Originally Posted By: Socketman
As an aside I will say that a lot of times buying south of the border can be advantageous. I have bought from emotive with good results. The downside is any warranty issue's /shipping. Duty can kill you, and the exchange rate, since paypal and visa are anything but fair in that regard. Something as heavy as a receiver can be risky if you have any warranty issues. I like to buy local when I can and keep the jobs here,plus if I have any problems I get taken care of right away.

Btw glad to see you found a favorable solution, and instant gratification which is always great.

Richard


I have imported a number of items from the US, however, sometimes it can be advantageous while other times not. The issue comes as to where the product is manufactured(now almost always in the Far East)in which they automatically nail you for duty and it always depends on who is the carrier. UPS are the biggest scam artists of all the couriers because they charge inflated brokerage and other fees even when the product is made in the US where duties are supposed to be waved. This cancels out any advantage. They even charged me fees on a replacement warranty item! The thing I have noticed recently is the rising Canadian dollar has closed the gap in pricing on many items, it is just a matter of doing your homework.

Of course, there is always the warranty issues and if you notice through the resellers in the US, Onkyo in particular, won't allow any of them to sell outside of the US at all!

I essentially order from the US now only if it is an item I can't buy in Canada and it is usually from a specialty on-line company.