Best place in Canada...

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to find a good place to buy equipment. What are some of the better Canadian places? There anen't many option locally I think since I'm on an island, so online may be a better option for me.

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers I've been using.

Thanks,
Jeff

--
--------------------------------
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=17960
http://www.pbase.com/jhsinger
D60, 28-135IS, 50mm f1.4, 75-300IS

jsinger986 said:

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Click to expand...

Shipping from Canada to the US wasn't too terrible, so I assume going the other way won't be too bad either..

Plus, aren't taxes crazy over in Canada? 15% or something like that? (Correct me if I'm wrong, I have no idea..)
--
jason: http://www.jcwphoto.net

Shipping usually isn't to bad when going from the US to Canada. It's the insane brokerage fees you can end up paying to shipping companies that really get you.

GST is 7% and covers all of Canada. On top of that you have PST (Provincial Sales Tax) which varies from province to province. And in Alberta, they don't even have any, lucky buggers. Of course, if you order from out of province, you don't have to pay PST. ;-)

http://www.photocreative.com/
http://www.cameracanada.com/
http://www.vistek.ca/
http://www.henrys.ca/

There are more of course, but I can't think of them off the bat right now.

Jason C Wu said:

jsinger986 said:

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Click to expand...

Shipping from Canada to the US wasn't too terrible, so I assume
going the other way won't be too bad either..

Plus, aren't taxes crazy over in Canada? 15% or something like
that? (Correct me if I'm wrong, I have no idea..)
--
jason: http://www.jcwphoto.net

Click to expand...

Online retailers, you can try

Camera Canadas http://www.cameracanada.com/
Henrys http://www.henrys.com/

Locally (In Vancouver) you can try out Broadway Cameras
Kerrisdale Cameras, or even Lens and Shutters.

However, I noticed that pricing in Canada is still high,
so I still end up purchasing from Adorama or other
US retailers. (even factoring duty, taxes and shipping)

Hope that helps.

jsinger986 said:

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to
find a good place to buy equipment. What are some of the better
Canadian places? There anen't many option locally I think since
I'm on an island, so online may be a better option for me.

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Thanks,
Jeff

--
--------------------------------
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=17960
http://www.pbase.com/jhsinger
D60, 28-135IS, 50mm f1.4, 75-300IS

Click to expand...

I'm an Atlantic Canadian and, yes, taxes are an obnoxious 15% here. Less in other parts of the country but I believe even halcyon Alberta has to pay the 8% GST.

BTW, I usually buy at B&H rather than at a Canadian dealer although my D60 is a recent Canadian purchase. The Canadian dealers, even henrys.com and vistek.ca just don't have the stock of the US merchants.

I avoid UPS ground shipments at all costs as the brokerage rates are murder! Best is air parcel post. Customs will levy the taxes and charge an additional flat $5.00 CDN as a handling fee. Don't believe it can be done any cheaper . . . not legally anyhow. Of course it can be done faster.

jsinger986 said:

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to
find a good place to buy equipment. >

Click to expand...

Hi,

My in-laws live in Toronto and they highly recommend Henry's in Toronto: http://www.henrys.com/ They have a website and you can call them too. I hear they are really good.

Also, I know Toronto is not close t you, but if you are ever there, they often have huge camera shows there.

Lauren

--
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jsinger986 said:

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to
find a good place to buy equipment. What are some of the better
Canadian places? There anen't many option locally I think since
I'm on an island, so online may be a better option for me.

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Thanks,
Jeff

--
--------------------------------
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=17960
http://www.pbase.com/jhsinger
D60, 28-135IS, 50mm f1.4, 75-300IS

Click to expand...

Hi Jeff:
Welcome to the Great White North! Try the following:
Toronto - http://www.henrys.com
Vancouver - http://www.leoscamera.com
Toronto - http://www.vistek.ca/default.asp

I don't know their website but Lens & Shutter should also be considered.

Although not a retailer, you may find some useful links at the following site:

http://www.photonorth.com/

Happy shooting! Your camera is going to be very busy on the Island.

Regards,

Jim

--
D60
20-35
28-135IS
70-200 2.8L
380EX

The key to avoiding brokerage fee is to avoid
UPS like the plague. I stick with Fedex, or US Air
if I order from the States.

As for PST, you'll be dinged for it if you order from the
States. However, if you order from a company located
outside your home province (in another province), you
can get away w/ no PST (unless they have the HST).
The reasoning behind this is that YOU the consumer
are responsible for remitting the PST to your provincial
treasury.

Correct me if I'm wrong

Kelvin B. said:

GST is 7% and covers all of Canada. On top of that you have PST
(Provincial Sales Tax) which varies from province to province. And
in Alberta, they don't even have any, lucky buggers. Of course, if
you order from out of province, you don't have to pay PST. ;-)

http://www.photocreative.com/
http://www.cameracanada.com/
http://www.vistek.ca/
http://www.henrys.ca/

There are more of course, but I can't think of them off the bat
right now.

