Update on my receiver purchase...
The Denon 4311 is now available locally (in Canada) for $2200 CDN MSRP vs. $2000 US MSRP. I can purchase one from a US retailer who's willing to sell and ship to Canada for $1500 plus shipping - so probably around $1600 CDN after factoring in shipping and exchange. They don't have it in stock so I'd have to wait plus I might get charged around 6% for duty charges (which, according to NAFTA, should be 0%). Plus, the 1 year manufacturer warranty would be voided.
Or I can buy it locally for $1900 CDN (all-in, no shipping required). The 1 year warranty would still be valid and I can pick it up immediately as they have it in stock.
What do you guys think? Should I save myself $300 and order from the US or purchase locally? I don't think I can get them below $1900 since they've still got quite a bit of old stock (Denon 4310s) that they are trying to sell and they don't want to provide too much of an incentive to buy this year's model over the older discounted model.
Help!
Bryan
With the dollar virtually at par with the US the prices on this stuff vis-a-vis Can./US is in now quite unacceptable. I have a couple of friends in the CE retail business who state quite clearly that the distributors/manufacturers in Canada will not accept the low markup that exists in the US, hence higher prices, despite the dollar. The worst of these is Onkyo(these clowns won't even allow their authorized resellers to sell in to Canada).
Incidentally, NAFTA and the rules re: duty exemption, only applies to products actually manufactured in the US. Pretty well all this stuff, regardless of the company, is manufactured in the Far East, including Denon, so you will have to pay duty(usually around 6.5%) plus the brokerage charges(based on the value of the item) and , of course, shipping, plus the sales tax which you would pay anyway if you bought it locally. Then there is the warranty issue purchasing it from the US.
Unfortunately, when you add it all up, even with the significantly lower initial price offered from the US based shipper, you, more often than not, end up spending as much or more as opposed to just paying the higher price locally. Usually now I will only import from the US if it is a product that I just can't get here at all that has no distributor.
I have done quite a bit of importing from the US over the years and you really have to do your homework here to determine if it is worth it.
