This cross border shopping expert says SHOP CANADIAN
 

I have been shopping a lot in the states since the dollar has risen and have been very annoyed through the summer and early fall when prices for identical items at the chains like Pier One and Gap were significantly higher in Canada.
Well, I have noticed that the prices have now been flipped in most chains to even or to the Canadian advantage. So except for selection ( which they are mighty good at) if you can buy it in Canada now is the time.
By the way store traffic on both sides of the border seem mighty slow. Do you think there just might be too many stores??

Are you saying the US Chains have raised their prices? Am I understanding correctly?
I haven't been over for awhile. I've been saving my shopping for when I go at Christmas.

I did notice that Best Buy here has lowered their price considerably on the camera I want to buy. It is $172 at Circuit City ,and was $229 at Best Buy here.. a considerable difference. NOw it's down to $182. For the difference now, I'll buy it here.

I bought 4 different types of fleece sweatshirts at the Gap in Michigan for our under $30. gift exchange. They were 21.99 on sale.
I was in London at the Gap today and they were $16.99.
At Macys they have a larger selection than the Bay but do carry many of the same lines. Prices are identical.
I saw a dress I liked online at Territory Ahead for 129.
I saw the identical dress (although my size wasnt available) at Melanie Lynn in London for $69.

Wow, quite a difference.
OUr stores have had to make adjustments , but I didn't realize they were even cheaper in some cases.
Good to know.
I wonder how long it will all last?

I agree, not everything is cheaper in the U.S but you can still find savings depending on what you purchase. I recently purchased a set a new tires for my vehicle after reading this article

http://borderdeals.ca/2007/11/25/bes...iscount-tires/

You can save at least $100 for a set of tires....

Now that the cross-border hype is over I think canadian retailers will slowly increase their prices.

Hi Kodi, I don't know about your Best Buy in Canada but I gave my daughter money for her birthday present a few weeks ago so she could pick out the digital camera of her choice. The one she decided on had one price at Circuit City, per their website but that location is in another city. She and her husband went to our local Best Buy store and the exact same camera was a lot more but after showing them the print out of the Circuit City ad the manager agreed to sell them the camera for the price that Circuit City advertised. I think they saved $50.00 or more dollars.

Hey loveitaly,

what a smart move to show the manager the competitors price....I'm gonna start doing that if i find better deals lol!!

Layla %%-

That's great LoveItaly.
I think our stores do that to, but I'm almost certain they would not match a US store price!

I'll be in the States next Friday, and plan to buy my camera then , most likely at Circuit City. But the Best Buy is close to it.
I'll be checking the flyers next week.

If you're online shopping, something to consider: (the from Toronto Star)

"Canada's consumer watchdog has issued a warning about customs brokerage fees, saying it has received a growing number of complaints about these often-unexpected costs of importing goods from the United States.

The warning about customs brokerage fees comes 10 days after a report in the Star highlighted the problem for Canadians who cross-border shop online.

The fees, which are charged by private courier services, can add as much as $30 to a $100 purchase, the federal Competition Bureau said yesterday.

While not illegal, customs brokerage fees can come as an unpleasant surprise because they're often poorly disclosed on sellers' websites, said the bureau's assistant deputy commissioner Madeleine Dussault. The fees are in addition to taxes, duty and shipping rates.

Private courier services, such as UPS Canada, have defended their fees, saying they cover the cost of steering the packages through Canada Customs.

The Competition Bureau recommends consumers ask sellers about the fees, and if they seem high, make other arrangements as the fees can vary widely among shippers and postal services."

Thanks Sally. It's good to know. It's one of the reasons I don't cross border shop on line. It just gets to expensive.

I ask US companies to send parcels regular mail, and add that I won't accept anything from UPS.

As American stores note the opportunity to sell to Canadians, Saks Fifth Avenue ran a big ad in The Globe and Mail yesterday, offering special deals to Canadians visiting its Troy store.

Unfortunately, most of uys have no clue where Troy is -- probably somewhere near Buffalo, but a smart advertiser wouldhave put a map in the ad.

I bought a $1000 camera in Toronto this week for very close to what it would have cost in New York city, not counting travel, and less than in a normal US camera store in a border city.

But in Toronto, it's still necessary to price shop carefully.

Future shop advertised it at $950, a saving of $300. Then I looked at Vistek, where it was 41200, so, yes, Future Shop was a bargain. Then I looked at Hentry's, where it was $1000, for either the camera and basic components, or the same $1000 for the camera, basics, and a battery that costs $150 normally, and a nice leather case.

So, for $50 more than Future Shop, I got a $150 battery that's a really useful extra, plus a case that I'll use for a while, at least.

BAK
BAK

Troy is a suburb of
Detroit and has a sublime mall called the Somerset Collection. It is my favorite place in the world to shop but no sale at Saks is going to allow me to shop there.
Spectacular mall though. And the Saks is worth a walk through.

SallyCanuck...good post.

I was taken for a ride by DealYard, a seller on Amazon.com.

I bought a Christmas gift for a Cdn friend and I even called DealYard before I placed the order to see if there would be any additional shipping costs (other than the $13 already listed). I was told no, so I ordered it.

While still looking for a gift for another Cdn friend, I realized she could the same item too! So I ordered another one.

Imagine my embarrassment when one of my friends e-mailed me with word that the courier demanded $22 before he would give her the pkg. (My other friend experienced the same thing but was too gracious to tell me about it herself, but she did confirm it when I asked her.)

When I called DealYard to discuss this, they had no interest in me since they already had my money. They just kept saying "our policy is...our policy is..." about all the things they wouldn't do but not a peep about what they could do.

Needless to say I will never buy from DealYard again - I think they unscrupulously charged me extra. And, from now on, I'll buy from Canadian websites even tho they don't have the same offerings or selection as the US-based ones. I think MEC is going to get a lot of my business next year...LOL!

Enjoy-la!

A heads up to book-buying folks around Vancouver. Book Warehouse has been selling all their stock at the US$ price or cheaper (while Chapters and every other shop continues to sell books at the outrageous markup). You can guess who had all my book business at Christmas. ;)

Yea.. you are right, there are too many stores in Canada these days but they are very helpful as we need not to go anywhere and we can get our essentials at home, as some of them provide free shipping. Usually i don't have much time to go and shop for things that is why i love online shopping and moreover we can get things on discounted rates there.

This thread is more than 5 years old. Let it die.

All quite irrelevant anyway, as the Canadian dollar has now sunk lower than Dolly Parton's butt