FRANADA - Friends in Canada

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by barelyincollege, Nov 23, 2016.

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Which gear would you like to try first?

Poll closed Jan 24, 2017.
  1. Wolf Ear Audio - Makoyi amp

    4 vote(s)
    40.0%
  2. Campfire Audio - Orion IEM

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  3. Feliks Audio - Espressivo amp

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  4. Oppo - PM-3 headphones

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. ZMF headphones (Eikon, Atticus, etc.)

    4 vote(s)
    40.0%
  6. Other (please list in reply - will add to poll)

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  7. Schiit Jotunheim

    2 vote(s)
    20.0%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    My experience with Fedex and Schiit is that you pay the GST/HST plus $10 for clearance. I generally go with Fedex when I buy from Schiit, unless USPS is significantly cheaper for some reason (usually not).

    I believe the difference in shipping time between Fedex economy and priority is like 1-2 days, so you can decide whether than extra cost is worth it.
     
  2. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    I've done eight orders from Schiit in the last 4 years, and Fedex has had the best shipping quote every time. Both significantly cheaper and faster than UPS. I don't know if that is true for every destination, but it is certainly the case here and looks to be true in TO too. Maybe Schiit has some sort of vendor deal with FedEx, or maybe that is just how it is. If this is the case in other countries too I'd be curious how many people actually choose UPS.

    Anyway, International Priority is usually NBD here. The weather in Memphis slowed my last order, but FedEx has flights every night to most major Canadian cities. If you have too much time on your hands like me you can check Flightaware (free account is worthwhile) to see if your shipment is leaving on time. It's actually pretty fascinating how many hundreds of FedEx flights leave MEM every day (mostly overnight). My shipments from Schiit go from Santa Clara to Memphis, and then arrive on FDX134. Looks like FDX148 and FDX248 will be your regular daily flights to TO.

    https://flightaware.com/live/airport/CYYZ/enroute?;offset=80;order=ident;sort=ASC

    Can't speak to the self clearing, have not done it yet.
     
  3. Iron-Juice

    Iron-Juice New

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    Thanks @jnak00 @Kernel Kurtz !
    Just pulled the trigger. Glad to hear the experience is better with FedEx. I'm joining Kernel eagerly checking Flightaware. First time doing this for a parcel rather than passenger flights. Weird time it is.
     
  4. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Just a warning it can be frustrating to watch if your flight is really late. When I ordered my BF2 a few weeks ago I got the shipment notification from Schiit, and shortly after that got the automated phone call from FedEx telling me I had a package arriving the next day. Great, just like normal I thought. I had not really considered the winter weather that was just starting to envelope the southern US.

    Next morning I woke up expecting an out-for-delivery email, but my package was still in Memphis. Checked my flight and it was already 6 hours late (usually leaves around 3:00-3:30am and arrives around 5:30-6:00am then gets unloaded and put on the truck for delivery). It finally departed 11 hours late so needless to say it did not make the truck that day.

    So I was looking at the realtime departures from MEM. During the day there is more passenger traffic, and they were filling in the gaps with late FedEx flights, so unlike overnight when an FDX flight takes off every minute or two, it was like a United flight, then a Southwest flight, then a couple Delta flights, then they would squeeze in a late FedEx flight, then some more passenger flights. Interestingly all of the FedEx flights were similarly late, 10 hours, 12 hours, etc, except every once in a while there was a flight that was close to on time, maybe an hour or two late. I'm assuming, though I have no evidence at all, that those were probably flights carrying vaccines being prioritized.

    This was a Thursday, and even after my BF2 arrived I had a look just out of curiosity and on the next Monday flights were still regularly 5-6 hours late. Obviously takes a long time to catch up if the weather is persistently bad. They look to be on time now though, which is good as I await my Jot2 to ship.
     
  5. Imraan

    Imraan Friend

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    Hey Franadians!

    Interest check - is anyone looking for a mint JVC FDX1 iem? I'm looking to offload mine, used less than an hour (after burn in).
     
  6. BearFacts

    BearFacts Acquaintance

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    Not really, but it is worth mentioning that cougars have eaten a couple of dogs in my neighbourhood this week.
     
  7. Imraan

    Imraan Friend

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    :( Yeah I saw that...poor doggos.
     
  8. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    I read on one of the Roon forums that Qobuz entered into some deal with Quebecor, so we may have Qobuz in Canada soon. Unfortunately cannot find the link again. If you are interested and find some infor on this please post here.
    I am probably one of not that many people who have Qobuz in Canada but that's only because I have US address.
    Billing address in the US is all you need, no matter where you are except if you want to buy download, then you need VPN access. But for normal access or through Roon, VPN is not needed.

