- #1
- katwittfan[OP]
- Deal Addict
- Dec 10, 2009
- 1438 posts
- 5809 upvotes
- Van Isle
Dec 17th, 2016 1:39 pm
B&H Photo shipping to Canada
Looking for opinions from anyone that has bought stuff from BH Photo and had it shipped to Canada. They seem to have it all set up to show a "LANDED" price but I am still skeptical. Any nasty surprises or extra fees slapped on? Their "landed" pricing on stuff like GPU's etc is better by 10-20% than buying in Canada ALL-IN.
Any issues with warranties, M.I.R's, returns etc?
I used to order stuff from them to a U.S. address and they were excellent to deal with and pricematched with zero hassles. Wondering how the Canadian experience is. THANKS!
Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers
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15 replies
- #2
- dnydam
- Newbie
- Nov 23, 2015
- 52 posts
- 61 upvotes
- Toronto, ON
Dec 17th, 2016 3:37 pm
B&H gives two options: The "we'll take care of it" and the "take care of duties yourself" I've ordered from them twice now (both orders over $99 -> "free" shipping) and had no problem with it. The only issue is that you should look at how much they charge for the duties/taxes when you ask them to take care of it. The amount shown is how much will be charged (nothing more for either of my orders this year), but it can be a bit hefty depending on the item and it might work out better for you to pay yourself (you might get away without paying it, you might not). Also the "free" shipping typically sometimes just puts extra money into the duties (for one of my two items) so it's not actually free fyi.
I've had no issue with them and they seem like a very reputable company IMO that does a great job trying to reach their Canadian buyers imo.
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- #3
- katwittfan[OP]
- Deal Addict
- Dec 10, 2009
- 1438 posts
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- Van Isle
Dec 17th, 2016 3:57 pm
Excellent synopsis dyndam. Thank you for that. If they ship USPS I may take the chance on duties/taxes myself as I know it can be a "lottery" sometimes. I am finding that even their "landed" price is better by 10-20% on PC parts.
Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers
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- #4
- Jucius Maximus
- Deal Expert
- Aug 18, 2005
- 21277 posts
- 5998 upvotes
- Burlington-Hamilton
Dec 17th, 2016 4:07 pm
A few months ago, my mom bought a ~$400 phone from B&H and it arrived with no surprises. All duty / tax / etc was charged up front.
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- #5
- Piddles
- Deal Addict
- Mar 12, 2013
- 1402 posts
- 617 upvotes
- EDMONTON
Dec 17th, 2016 4:30 pm
My google home arrived with no extra surprises.
I've ordered 1000$+ lenses in the past that had horrible BS UPS surprises but that was before their new landed shipping/duty option.
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- #6
- HammerRFDer
- Deal Addict
- Jul 13, 2007
- 1293 posts
- 833 upvotes
- Toronto
Dec 17th, 2016 4:37 pm
You'll see it on the final invoice before paying what you're paying in taxes/duties. It's usually a good deal.
B&H will charge all duties and tax, (e.g. if the product is made in, say, Thailand, and there's a 5% duty, they'll charge that + HST). For my last order, it worked out to 20% overall (to ON). So, it could be cheaper to go through USPS sometimes and take your chance, but rarely with the brokerage charge ($8 via USPS?) and slower shipping.
Usually when packages come in via USPS and CBSA decides to assess taxes/duties, they'll just assess 13% HST, rarely duties based on country of origin.
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- #7
- warpdrive
- Deal Expert
- Mar 6, 2003
- 20190 posts
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- Ottawa
Dec 17th, 2016 6:41 pm
there won't be any surprises if you do the fully landed price. Ordered quite a few times since they started the free shipping over $99.
Please update your profile to include your city https://forums.redflagdeals.com/ucp.php?i=ucp_profile&mode=profile_info
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- #8
- henryp
- Newbie
- Feb 3, 2010
- 35 posts
- 38 upvotes
- New York
Dec 19th, 2016 5:02 pm
dnydam wrote: ↑I've had no issue with them and they seem like a very reputable company IMO that does a great job trying to reach their Canadian buyers imo.
