With the recent Financal Markets showing that the Canadian Dollar is really close to PAR with the American Dollar (Meaning that one American Dollar= one Canadian Dollar) I thought I would take a look at some of my wish list and compare prices.
Please remember the prices I am quoting today are from the Radioworld Website for no other reason than I believe they are the largest Canadian Distributer of Amateur Radio Equipment and Universal Radio in the USA as their website is fairly easy to navigate with nice pictures. All Pictures shown in todays posting are from their site.
I am not endorsing either Retailer or any retailer for that matter today. I am just using their prices as an example. Shopping around should get you a better deal. Let the buyer beware…
Yaesu FT 950
This Rig is on my wishlist. I wish I could afford it but it would make a really nice addition to my shack for Primary HF use.
Canadian Price is $1599.99
American Price is $1399.00
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Yaesu FT 450 (either version)
I would love to get one of these Rigs for use along side my FT897 as what I concider would make a fantastic Portable/Field Station
Canadian Price No antenna Tuner- $799.00
American Price No Antenna Tuner- $699.00
Canadian Price with Automatic Antenna Tuner- $899.00
American Price with Automatic Antenna Tuner- $799.00
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Yaesu VX8r
Canadian Price with no accessories- $490.00
American Price with no accessories- $369.95
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So there you have it. Three different radios and six different prices with one dollar. Yes I know that today its actually 97% meaning that one Canadian Dollar is actually 97 cents American but its close enough for todays non accurate, non scientific examples.
In addition you would have to take into concideration shipping and some taxes. I know that it cost me 18.00 in shipping just to get my switching power supply sent here from the Toronto area via UPS last week so I guess it would cost the same for the VX8r and more the the 450 and even more for the 950 and it stands to reason that even more for all 3 radios if you were to ship them from the states.
The extra in shipping might eat up any saving you would get from ordering south of the border.
The issue of warranty work would also come into mind if you had to ship back to the states to get repairs made on your US purchased equipment. I can remember an amateur in Ottawa who rushed down to Odgensburg NY to pick up a HTX202 when the first came out and were not available in Canada yet and when it had “issues” having to drive down and back several time ( one hour there and one hour back with bridge/crossing tolls) every time. Was that a savings???
I am confused why the same radio… bought from the same company (Yaesu) with the dollars being so close to par… costs more in Canada….
The mid range radio (FT450) is only a hundred dollars cheaper in the states so by the time you factor in extra shipping and the warranty issues then it would buy Canadian just to simplify things.
If I could find the money for the FT950 I might be tempted to head south of the border but that would depend on the bottom line.
Another consideration is that as a Canadian Citizen and an Ontario Resident I would have to pay Ontario Provincal Sales Tax (8%) and the Federal Goods and Services Tax (5%) on my purchases from Ontario. I’m not sure if I would have to pay these taxes if I buy from the USA. This could add to the savings making the purchases from south of the border more inviting…
I’m sure that out there one of you have had some interesting experiences with cross border shopping in person and mail order so I would appreciate any comments based on personal experiences.
Right now I am saving my paper route money and hoping that one of the toys could find there way to Ottawa in the next couple of months …
73bob
