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Where to buy, US or Canada!?!?

irrªtiºnal

irrªtiºnal

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2005
74
0
Toronto
:confused:

I am thinking about getting a MBP right after Leopard becomes available. Now, I am puzzled. For a while the US-Canadian dollar conversion rate has been very stable almost 1 to 1, and and the Canadian dollar doesn't give signs of backing off. Rightnow an US dollar is exactly 1.01418 CAD (that is, 1 loonie + 1 pennie :eek:) Do you advice me to go down to New York and buy it there?! Of course the trip would count towards the total expenses, but imagine: with the amount of money that I can buy the MBP15.4 @2.4GHz I can get the MBP17.

Are there any tricks that anyone knows to take advantage of this monetary dilemma???

:confused:
 
One trick to know about is that although the official rate may be 101.4, your bank will charge (approximately) 103.4 and your Visa/Mastercard will charge (approximately) 105.9.

You will be charged GST and PST at the border on return.
 
I want to get a new MBP and was thinking about buying in the US as well. since I'll be going there probably next month.

Just a general question: How long (or will it ever?) take for prices in Canada to drop on goods due to the high loonie? It kinda sucks to still be paying prices when our dollar was at 74 cents (if not lower) to the US.
 
Depends if they ask you at the border. I have brought numerous things up because they haven't asked. I don't know what it's like on the east coast but here most of the agents are so lax they ask where I'm going and then flag me on through.
 
The dollar hit parity this morning. At the rate we're going it may be worth MORE than the USD pretty soon.

The announcer on the radio even said it: "Stop buying things in Canada!"
 
notjustjay said:
The dollar hit parity this morning. At the rate we're going it may be worth MORE than the USD pretty soon.

The announcer on the radio even said it: "Stop buying things in Canada!"
Click to expand...

Is that true? Amazing. I'd like to think it is because of economic thriving on our part, and not the poor state of the American economy. In reality, I suppose it's a culmination of both of those things.
 
OBVIOUSLY go to the USA

this parity stuff is nuts. I remember when I was taking almost an effing 50% hit going to the US, now it's on par!!??

nice.

Apple is the type of company that keeps up with the exchange rates slightly, (i noticed that Logic studio is 499 on the US and CAN sites....) but for other stuff, like accessories, Applecare, software, HD's, RAM.......


*get's in car and goes 50 minutes south to WA to freak out and consume....*
 
quigleybc said:
this parity stuff is nuts. I remember when I was taking almost an effing 50% hit going to the US, now it's on par!!??
Click to expand...

Yeah, the worst part is that when I made my biggest purchsaes from the US (when I was addicted to eBay and electronic toys, essentially :p) I was using a 65% exchange rate. But, even then, I STILL saved money by buying American.
 
You can't bring back a $2000 plus computer from a day trip across the border, as you're not allowed to spend that kind of dough for such a short trip. If you fail to declare it and get caught, that could be real trouble.

I'd suggest that you try calling Apple (Canada) to ask them about meeting the dollar parity directly. They will probably feed you a line that, as an US company operating in Canada, there are additional overhead fees. This is true. However, those fees are not enough to justify the $200 price discrepancy on the baseline MBP.
 
ac6789 said:
I want to get a new MBP and was thinking about buying in the US as well. since I'll be going there probably next month.

Just a general question: How long (or will it ever?) take for prices in Canada to drop on goods due to the high loonie? It kinda sucks to still be paying prices when our dollar was at 74 cents (if not lower) to the US.
Click to expand...

In Apple's case they tend to change the prices at the time the product is refreshed. The MBPs where fairly evenly priced at the time they came out.
 
scienide09 said:
You can't bring back a $2000 plus computer from a day trip across the border, as you're not allowed to spend that kind of dough for such a short trip. If you fail to declare it and get caught, that could be real trouble.
Click to expand...

Well, you sure can spend that much as long as you expect to pay Canadian PST and GST when you declare it at the border. Even then, though, you might still save money!

A "trick" that I used (sort of inadvertently) -- my dad went down to NYC with a coach bus tour for 3 days, during which time he went to B&H Photo/Video and bought a prosumer Sony camcorder at my request. It retailed for $4500 Cdn, but B&H had it for $2300 USD. Even with a 65% dollar it was much cheaper and I was prepared to pay all the taxes on it. When the bus went through customs, they weren't asked to declare any values, so the camera came through tax-free... Even if they did, with a bus-load of people each allowed to spend $800, it would have averaged out anyway.
 
Deuz Augustine said:
Is that true? Amazing. I'd like to think it is because of economic thriving on our part, and not the poor state of the American economy. In reality, I suppose it's a culmination of both of those things.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the fact that more and more countries/companies are using the Euro as their standard reserve currency. There's a flood of US dollars right now, and it will undoubtedly take time for it to readjust.

To the OP, I'd say your best move is to buy in NY if you find that it's cheaper. How is the border agent going to know that you didn't have the mbp before entering the US?
 
notjustjay said:
Well, you sure can spend that much as long as you expect to pay Canadian PST and GST when you declare it at the border. Even then, though, you might still save money!

A "trick" that I used (sort of inadvertently) -- my dad went down to NYC with a coach bus tour for 3 days, during which time he went to B&H Photo/Video and bought a prosumer Sony camcorder at my request. It retailed for $4500 Cdn, but B&H had it for $2300 USD. Even with a 65% dollar it was much cheaper and I was prepared to pay all the taxes on it. When the bus went through customs, they weren't asked to declare any values, so the camera came through tax-free... Even if they did, with a bus-load of people each allowed to spend $800, it would have averaged out anyway.
Click to expand...

