These bots are getting dumber... or is it just me? :lol:

They ship from mainland China, i placed 3 orders from them already.
All i paid was item cost and shipping and that's it.
Plus they give me $9 gift cert every time.
My 220V converter was $10 and i can plug many things in it before i reach 200W limit

Speaking of crossing the border... i heard that it will soon be $200 duty free instead of $50 per person for less then 24hrs in USA.
Does anybody know when this will be implemented ?
Thx.

It's been un-official for years. We've been bringing back stuff over the border for 2 or 3 years and usually the limit is around $200 per person for under 24 hrs.

I.E. If I buy a $550 home theatre equipment and bring it back, as long as there was 3 people in the car, no taxes, no duty. Just a thank you, have a nice day.

As of June 1, travellers coming back after 24 hours away will be able to bring in $200 worth of goods free of duty or taxes, an increase from just $50.

People gone more than 48 hours will be allowed $800 in duty-free goods, double the present $400 allowance.

There is no longer any specified seven-day limit on duty-free purchases.

Thank you for that, can you post a link where you getting this info from please?
That's good news, too bad shop owners will not benefit from this.

I can't find the original site I got that from but here is one.

http://www.crossbordershopping.ca/bl...s-set-increase

I think the underlying reason that reefers are so hell-bent on pricing is that this is a HOBBY.

Hobbies consume disposable income and draw the ire (and wrath) of significant others. The less we spend on this sort of 'non-necessary' thing, the less guilty (on some subconscious level) we feel about it.

I've owned a hobby-related (non-reef) business in the past and I saw exactly the same thing.

Of course there's more to the story. The US is a HUGE market (more than 10x ours) and the pricing the vendors receive in Canada is NOT the same the US vendors get. I bought a Honda generator for $900 out of the US and they could still afford to ship it (within the US) for free. The same generator here in Calgary was over $1300. The Calgary vendor is not pocketing an extra $400 over the US vendor; he's paying more for the goods. How much more ? Is it $400 more ? I don't know.

So...add all this up and it's pretty easy to see the allure of shopping state-side. People need to be aware of the costs of getting product up here -which can be significant- and inform themselves on warranty issues.

Caveat Emptor !

Each border crossing has its own "declared overage" level dependant on a number of factors including staffing levels, traffic and other operational considerations. In other words, if you declare within a certain amount above the amount you are able to bring back duty free, the CBSA inspector will still waive you through. This is due to the fact that it simply isn't viable to collect small amounts of taxes when you've got a serious backlog of people waiting to cross the border. Policy wise, it encourages people to make honest declarations. There is actually no hard and fast number - only a guideline - because the individual CBSA inspector you deal with retains the discretion to impose duties/taxes or conduct a secondary search for any other reason under the Customs Act such as non-declaration of goods or immigration concerns.

For Peace Arch/Douglas and Pac Hwy/Truck the amount is usually around $200 per person. So even if you only hop across to pick up a package, you aren't legally entitled to any amount duty free (since you have to be away for a minimum of 24 hrs), but you'll still get through if you declare under $200. If there's a staffing shortage and a huge border wait, you may be able to get away with up to $300 or more of declared overage. Smaller crossings like Pt. Roberts generally have much lower declared overage amounts.

I was just about to make a large purchase of various things from BRS, but after reading this thread, I'm going to buy my Hanna checkers from Reef Supplies instead. With the Canreef discount, they're $6 more per unit, but there's no customs and all that other hassle, and plus I'll feel better buying from Canada. I'm still buying my bulk chemicals through BRS, however. You can't beat those prices.

So suicide? Nah. Smart? Maybe. He makes a good point.