Buying a Bike in Canada
11-09-15, 09:31 AM
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Buying a Bike in Canada
Hi,
We are taking a road trip to Toronto in december and I decided to check out some possible end of season discounts on bikes. With the very beneficial exchange rate, it seems bikes in Toronto are about 30% cheaper than the US.
I see a S3 Cervelo Ultegra for $3900 CAD. with a ~1.32 exchange rate, that comes out to ~$3000. What am I missing here?
We are taking a road trip to Toronto in december and I decided to check out some possible end of season discounts on bikes. With the very beneficial exchange rate, it seems bikes in Toronto are about 30% cheaper than the US.
I see a S3 Cervelo Ultegra for $3900 CAD. with a ~1.32 exchange rate, that comes out to ~$3000. What am I missing here?
11-09-15, 09:40 AM
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Bike manufacturers have to price their bike were they will sell. If you look around the world you will see bike prices vary a lot from one country to another. Also in Canada their maybe a consumer tax on bicycles which as a visitor you may be able to claim back at the border? You may also be giving up the warranty and free service that comes from your LBS?
11-09-15, 10:03 AM
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You are not missing anything, just the fluctuation in currency. In fact, US$ has been very strong across the board and you can get some really good deals from Europe and Australia.
In terms of Canada specifically, whatever you buy, make sure you also take into the 13% HST into account in Ontario. There are a lot of good deals to be had on Cervelo up there because a) it's the end of the season, and 2) Cervelo is a Canadian brand so it's much more widely carried.
In terms of Canada specifically, whatever you buy, make sure you also take into the 13% HST into account in Ontario. There are a lot of good deals to be had on Cervelo up there because a) it's the end of the season, and 2) Cervelo is a Canadian brand so it's much more widely carried.
11-09-15, 12:17 PM
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Prices are set at the beginning of the model year, when the merchants order for the upcoming season. The prices stay relatively constant for that model year, because they reflect the cost to the merchant at the time they paid for the goods. As long as you get 2015 or earlier merchandise, you can take advantage of the good exchange rate.
This is true not just for bikes, but for other merchandise as well. There are a lot of things that are cheaper on amazon.ca than on amazon.com.
However, once the new merchandise comes in, the prices of the new stuff get adjusted for the exchange rate at the time. Hence, there was a rather large hike in the price for the new iPhone 6s.
This is true not just for bikes, but for other merchandise as well. There are a lot of things that are cheaper on amazon.ca than on amazon.com.
However, once the new merchandise comes in, the prices of the new stuff get adjusted for the exchange rate at the time. Hence, there was a rather large hike in the price for the new iPhone 6s.
11-09-15, 12:25 PM
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Prices are set at the beginning of the model year, when the merchants order for the upcoming season. The prices stay relatively constant for that model year, because they reflect the cost to the merchant at the time they paid for the goods. As long as you get 2015 or earlier merchandise, you can take advantage of the good exchange rate.
This is true not just for bikes, but for other merchandise as well. There are a lot of things that are cheaper on amazon.ca than on amazon.com.
However, once the new merchandise comes in, the prices of the new stuff get adjusted for the exchange rate at the time. Hence, there was a rather large hike in the price for the new iPhone 6s.
This is true not just for bikes, but for other merchandise as well. There are a lot of things that are cheaper on amazon.ca than on amazon.com.
However, once the new merchandise comes in, the prices of the new stuff get adjusted for the exchange rate at the time. Hence, there was a rather large hike in the price for the new iPhone 6s.
11-09-15, 01:15 PM
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11-09-15, 06:02 PM
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Hi,
We are taking a road trip to Toronto in december and I decided to check out some possible end of season discounts on bikes. With the very beneficial exchange rate, it seems bikes in Toronto are about 30% cheaper than the US.
I see a S3 Cervelo Ultegra for $3900 CAD. with a ~1.32 exchange rate, that comes out to ~$3000. What am I missing here?
We are taking a road trip to Toronto in december and I decided to check out some possible end of season discounts on bikes. With the very beneficial exchange rate, it seems bikes in Toronto are about 30% cheaper than the US.
I see a S3 Cervelo Ultegra for $3900 CAD. with a ~1.32 exchange rate, that comes out to ~$3000. What am I missing here?
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11-09-15, 09:33 PM
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If you're returning to the US with it, you will likely have to pay duty. You might want to check that. I know that when bringing things into Australia, there's duty on everything over $1000, and they may have adjusted that down recently. So there might be something similar bringing something into the US.
11-09-15, 10:28 PM
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You will have to pay Canadian sales tax (federal and provincial) and duty on your new bike if you intend to take it into the US with you.
Above $200 in value, US Customs will assess a duty. So keep that in mind before you conclude buying a bike in Canada is a bargain.
Above $200 in value, US Customs will assess a duty. So keep that in mind before you conclude buying a bike in Canada is a bargain.
11-10-15, 10:33 AM
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hmmm. After adding the GST/HST taxes and us duty, its not that huge of a savings...
11-10-15, 11:03 AM
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How exactly are they going to know you bought it in Canada? You don't have to bring receipts for everything on your person when you cross the border you know.
11-10-15, 12:23 PM
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You can't claim back the HST you pay, but here's one thing you can do to avoid paying the HST: order the bike from a Canadian shop and have it delivered to a U.S. address.
If a non-resident individual comes to Canada and buys clothes and takes delivery at the store, he/she would pay GST/HST to the store and would not recover the GST/HST by way of a rebate. If that same individual arranges for the store to ship the goods outside Canada, then GST/HST would not be payable.
Non-Residents ask "How Do I Get the GST/HST Back on Goods Purchased in Canada?" : The HST Blog
Non-Residents ask "How Do I Get the GST/HST Back on Goods Purchased in Canada?" : The HST Blog
11-12-15, 02:29 PM
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I did exactly what you are thinking about in June. I was in Montreal and bought a bike that was the same retail price in Canada as the US and took advantage of the exchange rate. You may get stuck paying duty coming back unless you can convince them you hadn't just bought it. I had the advantage of buying it and leaving it there for the summer so I had plenty of miles on it by the time it had to return to the US. I also believe there is a warranty issue. In the event of a broken frame of something you'll have to go through a Canadian dealer for replacement because the serial number is a Canadian vs US serial number. This didn't bother me because I'm back and forth enough to be able to get warranty service. Now that exchange rates have changed the 2016 price on the bike I bought increased dramatically. It can be done if you by a leftover 2015 model.