That works. Of course, not being asked to declare anything and simply not declaring anything are two different things. Had the bus been stopped and searched, at the very least he would have been paying the fees, and possibly in trouble for failing to declare.

The current laws for visiting the US for more than 48hrs permit Canadians to return with $750 of goods duty/tax free. Any single good (like the computer) or combinations of goods greater than that amount is/are subject to taxes/duty. I have no idea if this averages across everyone in the vehicle or if it's a limit applied to each individual in the vehicle.
 
With the rise of the Canadian dollar, customs agents will likely be watching for big ticket items coming back into Canada from the U.S. I would not recommend failing to declare.
 
MacinDoc said:
With the rise of the Canadian dollar, customs agents will likely be watching for big ticket items coming back into Canada from the U.S. I would not recommend failing to declare.
Click to expand...

Good point.

ctsport1234 said:
Just buy it online @ apple Canada.
Click to expand...

That misses the point. An item is more expensive on the CDN Apple store when compared to the same item on the US Apple store, despite the fact that our dollars are worth the same amount.
 
Deuz Augustine said:
Is that true? Amazing. I'd like to think it is because of economic thriving on our part, and not the poor state of the American economy. In reality, I suppose it's a culmination of both of those things.
Click to expand...

i wish i could cheerlead you on this one but the american economy is basically heading south. So canadian dollar goes north. Simple mathematics.
 
jczubach said:
i wish i could cheerlead you on this one but the american economy is basically heading south. So canadian dollar goes north. Simple mathematics.
Click to expand...

Sorry to tell you, but because of the US mortgage crisis, other economies will also be hit hard. Modern economies are very heavily connected, and an economy as large as the US's will send ripples throughout the world's economy. The Fed's latest move is only going to easy the blow; the real economic downturn has yet to come. On the bright side however, other fundamental economic factors in the US economy are still pretty good, ie, unemployment, consumer spending, and inflation of non-energy related goods. Hopefully it stays this way and we come out of this impending crisis without any major scars.

On topic: I still say to buy in NY. How's the border agent to know you didn't enter the US with your own macbook pro? If you had it out of the box and in your lap, it would hard to prove you didn't have it before hand.
 
CalBoy said:
How's the border agent to know you didn't enter the US with your own macbook pro? If you had it out of the box and in your lap, it would hard to prove you didn't have it before hand.
Click to expand...

The onus is on the Cdn resident to fill out a special card listing the item being taken into the US with its description and serial #. At Canada Customs on leaving the country an agent will inspect the laptop and sign the card. On re-entering Canada the resident shows the customs agent the signed card and no problem bringing the laptop back in. Bottom line: no card or proof of purchase from Canada and then the customs agent has every right to assume the article was bought in the US. Then be prepared to pay any duties and all taxes.
 
bigbird said:
The onus is on the Cdn resident to fill out a special card listing the item being taken into the US with its description and serial #. At Canada Customs on leaving the country an agent will inspect the laptop and sign the card. On re-entering Canada the resident shows the customs agent the signed card and no problem bringing the laptop back in. Bottom line: no card or proof of purchase from Canada and then the customs agent has every right to assume the article was bought in the US. Then be prepared to pay any duties and all taxes.
Click to expand...

What is this special card? Is this the same policy in the US?
 
bigbird said:
The onus is on the Cdn resident to fill out a special card listing the item being taken into the US with its description and serial #. At Canada Customs on leaving the country an agent will inspect the laptop and sign the card. On re-entering Canada the resident shows the customs agent the signed card and no problem bringing the laptop back in. Bottom line: no card or proof of purchase from Canada and then the customs agent has every right to assume the article was bought in the US. Then be prepared to pay any duties and all taxes.
Click to expand...

I never knew about that(then again, it's been ten years since I've been to Canada:eek::)). Even with this, wouldn't it still be easier to buy in the US and then take into Canada? If the mbp is bought from a state without sales tax, then the savings afforded to the OP by a weak USD will still give him a better deal.
 
irrªtiºnal said:
:confused:

I am thinking about getting a MBP right after Leopard becomes available. Now, I am puzzled. For a while the US-Canadian dollar conversion rate has been very stable almost 1 to 1, and and the Canadian dollar doesn't give signs of backing off. Rightnow an US dollar is exactly 1.01418 CAD (that is, 1 loonie + 1 pennie :eek:) Do you advice me to go down to New York and buy it there?!...

Are there any tricks that anyone knows to take advantage of this monetary dilemma???

:confused:
Click to expand...

There is hope...!
Try a direct puchase to 1 800 MY APPLE here's my experience:

I phoned apple.ca on Sept. 20th about the pending delivery of a refurbished MB PRO 2.16 GHZ I'd ordered 2 weeks ago. So I took up the opportunity to haggle them about the new 99 cent dollar vs. the $0.90 exchange rate I paid. Guess what? They BROKE. After a firm five minute conversation, they agreed to upgrade me to the MBP 2.2GHZ and 1-800 MY APPLE obliged with my reasoning and honoured the USA price on par with the Canadian Lonnie!
Price paid: $1649 CD for a reburbished macbook pro 2.2GHZ. The list price in US funds: $1699

Why drive across the border? Anyone who's in the market for an Apple product should try the same.
 
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