Diving gear in Canada is really expensive....

[JohnN]

I have only ever found 2 things that really cost LESS in Canada than in the U.S.

--clarinet reeds and toothpaste (unless you buy U.S. toothpaste for a buck at Dollar Tree)

Pountine would make three

 

[houlejon]

I can confirm. Never use UPS. Always USPS. Half the time I pay actually no fees at all. If I have to pay fees it only the GST and PST.... Which we are unfortunatly used to...

 

[scubatoys]

We do not have the functionality on our shopping cart to ship it postal to Canada as of yet but we are working on it. We should shortly. However if you contact us with what you are looking for we can set it up going postal. The postal is typically about a third of the cost of UPS to Canada. Takes an extra day or so but definitely worth it. If you contact me directly, I may even be able to do something about the price to help offset some of the price on shipping.

 

[W1ngz]

I hate to revive an old thread, but it would be fun to see a Canadian retailer speak up on this. I'm in the middle of trying to estimate how much it would cost to outfit myself once I do my certification. I've set up a basic low-ish end set of kit at several different places north (2 local shops and one online) and south of the border (2 online) and compared costs.

The best deal I've found choosing entry-level complete kit (stuff that I would consider actually purchasing) looks like I would still save a few bucks if I drove from Montreal to the south eastern US to pick it up MYSELF.

And here we have American shops trying to work with us to make the deals even easier.

Lessons in international economics aside, what gives?

 

[gcarter]

I hate to revive an old thread, but it would be fun to see a Canadian retailer speak up on this. I'm in the middle of trying to estimate how much it would cost to outfit myself once I do my certification. I've set up a basic low-ish end set of kit at several different places north (2 local shops and one online) and south of the border (2 online) and compared costs.

The best deal I've found choosing entry-level complete kit (stuff that I would consider actually purchasing) looks like I would still save a few bucks if I drove from Montreal to the south eastern US to pick it up MYSELF.

And here we have American shops trying to work with us to make the deals even easier.

Lessons in international economics aside, what gives?

I use MyUSaddress.ca- to take advantage of free US shipping offers and other price breaks, $5 / package and will hold without additional charges for up to a year. At an hour south - and close to places where I dive - it is a no brainer for me, quick hop across when next in the area. Prescott is a 2 hour drive for you from Montral, but there may be other services - including UPS stores - that are closer.

 

[W1ngz]

I use MyUSaddress.ca- to take advantage of free US shipping offers and other price breaks, $5 / package and will hold without additional charges for up to a year. At an hour south - and close to places where I dive - it is a no brainer for me, quick hop across when next in the area. Prescott is a 2 hour drive for you from Montral, but there may be other services - including UPS stores - that are closer.

Thanks, my sister lives right down by the border and has the same general thing, and I've used that before.
Though I'm more interested in why Canadian shops aren't willing to compete for Canadian shoppers?! It makes no sense.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have no idea why your costs are so much higher. It could be that your shops are also dealing with Canadian distributors that tack on extra.

I do know that I sell nearly as much to Canada as I do to customers in the USA. Where the difference is that my Canadian ones seem to spend more on big orders. I may sell a reg or bpw to a US customer where the Canadian will order both. Or multiples of both. Plus lights, fins, and other accessories.

If you have a US address to ship to and then you pick it up there, or like some have done and come here to pick it up you save hundreds over buying there.

I've had students come from Quebec for a class and buy gear to take back. And they still save money.

One Facebook group I was invited to join based there got pissed and kicked me out because I offered to work with group members on gear. Seems they were tied tight to a shop that didn't like that.

 

[W1ngz]

Where the difference is that my Canadian ones seem to spend more on big orders. I may sell a reg or bpw to a US customer where the Canadian will order both. Or multiples of both. Plus lights, fins, and other accessories.

That comes down to saving on shipping. Concentrating the order in one place means only paying the base rate once and small incremental for size and weight for additional items, instead of whole new shipping fee from a second retailer.

 

[tridacna]

Jim, I'll gladly swap their SCUBA costs with our pharma drug costs!

 

[TMHeimer]

Jim, I'll gladly swap their SCUBA costs with our pharma drug costs!

As I mentioned, almost everything costs more in Canada--even when our dollar was briefly worth more than the US$ a few years ago. Why? Because Canadians will pay more. I have to figure a lot of Canadian businesses must be doing extremely well. I must say I generally don't find the cost of scuba equipment outrageously higher in Canada. Don't want to start the drug/healthcare debate. We pay, I think, 33% or so more taxes than Americans to fund the healthcare system. Neither Obamacare nor any other plan will work in the US (and keep everybody happy), unless it involves a whole lot more taxes. We DO have to have drug plans for prescriptions--that's covered sometimes in part by the province, depending on which province, but you need some other coverage as well. Vision and dental are not covered at all without a plan--group or private.