OK. I just returned from the US now. it is 1:45 am Sat morning.

I woke up at 3:10 am friday morning.
Out the door by 3:30
Arrived in the US at 4:45
Got to Walden by 5:05 to see a sworm of people in the dimly lit parking lot RUN to the doors, police were doing the crowd control. In all the chaos I just got in the crowd and pushed my way in.

To get the computer I wanted to buy I had to wait in a second line inside the store for 2 hours. This is when I learned that only people with vouchers handed out over the night would be able to buy the doorcrashers. Luckly, over the course of 2 hours and being alone, I socialized with the people around me. One of those people had and extra voucher for the computer with some security enhancement for a 50.00 charge, they didnt want it so I took it (it was still a good deal).

So now I get back to Canada and it is around 8:00and the sun is finally up. I decide to be honest and declare the computer. I have to pay duty. No surprise there. The duty they charge is on the total sale including the American taxes, I said to the CBSA officer, "I have to pay taxes on taxes???" She smirked and replied. "Yes". I fucking hate Canadian taxes. Anyways so I drive to Port Colbourne to meet up with my friend Jessica and had breakfast with her and her mother. We finish up and drop off her Mom and head back to Buffalo. It is now 11 am.

We go to the Wal-Mart in Cheektowaga first. Wow. America's finest work and shop at this store. Fucking disgracful store. Will never go back I dont care how cheap their shit is. Their staff were so rude, and the shoppers were just as bad. I know this should come as no surprise but damn.

We finally leave at 12:45 pm. And head up the street to the Target across from the Walden Galleria. This was by and far, much better than Shit-Mart. Staff were equally as retarded but at least tried to help. They had better deals IMO as well. My friend being a typical girl takes forever in this store and we finally leave at 2:30 pm.

Now we finally hit the Walden Galleria starting with Best Buy once again. Now I can finally start buying things that I want. But everything was pretty much sold out at this point. I picked up Fallout 3 and Dragon Age Origins for the PS3. We hit a bunch more stores and finally have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory at 9. 50 minute wait to get into this place, craziness.

After that we hit a Blockbuster and a Tops and finally came back to Canada once again. Even though I declared my stuff (or at least most of it) we still got pulled over, (once again). After we got to Port Colbourne I grabbed some Caffine and drove back to Misissauga to type this wonderful post. 19 hours of shopping and driving. A Marathon.

Here is a breakdown of what I bought

Ruehl Jeans 40 dollars, regular 98, Canada 130
Abercrombie and Fitch Jeans 45 dollars, regular 110, Canada 135
emachine Desktop Computer with AMD Athlon, 19 inch monitor, HP printer, 350 dollars, regular 650, Canada 1250
Dragone Age Origins PS3 35 dollars, Regualar 60, Canada 70
Fallout 3 PS3 20 Dollars, regular 40, Canada 60
8 Carlton Christmas Cards 14 dollars, regular 28, Canada 46
Oakley goggles 85 dollars, regular 135, Canada 160

I got a whole bunch of DVD's and Ski poles too but I really cant be bothered to type out every purchase. Fact is 1. Yes you can bring electronics back into Canada....I just did it, legally to boot.
2. If retailers ever want to stop people from going to the states to shop they need to stop selling items at drastically inflated prices when our dollars is so close to parity.
3. Lobby the Government to reduces Sales Taxes. This HST is going to kill the retailers, particularly those in border towns.

Now I'm going to bed to sleep for the next 12 hours. good night.

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 Im all for US shopping. Canada cant be competitive with all the taxes, regulations and punitive business restrictions in place here. Unfortunately it may take the power of supply and demand to make the government act, or more importantly voters. Because left wing government will let the band play on while the music hall burns.

I've been buying quite a bit of merchandise from the US lately. A Spiewak jacket I got was $200 less than it was being sold by a local retailer here. I ended up paying something like $160 USD with $20 in taxes/duties through customs and the shipment arrived in 2 days. Just amazing. We all need to vote with our dollars if not through our MPs.

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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow

btw. this site is amazing for cross border shopping
http://www.wishabi.ca/

a guy i know from highschool helped start-up the site. you can do price comparisons on a slew of products being sold in the US with stuff up here.

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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow

Figured I'd go today (Sunday) and see if there was anything left for scavenging.....

A little tougher to find some deals, but they were there...

Pretty much made out like a bandit in Macy's... They had their usual sale, but I guess if you go up to them, whine that you're Canadian and it's SOOO far away, they give you a card/coupon which gets you an additional 11% off any sale or clearance prices...

-3 X DKNY Sweaters (2 for me, one as a gift for my bro), regular $70 each, got them for $30 each [Seen similar here at the Bay for $90]
-A winter wool grey jacket, regular $250, got it for $80 (Kinda looks like the one Joris Voorn is wearing on the cover of his Balance 013)
-A spring rain coat, $40, regular $100...looks slick as fuck
-2 Kenneth Cole embroidered pinstripe dress shirts modern fit, regular $55 each, got them $22 each...
-Levis slim fit engineer jeans... regular $65, got em for $30.


Did some nice damage in Kohls too... Those Leapfrog video game systems for kids, seen them here at Toys'R'Us for $90 each, after sales, scratch card etc, picked up TWO for $90! Sweet both the Lil cousins are covered. A pair of solid black Converse Chuck Taylor high-tops for $25... AND apparently since we spent so much there (my mom bought stuff too) we got like $50 Kohls cash back or something...

TJ Maxx has a fuckload of dress, cashmere/wool sweaters on the cheap, which I desperately needed for work, grabbed a bunch there for $20 each...

Now for some reason Burlington coat factory had ANY Conair trimming/beard/haircut product for $8!!! ANY OF THEM! I grabbed a haircut one, a beard/goatee trimmer, beard trimmer, and another grooming one... some decent gifts there. Most had a sticker price of over $40!

Good trip, some decent deals...

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“Where’s your will to be weird?”

quote:

Originally posted by Sentinal We go to the Wal-Mart in Cheektowaga first. Wow. America's finest work and shop at this store. Fucking disgracful store. Will never go back I dont care how cheap their shit is. Their staff were so rude, and the shoppers were just as bad. I know this should come as no surprise but damn.

That Walmart is TERRIBLE. I try to avoid at all costs!

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*LiVe LaUgh LoVe*

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living." Dr.Suess