buying in canada
 

hi,
with european prices almost twice the price as the american i tought it would be handy to let my friend who is living in canada to order me some stuffwich she can bring with her to europe if she comes along this summer.
so were to buy? are there any online canadian shops or should i let B&H send the stuff to canada?
every help more then welcome
greetz

There are a few places within Canada, most notably a place called Vistek (vistek.ca) and DV Shop (dvshop.ca). But even in Canada prices are more than in the US for the exact same equipment, manufactured in the exact same place. And even with our dollar valued above the US dollar, as it was recently, prices are still higher here. They claim it is due to Canada being a "smaller market". Hmm,.. yeah.

You could buy in the US and have it shipped to Canada,.. but any of the big shippers (especially UPS/FEDEX) will incur big tax/duties and broker fees. Even with those it can work out cheaper, but I would imagine the cheaper price margin would be small.

I hope this helps!

One thing to keep in mind is that when you buy American goods and get them shipped to Canada, you still have to pay GST and PST, in addition to whatever brokerage fees there are. The first time I ordered anything from the US I neglected to look into it and was shocked when the UPS guy wanted $200 when he showed up at my door.

You can avoid brokerage fees if you ship from B&H using, I believe, UPS Worldwide Saver option. But I would do a double check with B&H or UPS before you take my word for it. I'm going from memory.

What I would recommend doing is simply making a spreadsheet and researching both B&H and the Canadian retailers. Compare the costs then add on shipping and taxes and see which one is cheaper. In some cases I have found that some products are cheaper at Canadian retailers and some are cheaper at B&H.

I'll avoid giving any feedback on Canadian retailers for the time being since I'm not sure it's in violation of the site policy to discuss vendors outside of the site sponsors, even if it's in Canada.

I've ordered from B&H many times. Usually I've had it sent by FEDEX despite the higher listed shipping cost than UPS. The charge UPS tacks on to the buyer is somewhat higher than what FEDEX adds, so in the end, UPS costs more.

I live near Vancouver, BC and I spend a quite a while finding the best place to shop. With our dollar not so strong anymore, conversion rates were a killer by American sites even with great prices in sites like B&H and DVEstore.

I was looking for a Rode NTG-2 mic and ended up buying it at DVshop.ca (thanks for the link above! Never stumbled upon it before) and it cost only $299CDN vs. the $269USD on other sites. It was over $400 on Vistek :( In fact, there was a bundle from B&H that had that mic, a shockmount, and XLR cable for the same price (actually, $269.95USD) and after converting from xe.com and shipping, it was still about the same as buying it separately from DVshop.ca. But who knows how much might be added with customs...

Bottom line is...shopping form Canada is tricky and involves a lot more research to find the best purchase.

I have bought stuff from the States before. Either to have the good ship directly to my home
or to ship it to a warehouse close by the border and pick it up myself (to avoid high shipping cost to Canada).

In various cases, I got charged with brokerage fees, state tax, plus GST and PST. So, the result is different each time. But one thing to remember if you want the stuff ship to Canada, never use UPS because they charge heavy brokerage fees. Use Fedex or USPS.

question from a Torontonian :)
 

Hey, I was just wondering if I could get your second hand opinion.
I also live in toronto and am shopping for Panasonic DVX100BP at the moment, and wondering if Vistek and DVshop are the best places here in Toronto.
I was going to buy it from B&H or EVS but when found out that the warranty will be void here, I changed my mind. Have you purchased any camera from any of these places, and what would you say about them.....?

any help would be highly appreciated.
Thanks again,

Simona

Have you thought about checking Henrys?

Henry's - Canada's Digital Camera Centre - Photo Video Digital