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04/03/2008 01:55:45 PM · #1 |
I am thinking of ordering a new camera body and lens from B&H Photo, but I live in Canada and I was wondering if anyone else from Canada has any experience ordering from B&H. Is new camera equipment subject to duty fees, or is it duty free? The price for a 40D and a 70-200 2.8L IS USM at B&H is $470.00 cheaper than what I can buy it for locally, so paying the shipping from the U.S. is definitely worth it.
Any help or suggestions are much appreciated.
Dan
Message edited by author 2008-04-03 13:58:43. |
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04/03/2008 02:17:42 PM · #2 |
Will Canon Canada honour US warranties, or will you have to ship your gear back to the states if it ever needs service?
Talk to your local shop and try to swing a deal. I'd wager you can get the price differential close enough that it won't be worth any hassle that might be associated with ordering from the states, and its always good to support a local shop. |
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04/03/2008 02:29:29 PM · #3 |
I ordered my 50mm 1.8 lens from B&H just to try them out. Everything went pretty smooth. I did however, choose to pay the 4$ extra to NOT have UPS ship it, even if the shipping was a week longer. I know UPS roally screws recipients over with duty fees, so I decided to go by priority/canadapost.
All I had to do was pay for the taxes when it arrived.
If anything, I think Henry's is in Canada, so you wouldn't have any surpise fees when it arrives... but I've never used Henry's, so I don't know much about them. |
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04/03/2008 02:43:22 PM · #4 |
| I've heard that the warranty on camera bodies does not cross the border. As stated, you should check on this before you order. |
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04/03/2008 02:44:19 PM · #5 |
I got my Camera from Ebay, purchased it with crappy Lenses and accessories that i didn't really need. I wish I knew enough by that time ..
Any way ..
I've got screwed by UPS, 500$ brokerage fees, tax, handling .. of course i didn't know about that by then. Also I didn't know I can refuse the shipment, any way.
Warranty is something to look for, to see if it can be fixed in here, or you will have to ship it to the states '' which is not big deal at all '' shipping from here to the states is almost nothing.
and STAY AWAY from UPS.
You might want to compare prices as between, B&H and E-bay, you might get a really nice deal.
All the best Dan, regards from Montreal,
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04/03/2008 02:53:04 PM · #6 |
| I was up in Quebec over the weekend... and thought about this. The exchange rate is on your side these days. No vendor is going to falsify customs declarations, so I don't think you can get out of paying tax. Might be an idea to plan a trip south of the border and take something back. But you would then incur sales tax (which, for instance in NYC is 8.something %). Good luck. |
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04/03/2008 02:55:58 PM · #7 |
Make sure you request that the post office ships the package, not UPS. You will have to pay GST and that is all. I've ordered a few things from B&H and all went well.
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04/03/2008 02:56:32 PM · #8 |
Almost all the lenses I have and the Camera bodies come from B & H. NO duties, you just have to pay PST and GST. And the Warranty is a North American warranty, the warranty card has two parts, one for Canada and one for the USA. NO problems getting service from Canon Canada. With the C$ at par with the US$ it well worth buying from B & H.
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04/03/2008 03:03:16 PM · #9 |
I've ordered from them twice. No duty, and warranties are good.
Make sure you ship via USPS so you dont have to pay brokerage fees. It seems more expensive at first but will save you money in the end. |
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04/03/2008 03:13:15 PM · #10 |
| What about stuff like tripods or lightstands, etc, that isn't made in the states. Duties or no? |
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04/03/2008 03:22:17 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by option:
What about stuff like tripods or lightstands, etc, that isn't made in the states. Duties or no? |
When I got a backpack for my camera gear, I had to pay duty. |
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04/04/2008 05:53:56 AM · #12 |
I recently brought back, in my luggage, from my trip to USA a Nikon D300, SB800 and SB600 flashes, three lightstands, a reflector holder, and an Impact 100 strobe, all bought from BH Photo.
I declared it all at the airport, coming back into Australia, and luckily paid next to no import duties.
So, make it worth your while, and make the trip to USA yourself, in person! |
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04/04/2008 07:19:31 AM · #13 |
i've had a number of things slip in without paying duty/taxes
might just be lucky USPS though ..
though i have a lens that is trapped in UPS nightmare now gggrrrrrrhh.....
(not from B&H) |
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08/08/2008 12:41:38 AM · #14 |
I thought I'd share my own recent experience with B&H so the information could benefit other ppl too;
I bought a canon hv100 from B&H last week and everything went flawlessly except maybe some UPS bs. The hv100 was 639$ plus shipping and exchange it came to around 685$ cdn. The camera got delivered through UPS expedited and arrived 3 days later in Montreal. I only had to pay taxes and import duties which came down to 128$ for a total price all included of 813$. Locally the prices for this camera are all MSRP 949$ so I saved 25% on the purchase price not a bad deal at all.
The only problem really is that UPS initially refused to hold the package for pickup after I missed the third delivery attempt, they insisted on returning the package to B&H. I had to push them to hold it and it was quite convoluted (call tomorrow before 6PM before we send the letter etc etc? bs). My advice if you order from B&H is to have them specify to UPS that they allow the shipment to be held for pickup. Also another weird UPS bs is that they wouldn't allow the package to be routed to their local UPS store which is near my house whereas the main UPS hub is really far from the city in the Montreal area, go figure they don't even thrust their own UPS stores.
Overall I was really satisfied with B&H and I'm looking forward to ordering from them again. |
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