PST and customs/excise tax or duty or whatever, all adds up.

Or maybe even ask the supplier what to expect, or not.
 
We've been buying stuff from the States almost every month. Most electronics and parts, camera equip is duty free but you pay GST/PST and if shipped by UPS a brokerage fee. Sometimes the brokerage is outrageous...from $80 to $300 + up. If there is a US Postal option, we prefer that , although the tracking is inefficient. BH Photo and most companies use only UPS, FedEx DHL. You can download the CDN UPS Brokerage Guide at UPS.ca. If you act as your own broker, you can avoid the brokerage fee. You have to inform UPS that you will act as your own broker. That usually involves going to a cargo terminal and filing your own import forms. It usually wastes a day!!!

If you travel to the US with your equipment, Get an Identification of Articles for Temporary Exportation Card from Canada Border Services. It helps to carry a copy of your invoice with your equipment to prove you paid GST/PST or you may end up paying again!

Sometimes the U.S. warranty is void if you have no US address.
 
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Basically, what i want to know is if i purchase an HMC150 from one of these companies, what would i be expected to pay in GST and PST,

If the camera is 3500$, what would the final price be?
 
Generally take the invoice total after you checkout ( US Price including shipping ) x Exchange Rate ( usually add 2 to 3% than the going rate) , around 1.25 to 1.30 = Total x GST and PST ( in Quebec 12.875 ) = Canadian Import Price. Allow additional $80 for brokerage fee!! or act as your own broker to save $80.

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/sh...rance.html?srch_pos=4&srch_phr=brokerage+rate

$3500 x 1.25 = 4375
x 12.875 GST/ PST = 563 tax
= $4938
+ $80 = $5018. CDN

Current Canadian Dealer Price AG-HMC150 $4700 x 13% $611 =$5311.

Not much difference between importing and CDN dealer price !
 
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apparently one of the members here picked it up from spec comm at 3220. That makes almost
$4092 Canadian dollars, then tax is 4618.85 After taxes. That's almost a thousand dollars difference.

and the canadian price was 4800.
 
Based on $3500, not much difference. You have to do your own number crunching, since there are too many variables such as price, exchange rate, shipping rate etc. When the exchange rate was lower, better deals were had. But with a 25- 30% rate, far fewer. If the difference is only 500-600 sometimes you can make a deal with the Canadian dealer to go lower. Not having a Canadian warranty can make the cost much higher, in the long run. But if there's a big difference then it might be worth it to buy stateside.
 
ill get the final prices from the US retailers, all in, and then ill see if i can bargain around MTL
 
You could fly to NYC and pick it up for cheaper than that. Damn $1000 bucks


"f the camera is 3500$, what would the final price be?"

Maybe if you don't print the receipt on the box, you could maybe beat the system....
 
huh?
Click to expand...

I think he's saying it would be cheaper to fly to NY get it there, fly back and just don't claim the purchase. I'm not sure if that is wise though.

Also, be very careful of shipping with UPS, they're the biggest ripoff when it comes to collecting duties/tarriffs and their brokerage fees.

Have you tried any places in Montreal? Norbec or Inter Cite Video?
 
"huh?"


Yes that's what I meant. It would still be cheaper if you flew. I'd say shop around and look for what's cheap. Not to mention you could break her in on the way back. :)




"Also, be very careful of shipping with UPS, they're the biggest ripoff when it comes to collecting duties/tarriffs and their brokerage fees."


Not sure about the fees, but they have great service when it comes to replacing broken items.
 
If you are already looking over the boarder you might as well look in the UK too. The deal I'm looking at right now is going to save me over 4K vs buying the same thing(s) Canadian.
 
Yes I agree UPS is a ripoff! COD fees are ridiculous its wack! Go with FedEx or USPS instead...
We need a BHPhotoVideo for Canada...Vistek and Henrys still not as competitive in pricing.
 
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