Thank you. We appreciate this vote of confidence.
Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video
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- #9
- BambooMonster
- Member
- May 14, 2013
- 442 posts
- 518 upvotes
- Edmonton
Dec 19th, 2016 5:23 pm
I normally just pay them the nominal fee for B&H take care of duties and taxes. Hassle free. I just ordered a $400 gimbal, 1.5 weeks ago and received it in under 5 days (shipped to Alberta). It was couriered via Purolator. Purolator is pretty slow to update their tracking logs, so beware. Also Purolator did leave the package at the door, which I was really not happy about because no one was home and literally it was left in the open... Any opportune passerby would have scooped it up. I mean, there were 2 pillars at the entrance of my home that they could have hid it behind but the driver opted to leave it on the steps where everyone could see it. Gave me a heart attack when I got home...
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- #10
- Brian71
- Sr. Member
- Jul 20, 2012
- 807 posts
- 375 upvotes
- Guelph
Dec 19th, 2016 11:34 pm
I was in NYC last week and bought a lens there. The store is HUGE. The staff are knowledgeable and very helpful.
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- #11
- lecale
- Deal Guru
- Nov 15, 2008
- 13456 posts
- 9072 upvotes
Dec 20th, 2016 12:14 am
I ordered on behalf of a friend who had fears but there were absolutely no problems/nothing to fear.
Would shop again.
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- #12
- Avenger
- Deal Fanatic
- Jan 6, 2004
- 8502 posts
- 2770 upvotes
Dec 20th, 2016 7:19 am
I've ordered a few expensive items and they're fantastic. One of my tablets was defective and they've been good through the return process too. I don't have anything bad to say about them at all.
My Heatware | RFD Feedback
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- #13
- warpdrive
- Deal Expert
- Mar 6, 2003
- 20190 posts
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- Ottawa
Dec 20th, 2016 4:59 pm
Brian71 wrote: ↑I was in NYC last week and bought a lens there. The store is HUGE. The staff are knowledgeable and very helpful.
bhphoto in NYC is basically an institution. It's evil if you are a photographer, so many goodies to tempt you.
Please update your profile to include your city https://forums.redflagdeals.com/ucp.php?i=ucp_profile&mode=profile_info
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- #14
- thunder
- Sr. Member
- Feb 21, 2002
- 664 posts
- 79 upvotes
Dec 21st, 2016 7:17 am
henryp wrote: ↑Thank you. We appreciate this vote of confidence.
care to tell us why you don't have a B&H store in Canada
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- #15
- Supercooled
- Deal Expert
- Dec 4, 2010
- 19536 posts
- 2265 upvotes
- Quarantine Bubble
Dec 21st, 2016 8:21 am
I've also ordered from them and used the 'take care of duties for me' option. I bought 3 WDC Mybook drives. I think the total was around $600 CND and they charged me a reasonable duty fee. This was the 5TB drive they had for like $139 a few months back. In retrospect, I should have ordered more; HDD prices have not fallen that much since.
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- #16
- ngrigoriev
- Newbie
- Feb 6, 2010
- 41 posts
- 18 upvotes
- Brossard
Jun 7th, 2021 9:37 am
Ordered a laptop from them. When doing checkout, I found that, unlike other items, they do not offer an option to prepay the duties/taxes if you buy a laptop. Chatted with their customer support, they were clueless - except confirming for me that they do not have that option 
They also confirmed that their "standard shipping" is UPS. When I hear "UPS" and "customs", it immediately resolves into "$$$". I have checked in the custom tariffs and found that the duty on the computers is actually 0%. And I also found that FedEx International Economy does not charge % on the brokerage fees, only fixed $10 CAD bond fee. So I decided to pay $30 for shipping via FedEx instead and that worked out just fine. My laptop arrived in two days, I got the call in the morning from FedEx, they offered to pay the taxes with credit card, emailed me the receipt and that was it. I was charged exactly GST/QST on the laptop (which is fair) plus $10 + GST/QST for the bond fee. Nothing else. So, I can highly recommend B&H for this kind of purchases too.
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