Canadian Buyers/Dealers and Exchange 1 1

[shane1956]

Hello everyone, I recently purchased of a Marvel Key for $4700 U.S + $100 shipping off Ebay. After the Canadian exchange it came out to approximately $6400 Canadian. It's likely going to be bit more if  taxes and duty get added to the mix during shipping. This got me thinking, how are the big Canadian dealers dealing with this? It's getting harder and harder to justify the added cost of getting these books to Canada with the sad state of our Canadian dollar. 

Are there any magic tricks that I haven't been told about? In order for the fellow Canadians to get these keys we basically have to commit to the fact that we will be overpaying. Thoughts?

 

[Shawnismaximus]

I have nothing to add other then as a Canadian I feel your pain.

Even on the buy/sell section of this site some people won't ship to Canada or tack on an additional $20 for shipping. Add in the exchange and you're extra boned.

I wish there was a site (besides ebay) ust for Canadian sellers & buyers. 

[thehumantorch]

24 minutes ago, shane1956 said:

Hello everyone, I recently purchased of a Marvel Key for $4700 U.S + $100 shipping off Ebay. After the Canadian exchange it came out to approximately $6400 Canadian. It's likely going to be bit more if  taxes and duty get added to the mix during shipping. This got me thinking, how are the big Canadian dealers dealing with this? It's getting harder and harder to justify the added cost of getting these books to Canada with the sad state of our Canadian dollar. 

Are there any magic tricks that I haven't been told about? In order for the fellow Canadians to get these keys we basically have to commit to the fact that we will be overpaying. Thoughts?

 

Hi.  I'm a collector and a regional, part-time mid size dealer in Western Canada.  There's no cheap or easy way to buy keys in Canada. 

:I try to buy locally to avoid shipping and duty and duty collection costs. 
:Avoid UPS, they gouge on USA to Canada border transaction fees.
If you open a fedex account with a credit card on file the duty collection costs are low
:Combine shipping.  Heritage Auctions will hold your auction wins until you tell them to ship.
:Use ebay.ca rather than ebay.com and select sellers located in Canada.
:I should probably adjust my business model from buying keys in the US to sell to local buyers to buying in Canada and selling to US buyers
:For keys and collections with keys I've been paying 80% to 100% of market.  Margins are razor thin and I have to know exactly what I can get for a book, what I've paid for a book and I have to stick to my minimum price and be patient until I get it.

[shane1956]

No way around the pain. I find if you are in Canada looking for a particular book in high grade from a Canadian seller it can take years for it to happen. Even then I'm not convinced that there are lot of high graded keys of  particular book "floating" around Canada. For example, I wanted a Fantastic Four 48 in 9.2 or higher from a Canadian dealer/seller. The odds of that happening were slim . I'm sure a few copies may be in Canadian collections but by a few I mean near non existent. To get truly amazing high grade books I'm convinced that there is a very limited supply in Canada . It seems like every time I'm looking for a 9.2 I end up importing from the U.S . Over and over , year after year. 

 

 

[Black_Adam]

Move close to the border and get a US shipping address. Even more frustrating than exchange, shipping, customs, etc (mainly buying from Ebay) is when they won't even let you bid on the comic if you're Canadian. Without a US shipping address, a good chunk of US only listings won't even appear on an Ebay search. 

[Black_Adam]

One more magic trick, keep an eye out for Thirdgreenham threads in the Forum Only Selling Area. Good Canadian Keys! 

[lizards2]

12 hours ago, shane1956 said:

Hello everyone, I recently purchased of a Marvel Key for $4700 U.S + $100 shipping off Ebay. After the Canadian exchange it came out to approximately $6400 Canadian. It's likely going to be bit more if  taxes and duty get added to the mix during shipping. This got me thinking, how are the big Canadian dealers dealing with this? It's getting harder and harder to justify the added cost of getting these books to Canada with the sad state of our Canadian dollar. 

Are there any magic tricks that I haven't been told about? In order for the fellow Canadians to get these keys we basically have to commit to the fact that we will be overpaying. Thoughts?

 

Maybe I'm missing my math facts, but when I look up the current exchange rate, it is .78 Canadian to 1 US, which looks real close to your calculation of .75, excluding the shipping shaft.  The money has different values at the current time, but isn't that basically across all goods?

[Fan Boy]

10 hours ago, Black_Adam said:

Move close to the border and get a US shipping address. Even more frustrating than exchange, shipping, customs, etc (mainly buying from Ebay) is when they won't even let you bid on the comic if you're Canadian. Without a US shipping address, a good chunk of US only listings won't even appear on an Ebay search. 

