[JJ15k]

I mean no disrespect but... Canadians complaining? France is worse, especially if you re not in Paris. Only country in europe that really has a lot of electronics stores and good prices is germany (lived there for a few years).
/rant.
sorry, felt like complaining :d.
but really, I feel for you. And since their stuff only sells in the US they focus on this market and it goes on and on....
Maybe, now just maybe, some politicians will realise free trade at least MAY be a good alternative to what they are doing.

 

[familyman]

yeah the price tag on the r6a's i just bought said $638, they were on sale for $499, then i go online and see them for 299 euros, which works out to $408, but can you imagine the shipping costs of speakers that weigh 18 pounds each?

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by X-Nemesis What do you think. I get the impression that we don't really get much of the selection that other parts of the world get when it comes to electronics...DAP's from this pov. As an example...Iaudio is hardly available at any stores here...NCIX being one of the few...the u3 isn't even sold anywhere at all that I could find. The sandisk 4g flash player...nowhere...the new e200's...doubt it. Gigabeat S series...maybe. Now I know that there are a crap load of daps out there that are Available only in Asia but still...I guess with such a small population we're not seen as much of a market? And most of the US companies don't ship to us...their biggest trading partner. It's nice to be able to buy locally and pick up an extended warranty if so wanted. And not have to worry about border fees and the hassle of returns and such. Buying the 2gig U3 from Ecost would run me close to $400 last time I checked...ouch!

I thank you for writing this post. This is the biggest frusteration for me living in Canada. I myself love Canada and wouldn't trade where I live for any other place in the world, or America, mainly becasue of the great Canadian community we live in, something I fear no other country could match (I am not trying to create a flame war or insult Americans, this is my personal opinion.) You'de be kidding yourself if it's just in electronics though. It's in clothing, and pretty much almost every category you can think of for goods. As an example, my sister is a spoiled little princess (shrug, she spent over 600 usd the other day buying abercrombie clothing to show off to her friends and wear once), and we have to travel to Buffalo very often to get these goods, we now in Canada do have 1 abercrombie & 1 apple store luckily. Another thing is, my mom never lies about the boarder when we travel back, so we usually paid 15%, my mom told the guy we spent 750 dollars and he didn't send us to pay anything on it, so I guess it was honesty that lucked us, or the fact it was around 12 am. Anyway, ordering onlines a painful thing to do. I wanted to buy some gadgets & t-shirts from thinkgeek.com, but I read how some people got tariffed or import/duty taxed so bad, it costed with shipping and boarder / etc taxes over 100% what the item originally costed. Ludacris, eh? American companies should open up some audio stores and these sorts of stores in Canada, there is most certainly a market demand (look at all the Canadian audiophiles here.) We have kromer radio, bay bloor radio, and a few others, all in Ontario I believe, and all selling all audio equipment at MSRP, and most not featuring brands like beyers, although bay bloor does sell grados and sennheisers.

 

[HadenGra7]

It's not that simple opening up a store in Canada, either... they'll nail you on the imports either way.

By the way, FYI, you're allowed 200CAD (or was is 250CAD?) if you're out of the country for 48 hours, 750CAD if you're out of the country for 7 days. IMO, they should have a third extension: 1500CAD for a 20-day stay.

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadenGra7 It's not that simple opening up a store in Canada, either... they'll nail you on the imports either way. By the way, FYI, you're allowed 200CAD (or was is 250CAD?) if you're out of the country for 48 hours, 750CAD if you're out of the country for 7 days. IMO, they should have a third extension: 1500CAD for a 20-day stay.

Yes, but the price in buffalo to stay in a decent hotel for 48 hours is not worthwhile. I am fully aware of these privalleges because everytime we go on vacation my family speaks about them and how long we're staying, lol. I spent a total of 20 USD (laser pointer pen I wanted was only 9 bucks, cheapest price i'de saw yet, and an booklight for reading mind performance hacks on the trip back) wednesday, and my sister spend 600-650 USD on useless clothing that she doesn't need because her closets already full with 100's of things that are too tight on her (and this clothing is probably even tighter then her old clothing.)

Anyway, I figure your spending over 200 USD for 2 nights in hotel room fees, and once you add the price of eating three times a day in restaurants or fast food, it really cost a lot more, because on 200 USD you'de be paying something like 30 USD, or maybe it's Canadian (200 canadian, 30 canadian). Doesn't seem like it's worth 200 dollars in 2 nights in a hotel room, and eating 3 times a day (I waent to jack astors, man that was expensive.)

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by azncookiecutter Seriously, everything is overpriced up here, at least in major retail chains. Although I must admit there's this huge asian mall up here in Toronto that sometimes carries Asia's latest and greatest tech toys. Also, if you look a bit deeper, there can be great finds in stores in and around the city. Good thing about being Canadian: the Canadian dollar getting stronger and stronger, making it possible to get electronics from the States for a really good price.

You mean pacific view mall where everything is let's say "hot". Well, I have never been there, but I heard they have no problem with the police (I think they are paying them off), and I hear they sell pirated movies for $10.

(if this is inaproppriate, you can remove my post.)