    EDIT: found something https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-and-telecommunications-sector-301069759.html
     
  9. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    You know what I miss? the olden days when we all had crappy or mid-fi gear, meeting in my garage with a bbq cooking outside, using cardboard boxes and towels to hold all our headphones instead of all fancy wooden stands and stuff now.
     

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  10. Beefy

    Beefy Friend

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    You still want mid fi? I got us sorted for mid fi.
     
  11. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    After some thinking about the Yggdrasil LIM loaner thread, I have started looking at what is involved in setting up a process for temporary loaner imports into Canada. There is quite a bit of useful information online.

    https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-89-427/page-1.html

    https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d8/d8-1-1-eng.html

    Before I dive too deeply down this rabbit hole, I guess the obvious question is if any other Canadian friends already have any experience with this sort of thing, either personally or perhaps professionally?
     
  12. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    One suggestion I would make is starting the tour in Alberta, since there is no PST in Alberta. I am assuming the other provinces all charge PST/HST on entry of imported goods. Also assuming there is an Albertan on the tour.
     
  13. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    That would make sense if taxes were going to have to be paid. I'm looking for a process by which both duties and taxes would be waived altogether. It would likely require the same person be the importer and exporter, or at least have that done in a coordinated way, as proof is absolutely required that something coming in temporarily actually does leave again.
     
  14. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    Fair enough. I have not dealt with that myself.

    My thought is if it comes to Alberta, there would be around $150 of import fees and tax ($140 of GST plus $10 of import fees depending on courier). If there's 5 participants that's $30 each, which I don't think is too high a price. Of course it's a much different story if it lands somewhere else - another $200 or so in Manitoba or BC, more in Ontario or Nova Scotia.
     
  15. Biodegraded

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    A few of us went into this when recently considering taking rhythmdevils up on a couple of offers of personal loaners. AFAIK the system is still the same as we talked about on p. 11, and from the Temporary Import documentation I've read I'm pretty sure you can do it without a business number. Although import duties (=GST, + PST if applicable) can be avoided, they might demand a bond; but for expensive items, the real killer when shipping up here and back is the insurance coverage.

    Once the border opens - not before late next month - the easiest and cheapest way would be to have loaners sent to a just-over-the-border US mailbox and hand-carry across the line with the correct paperwork. That way only intra-US shipping & coverage charges would be incurred in both directions, and the customs offices are right there.
     
  16. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    My statement is still do not import anything into Manitoba, because Winnipeg is a Customs training office and they are very strict here. My experiences have been almost all negative when dealing with customs. Starting with someone in BC on Ontario would probably work best, or someone doing a border hop as mentioned above.

    We do have a good number of people in Winnipeg, so put us last on the Canada tour and if there's any expensive shipping to overseas or back down to the US, we can split the costs on that easily over here.
     
  17. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Yeah, I'm only an hour drive from the border. Before it closed due to COVID I used to drive down to Pembina, ND now and then for things that were cheaper or easier to have shipped to a US address. Still, in all those cases those things I'm picking up are for my own use and taxes were inevitably due. I have never tried to apply for a 9993.00.00. exemption.

    I've downloaded the form though. I'll have a read through it and see if it looks straightforward enough. My caveat about having the same importer and exporter probably still applies though, because they are still going to have to keep track of that information.

    https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/e29b-eng.html

    Also, of course, the land border with the US is still closed to non-essential travel by Canadians. At least insofar as the LIM loaner goes it looks like it will be spending many months in the US. I certainly hope the border is open again by the spring, when this convo may become more relevant.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
  18. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Might be possible to start using cross-border mailboxes next month:

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/us-canada-border-reopen-1.6208838

    Still uncertain for those of us with mixed doses and/or AstraZeneca, but they've said they'll be accepting any WHO-approved vaccine for air travelers so presumably will be for land travelers too.
     
  19. Tommy

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    This is great news. Only issue is that we likely still need a negative PCR test to return to Canada. Seems very silly if you're just crossing the border to go to pick up mail. Frankly, I feel like I'm taking more risk by going to any local establishment in comparison to going to pick up mail in the US which only requires a brief exchange with US/Canadian customs.
     
  20. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Yeah, that is still a problem. Hopefully once the border is actually open they will revisit this requirement.
     

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