Yes, that is one of better options where a Canadian collector wants to try find good books. If a collector is lucky enough to have a place and a job near the border. I ended up buying more books from U.S. than I do in Canada. I hope to do well in Calgary next month at the con. The exchange rate is a little high, it is at .75 more or less by daily rates. 

Seeking out high grade GA/SA comics in Canada locally is lot harder now than before. Very slim chance. Low grade/mid grades? Yes, there some out there but have to really seek them out without internet. I recently discovered a local seller who had early ASMs sitting inside his booth out of sight. 

And yes, the sale forums here (some great sellers) are also good in buying books. 

[Quicksilver Signs]

I get my US packages shipped to a border parcel service. They hold packages for up to a year, so when I make a trip to swinging Fargo ND I usually have a stack of cool books to pick up. 

[Shawnismaximus]

26 minutes ago, Quicksilver Signs said:

I get my US packages shipped to a border parcel service. They hold packages for up to a year, so when I make a trip to swinging Fargo ND I usually have a stack of cool books to pick up. 

What does that cost if you don't mind me asking? I live about an hour away from the Alberta/Montana border.

[Erndog]

14 hours ago, shane1956 said:

Hello everyone, I recently purchased of a Marvel Key for $4700 U.S + $100 shipping off Ebay. After the Canadian exchange it came out to approximately $6400 Canadian. It's likely going to be bit more if  taxes and duty get added to the mix during shipping.

A bit more?

Dude, you're gonna get reamed.

I bought a $650 U.S. book a couple months ago and when fedex dropped it off I got a nice bill of $85 CDN. 

We pay way more for shipping, get boned on the exchange and then get killed on duty/taxes.  I've resigned myself to mostly buying from CDN sellers (or at cons and locally) now.

[lizards2]

It sounds like you are all complaining about the taxes in Canada.  Taxes, duty and shipping - that's all your government getting their money to provide all the great services you enjoy as Canadian citizens.

I don't get the complaints about the exchange rate - your dollar is just worth less than the American dollar currently - it seems like an apples to oranges comparison.

[bababooey]

6 minutes ago, Erndog said:

A bit more?

Dude, you're gonna get reamed.

I bought a $650 U.S. book a couple months ago and when fedex dropped it off I got a nice bill of $85 CDN. 

We pay way more for shipping, get boned on the exchange and then get killed on duty/taxes.  I've resigned myself to mostly buying from CDN sellers (or at cons and locally) now.

Only GST?

[Black_Adam]

Having stuff shipped in by mail is usually fine for avoiding taxes/duty/etc if the item has a relatively low declared  value ($100 or less). If you have it brought in by FedEx they will definitely try to charge you duty/taxes just so they can add on their processing fee. I haven't tried to bring any comics worth $4700 over the border, but in my experience bringing back anything worth approximately $400 or less gets you waved through with zero taxes or duties. Add on the free shipping often found in the US and a border parcel service makes a lot of sense for those near enough to use one.

[Shawnismaximus]

37 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

It sounds like you are all complaining about the taxes in Canada.  Taxes, duty and shipping - that's all your government getting their money to provide all the great services you enjoy as Canadian citizens.

I don't get the complaints about the exchange rate - your dollar is just worth less than the American dollar currently - it seems like an apples to oranges comparison.

We complain because we remember the recent good period for the Canadian Dollar (2010-2014) when we were about par. 

Now any goods coming from the states are much more expensive, and doing any sort of travelling in the states really hurts the ol' wallet. (I just got back from a ski trip in Whitefish . . . ouch).

A bit off topic but it also really sucks for the used auto industry in Canada right now too. I'm in the market to buy a used car, but all of the dealerships in my area are shipping vehicles on the regular down to the states, where they get more money from them due to the exchange rate, which leaves slim pickings here. 

[lizards2]

14 minutes ago, Shawnismaximus said:

1 hour ago, lizards2 said:

It sounds like you are all complaining about the taxes in Canada.  Taxes, duty and shipping - that's all your government getting their money to provide all the great services you enjoy as Canadian citizens.

I don't get the complaints about the exchange rate - your dollar is just worth less than the American dollar currently - it seems like an apples to oranges comparison.

We complain because we remember the recent good period for the Canadian Dollar (2010-2014) when we were about par. 

Now any goods coming from the states are much more expensive, and doing any sort of travelling in the states really hurts the ol' wallet. (I just got back from a ski trip in Whitefish . . . ouch).