 

[HadenGra7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaGWiRE Yes, but the price in buffalo to stay in a decent hotel for 48 hours is not worthwhile. I am fully aware of these privalleges because everytime we go on vacation my family speaks about them and how long we're staying, lol. I spent a total of 20 USD (laser pointer pen I wanted was only 9 bucks, cheapest price i'de saw yet, and an booklight for reading mind performance hacks on the trip back) wednesday, and my sister spend 600-650 USD on useless clothing that she doesn't need because her closets already full with 100's of things that are too tight on her (and this clothing is probably even tighter then her old clothing.) Anyway, I figure your spending over 200 USD for 2 nights in hotel room fees, and once you add the price of eating three times a day in restaurants or fast food, it really cost a lot more, because on 200 USD you'de be paying something like 30 USD, or maybe it's Canadian (200 canadian, 30 canadian). Doesn't seem like it's worth 200 dollars in 2 nights in a hotel room, and eating 3 times a day (I waent to jack astors, man that was expensive.)

Er, well.. that's the point. It's Canada Customs making sure that you're not making a profit on what you're bringing in; that the sole purpose of visiting wasn't just to purchase stuff duty-free, and that these are more souvenier/gift purchases. I don't dispute them charging you GST/PST... where they REALLY get you is the "brokerage fee", or other "import tariffs". Usually, if it's something not really available in Canada or a similar product is not available they won't charge you much. I got charged a whopping $130CAD for the import duty on my iPod (via UPS), while I only paid $13CAD for my Motorola SLVR L7. Only paid $75CAD for the import duties on a Japanese laptop, as well.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smooth_boarder AlanY, Hum... How do you figure that fraud under $5000 is not an criminal offence in Canada?

Hummm....

Fraud

380.

(1) Every one who, by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, whether or not it is a false pretence within the meaning of this Act, defrauds the public or any person, whether ascertained or not, of any property, money or valuable security or any service,
(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding fourteen years, where the subject-matter of the offence is a testamentary instrument or the value of the subject-matter of the offence exceeds five thousand dollars; or
(b) is guilty
(i) of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or
(ii) of an offence punishable on summary conviction,
where the value of the subject-matter of the offence does not exceed five thousand dollars.

From:

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/fulltoc.html

Back on topic....(more or less..

) I have to restrain myself from buying anything more from our third world selection.....

Amicalement

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadenGra7 Er, well.. that's the point. It's Canada Customs making sure that you're not making a profit on what you're bringing in; that the sole purpose of visiting wasn't just to purchase stuff duty-free, and that these are more souvenier/gift purchases. I don't dispute them charging you GST/PST... where they REALLY get you is the "brokerage fee", or other "import tariffs". Usually, if it's something not really available in Canada or a similar product is not available they won't charge you much. I got charged a whopping $130CAD for the import duty on my iPod (via UPS), while I only paid $13CAD for my Motorola SLVR L7. Only paid $75CAD for the import duties on a Japanese laptop, as well.

Well, I can deal with 15-25%, and I can see the reason for them (What you stated, the obvious, Canada doesn't want us to purchase stuff from America.) But when my stuff goes way overboard, and i'm paying $40 for slow shipping, there is no way your charging me 40-50% of what my stuff costs in stupid tariffs. I was going to spend 100-150usd at thinkgeek for a one time purchase from them, but when I realised people said they bought $20 usd in shirts / merchandise, and ended up paying like 60 Canadian dollars or something of that range, I said there is no way i'm ordering from them.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadenGra7 I got charged a whopping $130CAD for the import duty on my iPod (via UPS) (....)

UPS........

USPS......

One letter makes all the difference in the world.

Amicalement

 

[HadenGra7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genetic UPS........ USPS...... One letter makes all the difference in the world. Amicalement

Yes, UPS never again. DHL was fine, FedEx was fine (and has FANTASTIC tracking, might I say?), Purolator was fine, USPS great... just not UPS.

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadenGra7 Yes, UPS never again. DHL was fine, FedEx was fine (and has FANTASTIC tracking, might I say?), Purolator was fine, USPS great... just not UPS.

Heh, fast tracking, that's why I love fedex. I recently placed an order with indigo chapters, and they said they would deliver it to my door. I paid for premium shipping (best I could for these books, they didn't have 1 day shipping) and it stated 2-4 business days. Order placed Tuesday, processed Wednesday but I didn't find out till Thursday at like 1 am (they hardly ever update their site.) I waited for the books, and they ended up arriving Monday, without me knowing until I checked the mailbox on my street. They didn't update their site until Tuesday, and there was a box for a signatory name, and the fact they said they ship to your door, so I thought it was going to my door. Funny thing was, they never came to my door, because I was right beside the front door at the time they say they delivered the package. I don't think I'll be ordering from them again, what type of shipping does Amazon use?

 

[LFC_SL]

The thread starter obviously hasn't spent any length of time in the UK and Europe - which are last for everything, not just DAPs. Hell, some products don't even make it here

At least companies release stuff in NA irrespective of whether it'll sell

And if we're gonna talk about money...in the UK we have something called VAT - value added tax. That's 17.5% on products. Even without VAT, import, del and costs, we still pay over the odds. And that's without income tax, which comes out of the pay packet anyway

Death and taxes. The only two things you can be sure of in life

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL The thread starter obviously hasn't spent any length of time in the UK and Europe - which are last for everything, not just DAPs. Hell, some products don't even make it here At least companies release stuff in NA irrespective of whether it'll sell And if we're gonna talk about money...in the UK we have something called VAT - value added tax. That's 17.5% on products. Even without VAT, import, del and costs, we still pay over the odds. And that's without income tax, which comes out of the pay packet anyway Death and taxes. The only two things you can be sure of in life

Well, in Canada, all provinces but BC (I think atleast) pay 15% tax on all goods/food/etc. There are some exceptions I believe, but they are few.

 

[LFC_SL]

So the Canadians and British have upset so higher power

At least Blair is better than Bush. But not by much