Donutz

Even with shipping, taxes, etc?

Hey, if you can manage it, please do a favour for your fellow canucks (see, I even spell 'favour' correctly ): If you end up buying a board mail-order from the US, post the total costs involved. It'd be interesting to see how it stacks up once you've added in everything.

__________________

Illegitimi non carborundum

Mountain Days: 30

zenboarder

I bought a board from evo gear that was on clearance... Last years park star for 240, free shipping to a PO box, then paid 60$ via USPS to get it sent up to Canada and paid another 10$ of GST. All in all it was about 315 cnd. If I could have found the board locally it would have been cheaper to buy it here but since I was looking for a wide board and none of the shops in Canada had any I had to resort to ordering from the US. Frankly though people were clearing out the park stars for ~300 or so locally but they just didn't have the right sizing.

Lupin

I got a Capita Scaremaster from The House for 239.99 and the shipping was 36 dollars. When it got here I paid 30 dollars in taxes and duty. So overall the cost was approximately 306 dollars. And I got a free pair of dragon sunglasses.

In Canada a new stairmaster is 399 + tax(ONT)=450. So I saved about 150 from getting the board in the states. Although, the 399 price tag is for a 2011 model and the Scaremaster is the 2009 model. But I actually prefer the 2009 model since I like the core in it better. So overall it worked out for me. The House ships USPS so when the board got here all I paid was tax plus a 5 dollar brokerage charge (for some reason no duty).

I also got boots and bindings from evo gear. Their shipping rate includes all duties/taxes/brokerage, I paid 60 dollars for shipping and nothing when the stuff got to my door. Worked out really well since I would have paid 60 dollars in taxes if I bought in Canada and twice as much for the actual gear.

zenboarder

While I did the same thing thats not really a fair comparison since the price was for a three year old model. Frankly unless you are buying gear thats on fire sale pricing you are going to come out on the losing end of the equation buying from the states. You probably didnt pay duty because the board was made in the US and was covered under NAFTA.

Lupin

Actually it says right on the board that it is made in Austria.

I think they didn't charge duty because they thought it was shipped as a gift since the sunglasses were listed as a gift.

But duty on snowboards (not made in the US) is supposed to be 7.5 percent.

Even on new gear it is sometimes cheaper to buy in the states. On everything you buy you should just do a quick comparison, it doesn't take long.

For example, the stepchild reverse latchkey is 450 in Canada and 319 in the states. The shipping from evo for that board is about 70 dollars. Since with evo you pay nothing when the board arrives, the total cost is about 390 dollars, which is significantly cheaper than buying in Canada.

Alternatively, a k2 WWW in Canada is 399, while in the states I believe it costs somewhere around 379 so in that case, it is better to buy in Canada.

My advice is to figure out what you want to buy and then look around for where it will be cheapest overall, including US stores. Unless you are supporting a little mom and pop store.

In my case the snowboarding store near me is sporting life and trust me, they do not need my help. Plus they pretty much carry exclusively burton and I didn't want a burton board.

zenboarder

Yeah I just always find it is such a nightmare with all the dumb rules about XYZ not shipping brands ABC to Canada and the whole crap with the UPS fiasco. Take places like dogfunk absolutely unusable since the shipping is often in the hundreds of dollars.

shredder07

support local boardshops and buy local!

happydude

if you are looking for a Nitro Rook this season Empire has the austin smith one off pro model(a rook with different graphics) for $399 canadian with free shipping in canada. where as the rook is $549

Nitro Austin Smith Pro Series 156 | Empire Online Skate & Snowboard Shop

i couldn't find it cheaper anywhere, even in the states it is priced at $479!
maybe they priced it wrong but it went through at $399 when i bought one.

Zee

Seattle Snowboard Connection no longer ships to Canada...

Welcome to the Seattle Snowboard Connection

"To better serve our domestic customers we are no longer shipping outside the United States"

Too bad, I liked that place... business must be good.

__________________

The Never Summer SL-R is the best all mountain board I have been on... Ever.
Buy it... Ride it... Love it...

robert_burnett

Boards, boots, bindings, jackets, pants, goggles just went on sale at Freeride Boardshop | Canada's source for Snowboards,Skateboards, Longboards, Skate Shoes, & Sunglasses.