A bit off topic but it also really sucks for the used auto industry in Canada right now too. I'm in the market to buy a used car, but all of the dealerships in my area are shipping vehicles on the regular down to the states, where they get more money from them due to the exchange rate, which leaves slim pickings here. 

OK - but..., 

Comic prices are what they are.  Skiing/lodging at ski resorts is usurious almost anywhere.  I certainly don't feel like I could afford it anyplace.

Aren't all goods more expensive in Canada?  I haven't been to Canada in years, but my rememberences were that EVERYTHING was more expensive there, even when the exchange rate was 1 to 1, so that's why I question the exchange rate claims.

Your auto comparison just tells me that used auto prices might be higher in the States currently?  I know there are regional demand comparisons just within the states, where certain used makes and models are shipped to California and vice versa because they fetch more/less $ in certain areas.

[Shawnismaximus]

31 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

OK - but..., 

Comic prices are what they are.  Skiing/lodging at ski resorts is usurious almost anywhere.  I certainly don't feel like I could afford it anyplace.

Aren't all goods more expensive in Canada?  I haven't been to Canada in years, but my rememberences were that EVERYTHING was more expensive there, even when the exchange rate was 1 to 1, so that's why I question the exchange rate claims.

Your auto comparison just tells me that used auto prices might be higher in the States currently?  I know there are regional demand comparisons just within the states, where certain used makes and models are shipped to California and vice versa because they fetch more/less $ in certain areas.

Yeah we only skied one day and stayed at a cheap airbnb for 3 nights but it still becomes quite expensive with the exchange rate. 

Think of it like this: if I was to buy a comic off ebay for $10,000 USD in 2014 when the exchange rate was at par, that comic would cost me $10,000 CAD. But now, 4 years later at todays current exchange that same comic would cost me $12,850 CAD. Add in taxes/duty and you can see how it's rough for us Canadians. It's as though in the past 4 years everything from the United States costs 1.28 times what it used to (plus inflation).

Here's a article explaining the used auto prices better then I ever could: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cars-trucks-canadian-dollar-low-americans-ford-1.3453299

[Junkdrawer]

There must be some good reasons to live in Canada to make up for this blasphemy.

[Shawnismaximus]

12 minutes ago, Junkdrawer said:

There must be some good reasons to live in Canada to make up for this blasphemy.

Free Healthcare. USA's murder rate is 2.43 times our own. Tuition fees are way way cheaper. Poutine. No Trump. Plus I personally live right beside the rocky mountains. An hours drive to Waterton (see photo below). 

Edited March 27, 2018 by Shawnismaximus

[lizards2]

54 minutes ago, Shawnismaximus said:

Yeah we only skied one day and stayed at a cheap airbnb for 3 nights but it still becomes quite expensive with the exchange rate. 

Think of it like this: if I was to buy a comic off ebay for $10,000 USD in 2014 when the exchange rate was at par, that comic would cost me $10,000 CAD. But now, 4 years later at todays current exchange that same comic would cost me $12,850 CAD. Add in taxes/duty and you can see how it's rough for us Canadians. It's as though in the past 4 years everything from the United States costs 1.28 times what it used to (plus inflation).

Here's a article explaining the used auto prices better then I ever could: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cars-trucks-canadian-dollar-low-americans-ford-1.3453299

That article explains nothing to me.  The comments are more enlightening. 

But seriously though, every time you start adding in taxes/duty/postage - that's taxation.  I'm guessing that what you are calling the weak Canadian dollar has some root in that too - maybe that's how you get your "free healthcare" and "cheap tuition".  Every government gets its pound of flesh.  We have no sales tax in Oregon, but guess what?  We are one of the most heavily taxed states in the USA - partly because we don't have that sales tax mechanism to scratch tourists and pass-throughs, and don't get me started on all the border-dwelling Californicators, Idahoans, and those from the People's Republic of Washington that do most of their shopping here to avoid their state sales tax.  But that is all sour grapes - I choose to live here.  Oregon taxes the krap out of liquor and tobacco, and California taxes the krap out gas and vehicle registrations.  Likely, it mostly evens out.

Anyway, speaking for myself as a resident of Oregon and the County of Lake, I pay a lot of Federal tax, state tax, and county property tax.  Maybe I get comics cheap (really unsure on that one), and postage rates are a bit cheaper in the USA, but I shell out a bunch for health insurance, doctor/dentist/eye bills, and spent a lot putting my three kids through college.