Any US folks purchase Canon gear from Camera Canada

[Doug Schurman]

I'm considering purchasing a new Canon 300mm f/2.8 IS II. Camera Canada has it for sell for over $500 less at Canadian dollars. Depending on the exchange rate additional savings can be had.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Looks like warrantee should be the same whether US or Canada purchase. What I can't really see is if any extra duties or taxes might apply?

Thanks

[Fred Canter]

Doug,
I can't really reply for specifically Canon, but I did purchase a Nikon 600mm from Canada. After being on various waiting lists for a long time to purchase this lens, I finally found one in Canada. Living in PR if I had problems I still had to ship it somewhere, so shipping back to Nikon Canada for service if needed is not a big deal. Lens came with one year international warranty and five years Canadian warranty.

Due to NAFTA there are no customs applied to ship items into the USA, my understanding. There is a fee applied by the shipping company to expedite the border crossing. Last year on the 600mm it cost me an additional $250.?? at delivery in Alabama, collected by UPS. The fee was listed as crossing fees, I'm not sure if this is because of the state I took delivery in or is normal for this type of product. I purchase several items for my business from Canada and ship them to Puerto Rico and have never paid this extra fee. But, it may be the difference in the tax exemptions of the products themselves. The products for the business are all for manufacturing and are classed different.

Not sure if this helps you or not, but I gave what I could.

[Doug Schurman]

Thanks Fred.

I'm somewhat surprised on one else has replied. It seems like a very good option. Today with the exchange price it seems like I would save almost 10% off the best US price on a 300mm f2.8 is II

[Ulli Hoeger]

Well,

here's the story from the other side from the border.

When ordering photo equipment (i.e. lenses) from the US we here in Canada don't have to pay local US sales taxes.

However, even with no custom duties on this kind of equipment we are still on the hook for our local sales tax, i.e. 15% HST here in Nova Scotia.
This amount, plus a customs processing (brokerage) fee that varies from shipping to shipping company and what tarif plan was used by the shipper, has to be taken into consideration when buying across the border.

B&H will tell Canadian customers when placing an order what the total cost will be before they will hold the package is in their hands and charges this amount upfront. No nasty surprise when the mail man shows up.
When ordering from other companies one will have to pay the amount due (tax +customs fee) before the package is handed over, since it is not charged up-front by the seller.

Since tax men clicks the same way all over the world I would expect that you will have to pay some $$ to Uncle Sam on top of the purchase price before you can play with the new toy. How much likely depends on your state, here in Canada depending on province its 7%-15% + customs fee, and the shipping company used (brokerage fees). I assume that camera lenses are duty free going N to S as well, but I would check on that to avoid an even harder hit.

So with all this in mind I would be surprised if you save some money, since last time I checked it was still cheaper for us to buy lenses state site even with all the costs I mentioned above.

Ulli

[Doug Schurman]

Thanks Ulli,

I live in Washington State. We have 9.5% sales tax but you only pay that from online retailers if they have operations in the state. So if I order from amazon (headquarters in WA) I pay tax. From B&H no tax. So I really wouldn't expect to pay any additional taxes.

[Josée Normandeau]

A Canon warranty is good on both sides of the border.

Check the warranty cards of your other Canon gear. On the top of the card, it is written : Canon USA - Canon Canada.

According to my Nikonist friends, it does not apply to Nikon.

[Ulli Hoeger]

Critical difference is that stuff mailed within the US isn't going through customs. Stuff going from Canada to the US (and vice versa) crosses an international border and is processed by customs, same as goods from China or Europe. Maybe the US customs rules and policies are different from ours and they don't ding you, but I wouldn't count on it. Contact customs and find out what the facts are, as with the price tag the possible extra costs could turn out to be a deal breaker -or unpleasant surprise upon delivery.

Ulli

Thanks Ulli,

I live in Washington State. We have 9.5% sales tax but you only pay that from online retailers if they have operations in the state. So if I order from amazon (headquarters in WA) I pay tax. From B&H no tax. So I really wouldn't expect to pay any additional taxes.

[Ulli Hoeger]

You are correct.
Nikon Canada and Nikon US (same as Sigma) don't have a universal North American warranty.
As a matter of fact for some Sigma products the warranty here in Canada is 10 years vs 5 in the US -and most of the rest of the world.

Ulli