Ebay prices

[westbeach]

Just out of curiousity, what are the collective experience with ebay?

If you have a winning bid of say $540USD, how much do you expect to pay after factoring in everything. ie. shipping, brokerage, customs, exchange rate.

Also out of curiosity, say for every $100 you spend, how much would you sacrifice to get the item right away? Ie. would you rather wait 1-2 week for an item to come at a cost of $80 or just pay $100 for the item right away? I know this logic doesn't apply to higher ticket items but would you save $50 from a $1000 item for the sake of saving $50 buying on Ebay or from the internet?

[swaaain]

Personally, I use ebay to get my hands on some of the more hard to get items, or if they are run pof the mill stuff, I only bid on items in canada.


You can at times, have them ship it as a gift of course. Most will, but some won't.

I never think about the duty as it has never been more than $20 for anything I have bought.

Swaaain

[mirak]

A word of advise; If you want to get something from the US (Clubs, Driver, etc...) Make sure the item is sent to you either via USPS (If checked by customs It will cost you $5.00 brokerage plus GST and PST of the total value, but sometimes nothing) or UPS / Fedex express (brokerage included, you still have to pay GST, PST and maybe duty..) UPS/FedEx ground services are cheap BUT the Brokerage Charges will KILL YOU !

Don't use the express service from the USPS because it clears via Purolator and they also charge a lot for brokerage

I import a lot from the US, trust me on this

[AnnikaFan]

from personal experiences...for every $100US (the bid price, excluding shipping etc) I buy from the US, I pay around $150 CAD give or take $10CAD (includes exchange rate, shipping, gst/pst, brokerage fees)

[sharkhark]

There isn't for alot of things, duty, so typically you pay the brokerage ($5 usps as others have said, $40 if other couriers) and gst/pst, exchange from US.

I always sit down in advance and based on their courier options, plus the aforementioned, i add it all up vs buying here. If it is considerable savings, then go ahead, if you are buying i.e. a driver that in the end saves you $40, why bother, you may have defect issues, warranty problems, lose return policy etc.

Keep in mind also, that if you prefer a delivery system i.e. USPS like I do, send the seller an email. I have done it 3 times now to different sellers and even though their site said they only deliver to ____blank__they all said OK.
Hope this helps.

[under4hrs]

Key is the cost savings...if it is worth the effort, I will ship it to my parent's place, or a friend near the border (Buffalo/Detroit) and then pick it up from them.

Example - purchased a new Scotty Cameron Studio Style for $200 US. Golftown was $399 plus taxes...so i figure I am ahead of the game for sure.

Just depends on the urgency aroudn the item you are after, and if you have the ability to ship to somewhere in the US...