Are you still buying in the USA? Why?

[Reef Supplies]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

Well here's one of the biggest items I use that gets my shorts in a knot about buying things for my tank. A 1L bottle of dkh Plus from my LFS costs me $34.99. I dose 50 ml per day so I need to buy 1 bottle every 20 days. I have never been in there yet when they've had the 1 gallon jug because it's too expensive to keep it on the shelf and for some reason most times they can't get it regularly. At BRS, I buy the 7 lbs tub that makes 7-8 gallons for $17.99. For me to purchase 7 gallons of my LFS product it would cost me around $900. I just can't afford to shop local (if an hour's drive is considered local).

Originally Posted by Cal_stir

I use 100% arm and hammer baking soda, bought a 50lb bag at a local bulk food store for $50, makes about 50 gals.

$900 is a LOT of money, but as Cal_sti wrote...there are options.

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

Here is an example
2.5L Bubble Magus Dosing Container $58.99+tax+$8.94 shipping= $67.93+tax=$76
http://www.reefsupplies.ca/canada/bu...ontainer-2-5l/

Exactly the same item for $20 (select size in drop down window)
http://www.reefshops.com/liquid-storage-bucket.html
$43 total shipped looks a lot less the $76 to me. Plus i could use a $9 discount from my previous purchase.

Bubble magus NAC7 cone skimmer $248.99+tax =$278+free shipping
http://www.reefsupplies.ca/canada/bu...-cone-skimmer/

Exactly the same item for $170+$38 shipping= total $208 shipped.
http://www.reefshops.com/bubble-magu...n-skimmer.html

Where do they ship out of? Correct me if i'm wrong but I believe they ship out of Japan. Be it Japan, USA...Euro, you will have to pay duties, brokerage fees and tax on that NAC7.

This is a rough breakdown when using UPS ands shipping the NAC7...could be off a little.

duty $10.20
gst $13.09
coversion $5.20
brokerage $43.98
Disbursmant $6.61

So you need to add about $78, so if my calculations are correct your $208 NAC 7 will cost you about $285.

And you still have to buy a converter for the 220V.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by Reef Supplies

$900 is a LOT of money, but as Cal_sti wrote...there are options.



Where do they ship out of? Correct me if i'm wrong but I believe they ship out of Japan. Be it Japan, USA...Euro, you will have to pay duties, brokerage fees and tax on that NAC7.

This is a rough breakdown when using UPS ands shipping the NAC7...could be off a little.

duty $10.20
gst $13.09
coversion $5.20
brokerage $43.98
Disbursmant $6.61

So you need to add about $78, so if my calculations are correct your $208 NAC 7 will cost you about $285.

And you still have to buy a converter for the 220V.

Don't get things shipped by courier and you don't pay brokerage or duty, most times not even taxes. I buy things from the US and over seas often and just get it sent via USPS or regular air mail and have only occasionally had to pay GST but never any of the other charges you list. Maybe from a business perspective when you are buying pallets of stuff you can't avoid some of these charges but a regular consumer can. It usually takes 2-3 weeks this way but it's much cheaper. I even have over seas merchants ask me what I want them to declare the value of the merchandise is to lower the potential GST costs on my end. I really don't know how customs decides when to charge GST or not but so far I only pay it 1 in 10 purchases.

[mike31154]

I shop around, local, USA or global. On a fixed income so any $$s I can save I'll go for the best deal. It's a global economy after all. It also depends on the product I'm buying. With respect to hobby related stuff such as my sw tank, most everything is made overseas so I don't see any reason to line the pockets of a shell company that merely brings stuff in from the same place & marks it up. The beauty of the interweb. There's little incentive for me to bother having something shipped from Quebec vs from Asia since I live closer to the west coast.

With respect to items actually made in Canada (& in the US like my VorTechs)...... I like butter & prefer that it comes from somewhere within 100 Kms of where I live, so I look for Dutchmen's Dairy butter, cheese, sour cream etc., whenever shopping for dairy products. In this case it seems foolish to save a few cents or a dollar on a 1/2 lb of butter from some national supplier that has mega plants in Montreal, Toronto or another major center in eastern Canada when there are perfectly healthy cows producing what I like in BC. I know,,, the long haul truckers out there are gonna hate me.

I reckon in a few years when Asian workers start getting paid a decent wage & increasing fuel prices make shipping goods across the ocean less lucrative, there will be a major shift in how the global economy works. I still can't figure out what NAFTA means, free trade my a$$, Europe has the right idea there, just open up the borders & have a common currency, then the brokers & money traders will be out of a job, good riddance. An American dollar for all of N & S America! Sure there would be some growing pains, but in the long run it would level the playing field & true competition would result.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Reef Supplies

Where do they ship out of? Correct me if i'm wrong but I believe they ship out of Japan. Be it Japan, USA...Euro, you will have to pay duties, brokerage fees and tax on that NAC7.

This is a rough breakdown when using UPS ands shipping the NAC7...could be off a little.

duty $10.20
gst $13.09
coversion $5.20
brokerage $43.98
Disbursmant $6.61

So you need to add about $78, so if my calculations are correct your $208 NAC 7 will cost you about $285.

And you still have to buy a converter for the 220V.

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

[RuGlu6]

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.

[cwatkins]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

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.

[Seriak]

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.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Seriak

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.

[Seriak]

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

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

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by cwatkins

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.

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.