Canadians - Where do you purchase your own equipments in Canada?

Price change might be taking place.

I almost always buy my gear from US.

Tired of getting ripped-off (regardless of whose fault it is - it's my money). I donate my $$$ to charities not businesses.

With no duties and the high C$, it's hard to justify buying 'local'.

In US KEH is awesome, little higher than private sale, fast shipping, good customer feedback and great return policy with conservative ratings on used gear. Downside is they use UPS which charge criminal 'brokerage fees'.

B&H has great rep - ship by USPS Xpress which is very reasonable and (sometimes) has packages slip through the Cdn Customs cracks with no taxes.

If I MUST buy CDN, I hit Henry's but only as last resort.

Note that unlike Canon, Nikon's new hardware warranty is country-specific vs. NA-wide for Canon. It's one of the many reasons I switched to Canon.

Today you can buy USD for $1.1013

Sell USD for $1.0584

I'm moving fast on this rate to get a new body. I don't think it will go much higher but I might be wrong. Wanna buy a 1Ds?

the strong dollar definitely makes me want to jump on some new gear...

Bought a 1Ds Mk.II last night. The dollar is awesome right now.

Poor bastards who sell the 1D Mk.III in Canada - The price is just WAAAY off from B&H.

some things are night and day with the price diff....some are not as much.

pretty crazy....I am sooo tempted to hop on a 10-22

Blam have you done the math on teh 10-22, what is the price dif between say B&H and a can seller?

There's a guy selling a 1D Mk.II locally for $4000. A new N from the states is cheaper than that with taxes and shipping.

Some Canadians just stick to local deals and really, you are going to take a much bigger hit selling used since the used buyers buy from America or at least on par with current exchange plus "hassle".

There is bigger depreciation with buying new in Canada. Now if you are a licensed bidness and you lease your gear, who the hell cares right since the tax man takes care of you.

redone wrote in post #3280230
Blam have you done the math on teh 10-22, what is the price dif between say B&H and a can seller?

it's a around 825cdn shipped right now. from B&H.
I've been told no duties if you ship UPS express? can someone verify this?


locally you're looking at 960cdn + taxes (cheapest I've found)

with the PGJAN code +rebate (both expired now) it was 750cdn!

so you save almost 200$ BUT if you get a bunk lens, you lose almost 60$ shipping and insurung it...is it worth it?? to some, yes. makes me think about it more before jumping the gun.

I have gotten all of my gear from henrys... and they always help me out with the price... but I ordered a refurb 20D from Camera Canada because it was the only place I could find it and I heard they had good service... so when I brought the camera home it was defective and they did not have any more to exchange it with so the guy there agreed to give me a 30D for cost... I recommend both of these stores to anyone thinking of buying from them...

cameracanada is totally awesome to deal with.

This is incorrect. If the item you are shipping to Canada has duty attached to it you will be charged for it no matter what shipping company is used. Duty is levied by the Canadian government. (That being said there is no duty on Camera Equipment (with a few rare exceptions on some accessories.))

What shipping UPS Express will get you is no brokerage fees, where if you ship UPS Ground you will be nailed with usually around a $30 brokerage fee. Charged by UPS for clearing your item through customs. UPS Express and Expedited shipping have this brokerage charge built into the shipping amount so you won't be billed extra for it. If you ship USPS I believe there is a $5 brokerage charge.

On arrival you will need to pay GST, PST in my experience is *not* charged.

Hope this helps,
Kurt

Twitch1977 wrote in post #3285152
This is incorrect. If the item you are shipping to Canada has duty attached to it you will be charged for it no matter what shipping company is used. Duty is levied by the Canadian government. (That being said there is no duty on Camera Equipment (with a few rare exceptions on some accessories.))

What shipping UPS Express will get you is no brokerage fees, where if you ship UPS Ground you will be nailed with usually around a $30 brokerage fee. Charged by UPS for clearing your item through customs. UPS Express and Expedited shipping have this brokerage charge built into the shipping amount so you won't be billed extra for it. If you ship USPS I believe there is a $5 brokerage charge.

On arrival you will need to pay GST, PST in my experience is *not* charged.

Hope this helps,
Kurt

ahhh, is this from experience?

good to know.

thanks.

I don't know who is responsible for the price inequities between the US and Canada but you gotta be nuts to buy some things in Canada .. the prices at B&H will usually always beat the best Canadian price.

I've bought some less expensive things from Camera Canada over the years mostly because they have great service and quick shipping and do their best on price but on a big item such as a D series body you can save hundreds by shopping in the US.
Mike

mmahoney wrote in post #3285366
you gotta be nuts to buy some things in Canada

Sums it up quite nicely. lol