Well I found this canadian website that sells stuff sort of like amazon.com but the prices are in the canadian dollar(of course)

i was wondering, i'm in the US, if I try to take advantage of the exchange rate will i be getting a deal??

i tried to calculate it out by including the most expensive shipping as well, and then i converted the price to the US dollar and the total was like 50 something and the base price for this dvd alone on amazon.com was like 59.99.... so does that work? if i use my cc card it will convert back to the USD won't it?

it was a region 1 dvd but i'm not sure if it was a canadian version because some canadian versions are different, no?

somebody school me and give me some knowledge on the subject thanks!!

Good questions, eh! Canadian Dollars are, like, in metric, like everything else up there is. To quickly approximate a conversion between Canadian and American units of measure, you double and add thirty.

For example, if it's 15 degrees CELSIUS in Toronto, that's approximately equal to 60 degrees FAHRENHEIT in Rochester. (15*2 + 30). If you're used to driving 70 MILES per hour in Buffalo, you could get away by driving about 170 KILOMETERS per hour in Ottawa. And if you were filling up your SUV at a gas station in Detroit (20 GALLONS), you would need about 70 LITERS in Windsor. [These are all approximations, of course. 15 C = 59 F, 70 MPH = 154 KPH, and 20 G = 72 L, but they're pretty close.]

Note, it also works for beer and donuts. A six pack of Budweiser is equivalent to 42 Molsons, and a dozen Dunkin' Donuts translates to 54 Tim Horton's donuts. This is also why Rush only has 3 members in their band, but have to play 36 different instruments.... metric conversion.

To answer your question, one Canadian Dollar has the buying power of 35 American Cents. (35*2 + 30 = 100 cents). But be careful when buying Canadian DVDs. Instead of being 5 inches in diameter, they're 40 centimeters across, meaning you need a Laser Disc player (spelled "playre" in Canada). Also, if they're Region 1 in Canada, you'll need a Region 32 player in the States to view it.

Good luck, hoser!

If this is supposed to be a Senior Member answering an honest question, then I guess I really don't want to come to this board if all you can do is act immature.

I did a search on this and I didn't come up with anything helpful, so I just thought I'd ask.

Thanks for nothing

Canadian sites are great places to pick up box sets. I use the currency coverter at http://www.xe.com/ucc/ and some credit card companies charge a small fee for converting the dollars and some don't. Just search here and make sure the company is reputable or use another site like www.dvdpricesearch.com whcih has ratings for sellers. I've used totalactionuniverse.com and directvideo.com without any problems. Amazon is well known, but rarely do they have the best deals. Many people prefer deepdiscountdvd.com for domestic purchases. Good Luck...




















...hoser!!!

Just remember to double your nothing and add 30 when in Canada.

If you're a US customer using a US CC, buying something from a non-US company, any purchases billed in non-US currency are converted to US dollars. The specific rate is usually the current bank exchange rate in force at the time of the billing.* Some CC companies (Chase, for one) also apply a "conversion fee" to the transaction, while others do not. Your mileage (kilometerage) will depend on the specifics of your CC agreement.

*This is one of the big advantages to using a CC when abroad. The conversion from local currency to USD is at the actual rate, which can save you a lot in the long run over other options (such as trying to pay with Travelers Cheques that were bought before you left, often at a premium rate, and often with a fee.)

Yes, some Canadian R1 DVDs are different than American R1 DVDs, but not many. Without knowing which titles you're interested in, I can't help you. The International Forum would be a dandy place to ask that question.

BTW, "hoser" is a term of endearment. And if you find a mouse in the bottle, you get a free case of beer!

well what do you win if you find a hoser in a bottle?

thanks btw

Being in Canada, I actually sometimes get better prices buying from US retailers, even with shipping, taxes, and exchange rate figured in. However, a good estimate is $1 US is equal to about $1.59 Canadian (currently). This can fluctuate a great deal. Canadian prices tend to be higher when stated (for example, a DVD that might be going for $20 inthe US is probably going for $24 here), but when you add in the exchange rate, we actually end up paying less, all things being equal. However, shipping from Canada tends to be slower, and can be more expensive than what people in the US would pay for shipping from a national retailer, so unless you are buying something more than a DVD or two DVD, I would advise going within the US.

However, as J-Dubya said, it generally works out better for US people to pick up DVD Box Sets from Canadian retailers (depending on shipping).

Now I have a question: if someone in the US buys something from Canada, do you guys get hit with duties? I have gotten hit a couple of times buying stuff from the US, but they were multiple DVDS. Just wondering, because if so, it would really negate the advantage to shopping Canadian retailers...

I've never paid duties on DVDs bought from Canada, but maybe I've just been lucky.

Bob and Doug Discuss the Metric System:
http://bobanddougmckenzie.com/GreatW...9;s_Donuts.mp3

Playcentric.com is based in Canada but charges US credit cards at the U.S. rate. Consequently you will get charged the exact US rate indicated on their website. They also ship from Buffalo for US orders using the USPS so there is no customs issue with them. I do not know what the customs issues may be with other Canadian etailers who ship from Canada. Also, at the moment Playcentric.com will give you a discount of $3.25 off of every item purchased...you need to use code NL325 to get this discount.

Having said all of this, some people, me included, have been happy with their experiences with Playcentric.com. Others have not. There are a number of threads on this company in both the DVD Bargains and DVD Store Forum sections.

Good luck, Ken

PS - I too am aware that Canadian buyers often get hit with customs charges on US orders. I don't understand how this works. I thought that under NAFTA, there was free trade between the US and Canada going both ways???

I've made multiple purchases from HMV, DDD and DVDmode which are all based out of Canada. I've never had to pay duty fees on any shipment.

Thanks to NAFTA!

I guess orders up to $400 (US) are free of import duties.

Here it is...

Simple as ABC.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

This is a currency converter that is continually updated with the correct exchange rates. Just follow the simple instructions!

There is no duty on dvds. What's happening is customs is collecting the provincial tax (where applicable) and the GST and then charging a $5? handling fee for the service.
I believe you can import only $20 Candian worth of goods into Canada without having taxes collected.

Or $60 CDN worth of goods if you call it a 'gift'.

taking a look back at this, i'd probably wanna double that and add 30 huzefa.