Blame CANADA.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shepherd
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Shepherd

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I live in the void of Sherbrooke, Quebec, which prompts the question of which on-line resources are best for buying parts to assemble a computer. It's important for me to buy from Canadian sites to avoid weird tacked-on taxes, bad exchange rates, and brokerage fees. Trust me.

What are your favourite on-line retailers for computer parts and good sound cards? www.kellysmusicandcomputers.com seems to be the best site I've found for good sound cards, but there are so many computer sites that it's hard to know which are good, reliable, and cheap!

Thanks!
 
All of my favorite online retailers are not in Canada. :(

If you need the parts, you need the parts. ;) It really shouldn't matter where you purchase them from, online.
 
What do you find when you look for Canadian retailers online?

Are you subject to taxation if parts are purchased in the states and mailed to you? Whatcha lookin' for?
 
I have tried to purchase from the states in the past and believe me it's better to pay top Canadian dollar than to go to through the border hassle.

Sorry Spin but this one is Canadian and it doesn't pay to shop in the states if your Canadain (dollar is too low, customs, customs, customs, customs,customs , oh did I say customs).

I've tried many tiem with different items and sometime you get luky, but when you don't, you end up paying more than regular Canadain retail.

Just some info from a fellow Canadian.


Oh Canadaaaaaaa!


p.s
plaay until you die, it's the only way to get away from the everyday.
 
Did he mention customs?

Specs is right...theoretically, buying from the States, paying exchange, and border taxes and customs fees ($5 for CanPost, over $50 for UPS) makes States-based ordering not worth the bother.

An example would be a sound card worth, say, $200 U.S. With the exchange, it'd be roughly $310 Canadian...and say, for the sake of argument, that I can find it no cheaper than $350CAN in Canada. It's still way worth while for me to pay the extra $40-$50 Canadian to avoid paying extra shipping fees for U.S. companies, taxes at the border, UPS or Canada Post brokerage fees, premium exchange rates, money order costs at the bank (or credit card exchange rates and fees)...

...and avoid the hassle of really expensive return mail if something is defective, and weird inter-country legal stuff if there's a serious problem anywhere down the line.

Something has to be at least $50 US cheaper than I could get it here before I seriously consider ordering Stateside. And that kind of discounting -- if it's not some sort of super-special -- is kind of scary.
 
The solution is simple. Get your order together then come on down and see us. If something goes wrong and you have to return it, come on down and see us again, we'd love to have you visit.
 
Heh. Thanks for the offer, NYMorningstar. Unfortunately, I'm not in what you'd call easy commuting distance from the U.S. and don't own a car. I'm also one of those weirdos that objects to cross-border smuggling, so I'd have to pay duty on everything I brought in...making it once again more expensive than just buying "local." I'd also be paying about $60 in gas just to save $100 in computer parts, to say nothing of my time and effort.

Just FYI: I did a quick price-compare between newegg.com and a couple of Canadian sites -- Vibe and NCIX -- and $706 worth of stuff worked out to $1284 on Vibe...or .20 per dollar more than the average exchange rate. I'm not sure if there are cheaper Canadian dealers out there or not, but $706 works out to $1143 after straight exchange, to say nothing of user fees and crap like that...plus higher shipping.

Another factor: if you import stuff from the States, you pay provincial sales tax (eight per cent) as well as the federal sales tax (seven per cent). Importing from another province means you pay the federal but not provincial...

1143 x 1.15 = 1315
1284 x 1.07 = 1373

...to say nothing of brokerage fees, extra shipping and handling, and whatever crazy-ass fees the banks and credit card companies stick on to make even more money on the exchange.

So I'm still saving money ordering from a mediocre Canadian dealer over the lowest-priced (or close to it) Americans. Plus, I'm only dealing with one delivery service instead of two, making everything safer as well.

Again...any Canadians on here with online retailer recommendations?
 
So far shep, I only see Kelly's as the cheapest. If you want to go to the store level you might get lucky. Steve's warehouse is in Montreal I think. I just don't think they're worth the effort though.
But it's just a thought.
 
Spin, even you have limitations on your knowlege. I guess we have to test gidges next.LOL
 
No worries, Spinsterwun. I'm surprised -- I've been googling for Canada Computer Forum, etc. and can't find any dedicated forums for Canadian computer users. Maybe I just haven't found the right search string yet...
 
Canada...eh!!

The reason we can't find good on-line distributors here in Canada is probably because of government intervention. Those a**holes in Ottawa have gotta get their sticky fingers into everything. Hey...be thankful you're in Quebec. As far as the federal gov't is concerned, Canada stops at Ontario's western border.
That's all from B.C. :rolleyes:
 
bring a touque

hey i found this link didnt look at it real long hope it helps.. .http://www.ncix.com/canada/
hailing from freezing my ass off calgary...its frickin 30 degrees celsius below at nights here right now...springs what 2 days away?
 
It doesn't suck we just should've never signed!

Specs

p.s
WE MAKE GREAT BEAR! AND I AM CANADIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Well,... here's a little advice from a fellow Canadian who's had the pleasure of being able to live in the States most of his life...

MOVE!!!!

:)

That'll solve your problems. :p

Of course,.. if, for some unimaginable reason, you'd rather live in the Great White Frozen Tundra and pay through the nose for everything you need and then pay through the @ss in taxes, then I can suggest a reasonable alternative.

Try eBay.

I buy most of my 'puter parts off eBay and routinely get well below even "wholesale" pricing. If you go to www.eBay.ca you'll see many Canadian sellers, so you won't have to deal with as many problems with exchanges and what not. But even when buying from an American source, you can usually use things like PayPal to make the exchange much easier and shipping is usually not that much more expensive for Canadian buyers.

Just a thought.

(but I'd still opt for the whole "moving" thing instead.) :D

WATYF
 
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