So I’m looking for a new grill and I ran into the Napoleon Prestige 500 series. It’s definitely a lot of grill, but I noticed it’s made in Canada. The price as stated in CAD is the same as in the US, but in USD, i.e. if I were to buy the grill in Canada, the price shown to me is $1250CAD, but if I go back to the grill place around my house, its listed at $1250 USD. Obviously, I want to buy in Canada because I get a ~20%ish discount on the exchange rate. For Big Macs, not a big deal, but for 1200, that a good amount of savings. I called a couple of places to see if they would ship to a US address and I was told a flat no and they wouldn’t explain why. I looked online and there are many services who will ship to a US address so that Canadians can drive and pick it up, or, some re-ship. I sense a new business opportunity. So why can’t they ship to me? I’ll pay the extra shipping. It’s can’t be 20% more to cross the border, can it?
This is in GQ and mine is an IMHO answer - but: I imagine the sellers have an agreement with the manufacturer to sell in Canada only. Perhaps precisely for the reason you want to buy in Canada. If Canadian sellers with their currency advantage could sell in the U.S., then this would quickly erode on-line sales of US retailers - and thereafter limit the manufacturer’s sale price to U.S> resellers or even their ability to be in those stores at all.
In the beginning of the century I bought many of my books in Canada, the C$ was 60 cents or somesuch, also many books were available in paperback in Canada where they were hc only in the U.S. Then all of a sudden shipping charges rose dramatically, and ended this for me.
Shipping things across the border usually requires a freight forwarder. When the USPS does it they charge $5, when FedEx does it they charge $35. Plus it’s going to be heavy and very likely expensive to ship.
I’m not so sure there will be a saving to realize, in the end.
Yes, when you compare FOB and store prices, you have to factor shipping into the price. I used to buy speed parts from a big store that would match JEGS and Summit Racing prices… but with a shipping factor applied. Seemed entirely fair to me.
Plus the cross-border thing, here. Both border laws and sales regions, as mentioned above.
Napoleon has a world-wide distributor network - it’s not the least bit unusual for vendors to protect local markets by barring distributors from selling out of territory. And yes, they check.
My company was dropped as a distributor for a vendor due to this very issue.
In addition, since you would be importing the grill yourself, you’d be responsible for any customs duties incurred. The Custom and Border Patrol Agency would like you to think twice about this (but of course they would.)
I am currently in the process of granting FedEx Power of Attorney so they can delivery my champagne for me that I ordered while in France. Total shipping costs are about $250 for 6 bottles of wine and a decent amount of paperwork. And my poor champagne is probably much much warmer than it should be right now.
eta: that cost includes the duties, shipping, and paperwork / legal fees. I also avoided having to pay around $60 in VAT that I would have been charged if I had just bought it in France.
A ***new ***business opportunity? Or last one in to an already crowded field that everybody but you already knew about?
In general, US prices, even with the exchange rate, are much lower than in Canada. Not only that, but the selection south of the border dwarfs any Canadian selection… 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border, and typically US purchases offer free shipping to the USA. So it makes sense for Canadians to buy something, have it shipped for free to a border town, and then drive across and pick it up. Make it a 48-hour weekend getaway, and your duty-exempt limit is $800 per person.
Shipping across the border is a crap-shoot. Different shippers pick different customs brokers, whose charges can range unpredictably from nominal ($5, say) to more than the price item being imported. So it’s often not worth it to have the item imported by the shipper. US customs are just as fussy, so I imagine the same applies shipping from Canada to the USA - you could get double your bill handed to you for duties. If I want a book from Amazon.com, say, it’s no longer a bargain if the $12.99 price suddenly jumps by $10 shipping and $5 brokerage fee.
Plus, if you buy in Canada, you will pay GST and PST (or HST) depending on which province. (Buy in Alberta if you can, no PST). GST is 5%, PST can typically be 7% or 8%, and HST can range well above 10% in some provinces - near Euro-VAT territory. (But hey, our medical care is free…) To some extent these taxes may be refundable if you prove the item left the province/country, I think.
There’s not much of a demand for delivery depots on the Canadian side of the border - the only real lucrative item is much cheaper pharmaceuticals (our health agencies ***ARE ***allowed to negotiate with big pharma). However, even carrying back your own valid prescriptions in bulk is illegal AFAIK.