Jason C Wu said:

jsinger986 said:

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Click to expand...

Shipping from Canada to the US wasn't too terrible, so I assume
going the other way won't be too bad either..

Plus, aren't taxes crazy over in Canada? 15% or something like
that? (Correct me if I'm wrong, I have no idea..)
--
jason: http://www.jcwphoto.net

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

jsinger986 said:

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to
find a good place to buy equipment. What are some of the better
Canadian places? There anen't many option locally I think since
I'm on an island, so online may be a better option for me.

Click to expand...

Welcome to Canada eh.
Trust the others, and avoid UPS!!!

The links previously posted are good. Also note that vistek.ca has a store in Calgary, dont know if they ship from there for western orders or not.

My favorite store in Calgary is The Camera Store http://www.thecamerastore.com
They often have better prices than Vistek, and the staff are great.

Steve

To be honest, I've found Fedex to be as bad as UPS when it comes to brokerage fees. US and Canada Post seems to be the best, but that's jsut my opinion. I have found, that when ordering within Canada, that Canada Post seems to be the fastest, at least where I live. It could be because of the fact that the shipping companies have to out-source in order to get anything delivered where I am, while Canada Post has outlets everywhere no matter how small a place you live.

It's normal to get charged GST for an item from the US going to Canada, but I've never been charged PST. However, I did not know that about remitting to a provincial treasury, though I highly doubt anyone actually does it. Prices are certainly cheaper pretty much anywhere other than the province I live in, whether USA or Canada, which is fine with me since paying shipping is usually much cheaper than paying PST, as long as evil brokerage fees don't come into play. ;-)

Ivan M. said:

The key to avoiding brokerage fee is to avoid
UPS like the plague. I stick with Fedex, or US Air
if I order from the States.

As for PST, you'll be dinged for it if you order from the
States. However, if you order from a company located
outside your home province (in another province), you
can get away w/ no PST (unless they have the HST).
The reasoning behind this is that YOU the consumer
are responsible for remitting the PST to your provincial
treasury.

Correct me if I'm wrong

Click to expand...

jsinger986 said:

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to
find a good place to buy equipment. What are some of the better
Canadian places? There anen't many option locally I think since
I'm on an island, so online may be a better option for me.

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Thanks,
Jeff

Click to expand...

Hi Jeff
Welcome to the Island paradise.

Unfortunately, the camera stores in Victoria run out of steam after Kerrisdale and Lens and Shutter. Broad Street Used Cameras is worth a rummage, especially for used gear.

I checked availability and pricing and ended up oredering my S2 from tallyns in the US, and swallowed the taxes and brokerage fee.

--
Steph's Digitals
http://www.stephsdigitals.com

Seems to me that in Ontario, Revenue Canada collects the GST for the feds (7%) AND the PST (8%) by agreement with the Ontario revenue people......

Kelvin B. said:

It's normal to get charged GST for an item from the US going to
Canada, but I've never been charged PST. However, I did not know
that about remitting to a provincial treasury, though I highly
doubt anyone actually does it. Prices are certainly cheaper pretty
much anywhere other than the province I live in, whether USA or
Canada, which is fine with me since paying shipping is usually much
cheaper than paying PST, as long as evil brokerage fees don't come
into play. ;-)

Ivan M. said:

The key to avoiding brokerage fee is to avoid
UPS like the plague. I stick with Fedex, or US Air
if I order from the States.

As for PST, you'll be dinged for it if you order from the
States. However, if you order from a company located
outside your home province (in another province), you
can get away w/ no PST (unless they have the HST).
The reasoning behind this is that YOU the consumer
are responsible for remitting the PST to your provincial
treasury.

Correct me if I'm wrong

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
biggles

Not really sure what it is your trying to say. I know I had mentioned that I don't have to pay PST if I order from a province other than the one I live in. Did it have something to do with that?

colin britton said:

Seems to me that in Ontario, Revenue Canada collects the GST for
the feds (7%) AND the PST (8%) by agreement with the Ontario
revenue people......

Click to expand...

Go re-read my message. I explicitly said that you, the taxpayers are
responsible if you order a good from a corporation in another province
(and I'll add: that it has no permanent establishment in the
province you reside in).

So yes. If you live in Ontario, and you buy from Ontario, the
corporation is responsible for remitting the PST as it is registered
in that province.

However, if you live in BC, the corporation resides in Ontario
(with no permanent establishment in BC), then the corporation
will NOT be registered under the BC PST accountant, and the
ultimate liability for tax bears w/ the consumer.

Again, please correct me if I'm wrong, as I believe I read somewhere
that BC changed their PST rules explicitly to deal w/ this issue.
I'm no specialist in excise taxes.

colin britton said:

Seems to me that in Ontario, Revenue Canada collects the GST for
the feds (7%) AND the PST (8%) by agreement with the Ontario
revenue people......

Click to expand...

CCRA's website says that you'd be charged PST if you
live in BC, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec...
If you were in Newfoundland, NS or NB, you'd be dinged
w/ HST, so I guess you don't live in any of those provinces
Lucky you.

