Originally Posted by
johndavis
I figure that the favorable exchange rate could allow me to get good quality equipment while spending less than I would on the equivalent American products. Am I mistaken?
I buy a lotta stuff from MEC because I live a block away from one. I have the MEC panniers and sleeping bags and a ton of other MEC brand stuff. Most of the MEC branded products are a poor-man's version of a brand name product. The panniers are fine but they are not Ortliebs or Arkels by any means. I just got a new tent at MEC but it was the more expensive brand-name (MSR) tent and not the similar MEC tent (which is way more popular, especially with cheap-ass Canadians).
In other words, you are not saving that much money. You are getting lower cost products designed to hit a lower price point.
If you have stuff sent by mail from Canada it is substantially cheaper than courier because couriers (like UPS and FedEx) will rip you off grandly with bogus "brokerage fees" that the United States Postal Service does not charge for the same service.