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| Importing from the United States |
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| Why does it cost more to purchase goods in Canada ? |
There are a number of factors.
1. Freight charges, import duties, and customs brokerage fees to bring the goods into Canada are the obvious.
2. Buying power. Based on 2005 figures, the State of California alone has about 4 milllion more inhabitants than the entire country of Canada. With a huge population base to draw customers from, a midsize regional distributor in the U.S. will be able to negotiate better deals with their suppliers than a large distributor who services all of Canada. A small Canadian wholesaler whose annual purchases are a fraction of what his U.S. counterparts purchase will be paying more to begin with, without even accounting for the costs to bring these products into Canada.
3. Operating costs. Our standard of living is much higher than it is in the U.S. As a result, we pay higher business and property taxes. Warehouse rents are much higher. So are employee wages, employer pension plan contributions and benefits.
4. Many Canadian distributors are sitting on inventory that they bought up to a year ago.
| Importing from the U.S. |
While the idea of importing from the United States and taking advantage of the current low currency exchange rates seems appealing on the surface, there are a few factors to consider before you pull out your credit card and start shopping in the United States.
Every time a shipment comes across the border, it has to be cleared through Canada Customs by a Customs Broker. The Customs Broker does all the paperwork, classifies the product to be imported and assigns the corresponding duty rate to it and then clears it through Canada Customs. This, however, comes at a price.
On an item valued between CAN $ 100.00 and $ 200.00, UPS Customs Brokerage charge $ 29.00 + Disbursement Fees of 2.7 % (minimum $ 5.85) + a $ 4.25 C.O.D. Fee for Collecting Brokerage Charges. This is just to do the paperwork. Any import duty is on top of that. Free trade does not apply in most cases since just about anything is manufactured off-shore these days.
All these charges, including the purchase price of the goods to be imported, are subject to GST or HST. PST will be calculated based on the purchase price.
Using the resources below you can do your own calculations and figure out your total costs for importing from the U.S.
UPS USA Quick Cost Calculator
http://wwwapps.ups.com/QCCWebApp/request
Use this with caution, please. Always
ask the seller what their actual shipping charges to you are, including
preparation of Customs documentation.
UPS Canada Customs Brokerage
http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
This online calculator will help
you estimate the final cost of purchasing items from the USA and having
your order shipped to Canada.
http://www.thefinalcost.com/
While there are no doubt instances where it pays to go through the exercise of importing from the U.S., please consider the following:
Many U.S. suppliers will not ship outside of the United States. The larger and more reputable companies don't have the time to deal with preparing commercial invoices and other documentation required for international shipments. They can also not effectively handle freight damages and solve problems associated with defective goods received in a foreign country. Some U.S. suppliers won't even ship to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico for those same reasons. If something goes wrong, it becomes expensive to fix.
Assuming you can find a reputable U.S. based dealer who is willing to ship to you in Canada, what happens when your purchase arrives damaged ? Anyone who has ever gone through the process of filing a damage claim with a courier company knows it is a waste of time. Your supplier is far away in an other country and will probably tell you to deal with it yourself. Check their terms of sale or ask them before you buy. The courier company will more than likely blame any damages on "improper packaging". We have been shipping pond supplies since 1986. We know how they deal with freight claims. Even if the box arrives flattened and has the tire tracks from their delivery van on the box, they will bury you in paperwork for months and do what they can to get out of it.
Who pays for the shipping charges when you receive a damaged product ?
Who pays for Canada Customs and the brokerage fees to clear a broken item through Canada Customs ?
Who pays for the return shipping charges to send this damaged product back to the supplier in the U.S. and the brokerage fees to clear it through U.S. Customs ?
Who pays for the shipping charges to send a replacement product to you, Canada Customs and the brokerage fees to clear it through Canada Customs again ?
How long will this process take ?
What happens if the product you ordered does not bear electrical approval markings from CSA or CUL ?
When you deal with PondsOnlineCanada.com, you know that you are dealing with a reputable company with over 20 years of proven customer service. We are right here in Canada. Call us, fax us, email us, and we'll take care of it. We'll get the damaged goods picked up from you, returned to us, and we will file the freight claim and hope to get a settlement. Not you. And yes, we will promptly ship out a replacement at our cost.
What happens when the product breaks down within the warranty period ? See above. Getting the defective product back to your supplier in the U.S. is your problem. So is paying all the freight bills back and forth, US Customs, Canada Customs and all brokerage fees. Canadian distributors and dealers will not honour warranties on products purchased from outside Canada. You're on your own.
To ensure that all manufacturers' warranties will be honoured in Canada, we purchase everything we sell from Canadian distributors or Canadian branch offices of U.S. or off-shore manufacturers. PondsOnlineCanada.com is an authorized warranty depot for all product lines that we carry. If a product we sold fails within 30 days, we pay all freight charges associated with returning the defective product to us and sending a replacement to you. If it fails after 30 days but still within the warranty period, we ask that you pay to return the defective product to us, and we will cover the freight charges to ship a replacement product to you.
Things break down, no matter how good the product or how long and comprehensive the warranty. Shipping defective products back to the U.S. and dealing with Customs back and forth takes time. How do your fish feel about having their pump gone for several weeks or more while your U.S. supplier waits to get it back from you before assessing if it is even eligible for warranty coverage and then maybe shipping out a new one ?
Here at PondsOnlineCanada.com we do what we can to expedite the warranty process. Whenever possible, we will ship out a replacement right away rather than wait for the defective product to be returned first.
Any questions ... please contact us.
More reading on this subject:
http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/sept07/import.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/cross-border-shop.html
Why buy from us ? Best service and warranty support in Canada. Ask our customers. Largest product selection in Canada. We sell all the major brands. Fast shipping from 16 Canadian distribution centres. All warranties handled in-house. In business since 1986. Selling online since 1997. Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Thousands of happy customers from coast to coast. No Provincial Sales Tax on orders from outside of BC.
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