Kelvin B. said:

It's normal to get charged GST for an item from the US going to
Canada, but I've never been charged PST. However, I did not know
that about remitting to a provincial treasury, though I highly
doubt anyone actually does it. Prices are certainly cheaper pretty
much anywhere other than the province I live in, whether USA or
Canada, which is fine with me since paying shipping is usually much
cheaper than paying PST, as long as evil brokerage fees don't come
into play. ;-)

Click to expand...

you are correct, unless the company you're ordering from has an outlet in your province of residence. I was referring to the Canada Customs Agency with regard to imports from outside Canada, at least into Ontario... sorry if I made you twitch......

Kelvin B. said:

colin britton said:

Seems to me that in Ontario, Revenue Canada collects the GST for
the feds (7%) AND the PST (8%) by agreement with the Ontario
revenue people......

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
biggles

Colin means if you order from US. If you order from US, upon entering Ontario, Canada customs will charge you GST and PST for the merchandise. That's on top of duty (if any) and brokage fee that customs will charge. This policy is quite new, active in the recent couple of years. Back a few years, I never got charged PST when I order from US because at that time there's only a central Canadian customs and they cannot charge PST since they don't know the destination. Now many province has their own customs and will charge PST accordinly.

However, if you order within Canada, then what you said applies. The corporation cannot charge PST if the buyer resides in a province that the corporate does not have a branch locatoin.

These are two totally different scnearios and they don't mix.

--
Phoenix
http://photo.vitsco.com

Ivan M. said:

So yes. If you live in Ontario, and you buy from Ontario, the
corporation is responsible for remitting the PST as it is registered
in that province.

However, if you live in BC, the corporation resides in Ontario
(with no permanent establishment in BC), then the corporation
will NOT be registered under the BC PST accountant, and the
ultimate liability for tax bears w/ the consumer.

Again, please correct me if I'm wrong, as I believe I read somewhere
that BC changed their PST rules explicitly to deal w/ this issue.
I'm no specialist in excise taxes.

colin britton said:

Seems to me that in Ontario, Revenue Canada collects the GST for
the feds (7%) AND the PST (8%) by agreement with the Ontario
revenue people......

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Twitch? Heavens no, hehe. I was just confused there for a bit. ;-)

colin britton said:

you are correct, unless the company you're ordering from has an
outlet in your province of residence. I was referring to the Canada
Customs Agency with regard to imports from outside Canada, at least
into Ontario... sorry if I made you twitch......

Click to expand...

Mea culpa.... thanks for the clarification..... I didn't mean to start a discussion on Canadian tax policy! I guess the message to Jeff is to factor in the appropriate prov. sales tax when comparison shopping, and by the way, Jeff, welcome to Canada and Victoria.... a beautiful spot.

Ivan M. said:

Kelvin B. said:

It's normal to get charged GST for an item from the US going to
Canada, but I've never been charged PST. However, I did not know
that about remitting to a provincial treasury, though I highly
doubt anyone actually does it. Prices are certainly cheaper pretty
much anywhere other than the province I live in, whether USA or
Canada, which is fine with me since paying shipping is usually much
cheaper than paying PST, as long as evil brokerage fees don't come
into play. ;-)

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
biggles

When buying in Canada, buy outside of your home province (but not one that has HST) and you'll save the PST.

For awhile the Canadian Dollar was doing really well, and the exchange was at like 1.54* which made sense then to buy US, but now that it's back to 1.62 or so shopping Canadian, out-of-province, tends to make more sense.

(Exchange using Visa, which is the only way I buy equipment, as, my Visa will double the mfg's Warranty, up to 2 years, lost/theft insurance, & 2% back at the end of the year)

The only big problem is that none of the Canadian mfg's carry the amount of stock, that B&H, Delta or BPAV do, so they pay a higher cost price, and naturally they have to pass that on to you.

I deal a lot with Dumoulin, it's a large outfit in Quebec, I believe they do more overall business with Canon then Henrys or Vistek, (as they deal with more than just Camera's) back when I had ordered a D60, I ended up getting one from them for less (including taxes and shipping) then the retail price of stores everywhere else. Not to mention I was able to get 2 of them in under a month, before Henrys or Vistek could even get one. (2-3 months)

I normally deal with Richard, who is the Photo Manager, if you decide to go with them for any purchases tell him Theo sent you, and I'm sure he'll give you a great price. 514-428-1616.

Good Luck.

--
Theo

Where are we going?!!?....and what am I doing in this handbasket??!!

jsinger986 said:

I just moved from the US to Canada (Victoria in BC) and need to
find a good place to buy equipment. What are some of the better
Canadian places? There anen't many option locally I think since
I'm on an island, so online may be a better option for me.

Shipping costs may be prohibitive to continue using the US sellers
I've been using.

Thanks,
Jeff

--
--------------------------------
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=17960
http://www.pbase.com/jhsinger
D60, 28-135IS, 50mm f1.4, 75-300IS

Click to expand...