Well, it was a deal...until I had to have it shipped to Canada. But it would have been a real deal if I lived in the U.S.! Why do they make these things so difficult...?
Last year around this time I had bought a new camera bag. I had ordered it through the Walmart.com website and had it delivered to a store in Duluth, MN where we were going to be passing through. The whole thing worked out great, and I paid a total of $24 for the bag.
I had to buy it through the U.S. because at the time I couldn't find anywhere who sold this particular bag in Canada. And I tried contacting the company through various means but got no response. Terrible customer service.
Anyhow, the bag has been exactly what I wanted. Until a couple of weeks ago when the zipper broke!
They make you jump though hoops for warranty claims including paying the shipping back to them. Not worth it, so I started looking for another one. Despite the poor customer service and the zipper that lasted less than a year, I wanted to buy the same bag again.
This time, I see on Amazon.com that the bag is only $14.10. What a great deal!
But of course when I include the shipping to Canada and the currency conversion, it comes to about $23...not such a great deal anymore! Plus, you never really know until you get the item if the customs people might end up adding some kind of other tax to your order in order to get it over the border.
Strangely, this identical bag is actually available on the Canadian Amazon website, but they want twice the price!!
I don't get it. But some things are beyond understanding, so I ordered it through the U.S. website and still saved a couple of dollars! Hopefully.
We actually have our own mailing address here in Saskatchewan now (the first step in becoming Saskatchewan residents) so we'll see how long it takes to show up.
This drives me! We are from the UK, now happily living in NS but what irritates me beyond all measure is the cost of something in Canada comparable to the same thing in the US! Do they really think we earn that much more???!!!
ReplyDeleteNot sure that we earn that much more but I do believe that our taxes are much higher. All the same, the difference in prices should really only be whatever the exchange rate is between the two countries. At least in my opinion!
DeleteKevin have it shipped to our address and I will hold it until you are in the States and then get one of those &2.00 shipping boxes at the post office. Must be at a US address, for a couple days, last time I sent out stuff to Canada it was $20 instead of $2. Sam & Donna..
ReplyDeleteThanks Sam and Donna, but we want to have it for when we head to South Korea in October and all we will be doing is changing planes in Seattle on Oct. 2nd so it won't work. But thank you very much for the offer.
DeleteThe price to bring it in depends on where the bag was made. If it's China then it will be 8.5% plus the local 5% PST and the federal 5%. If it was made in the USA then there is no duty. Let us know when it arrives.
ReplyDeleteNot sure where it is made but we will let everyone know when we receive it if there are any additional charges.
DeleteIs your new Cabri address an actual PO box in a post office---or a private box at a commercial mail forwarding service? In the US, fulltime RVers greatly prefer the latter, because they accept packages from UPS and FedEx, whereas post offices generally do not. The reason I'm asking is, what if Amazon USA ships the bag using UPS?
ReplyDeleteOur address is an actual PO box in the post office. This particular time, Amazon USA is shipping via Landmark Global, so who knows if it will be accepted by the post office. If not, the local town grocery store has an agreement with UPS to hold parcels for pickup. Not sure if the same will happen with Landmark. I guess we'll see!
DeleteAlso, keep in mind that the $14.10 price includes free shipping ONLY on orders over $35. Otherwise the US shipping charge for that order would be $5.74.
ReplyDeleteKevin included the shipping in the above price of $23 which also includes the exchange rate but that doesn't include any additional cost if customs adds something to it.
Delete