Good Grief! I Love You Canadians - I Really Do, But...

[grinningghost]

...can someone PLEASE explain the Canadian practice of cross-border shopping and changing clothes in the mall parking lot? Hey, I get that you don't want to pay the duty going back over the bridge - but when I see a woman IN HER UNDERWEAR changing into her new clothes in the mall parking lot and dumping her old stuff right in the lot - I gotta scratch my head...

Is the cost really THAT high to pay for US purchases at Customs?

I'm kinda curious.

Love,

Your American Friend grinningghost

 

[familyS]

Brrr

Isn't it really cold there, too? We are only an hour or so from the border and it is cold and snowy here!

 

[mommasita]

Yep, costs are that high. It depends on where it is made as well. If it is made in China, then we pay duty on the yen..

I have never got as far as what you saw today, , but I do try to 'wear' as much as I can...

Yes, it is WELL below freezing here..

 

[grinningghost]

Brrr

Isn't it really cold there, too? We are only an hour or so from the border and it is cold and snowy here!

Yeah, it's pretty darned cold - especially at 5 AM! Which was when I saw this brave young lady baring all (well, almost all).

This was at the Boulevard Mall on Niagara Falls Blvd. - and you just know that area is nothing short of INSANELY POPULATED on Black Friday at 5 AM - she put on quite a show.

 

[L107ANGEL]

What no pics GG

 

[disney4us2002]

But did you find a new mattress?

 

[DVC-Don]

My step-mom used to work retail in Burlington, Vermont and witnessed this activity all the time in their parking lot.

 

[Tantor]

it wasn't me................................

 

[pooksma]

GG- Where are you cause that may have been my sister in law!

I've switched shoes in the parking lot and coats but never anything else.

 

[Tantor]

by the way I think duty on clothes and shoes is 17%. No wonder she was changing.

If she gets caught though the fines are extremely high. And the border guards apparently know all the scams.........

 

[cheerful chickadee]

just because I'm curious....what is the duty on other purchases or is it just clothing?

DH was at CompUsa's sale last night to buy an xbox for ds and struck up a convo with a few groups of people while in line and they were all from Canada. They were all buying tv's or laptops which is why I'm asking about the duty.

 

[Skywalker]

I remember doing it at as a teenager, only with shoes and coats. My friend would wear over old jeans and wear the new ones back.

But never, I mean never, have I seen anyone change in a parking lot! I think she was just an exhibitionist.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Maybe she needed to change clothing and get rid of the ones whe was wearing! Were there any police cars crusing the parking lot?

 

[goofyernmost]

I've never seen the change thing happen but I have seen a lot of layering of clothing where they put several layers of clothing on at one time. I did, however, see a full grown woman change out of her bathing suit, standing along side her car in the beach parking lot. She did put on a pretty "complete" show for those around her. That was a day to remember.

 

[Pop Daddy]

eh

 

[Pop Daddy]

eh

 

[Florida_Mom]

I don't get it...are there rules about not changing into your paid merchandise in the store's bathroom? Must people change in the parking lot or was she just an exhibitionist?

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I think that lady was the exception, not the rule. Why not just change in a public washroom?

just because I'm curious....what is the duty on other purchases or is it just clothing?

We actually don't pay "duty" any more, as such. I live in a border town and cross almost daily. You are allowed so much in without paying anything. If you're there for just the day, it's $20 per person (unless it's groceries b/c then you're allowed a lot more). After 48 hours, it goes up to $400 per person. After a week, its $1000 per person. If you have purchases that exceed the limit, you simply go in and pay the Canadian tax on them. The tax rate depends on where you enter the country. Where we live, it's 15%. I'm always honest. I don't see the point in lying. Even with the 15%, with our strong dollar and the lower tax in the neighbouring state, it's still worth it for us to do some shopping in the States.

 

[LindaG4458]

We have lots of Canadian shoppers visiting in North Conway. Merchants have remarked that their dumpsters have lots of old clothes and shopping bags left in them from people changing into their purchases. I've never seen the parking lot strip, though.

We did have some foreign visitors threatened with a police ticket for changing into bathing suits under a towel on the riverbank. This was in the middle of summer with crowds galore around them.

 

[minnie56]

I think that lady was the exception, not the rule. Why not just change in a public washroom?



We actually don't pay "duty" any more, as such. I live in a border town and cross almost daily. You are allowed so much in without paying anything. If you're there for just the day, it's $20 per person (unless it's groceries b/c then you're allowed a lot more). After 48 hours, it goes up to $400 per person. After a week, its $1000 per person. If you have purchases that exceed the limit, you simply go in and pay the Canadian tax on them. The tax rate depends on where you enter the country. Where we live, it's 15%. I'm always honest. I don't see the point in lying. Even with the 15%, with our strong dollar and the lower tax in the neighbouring state, it's still worth it for us to do some shopping in the States.

It's actually $750 after a week..and what we pay is the PST and GST. Which now is 14%, 13% in January. Way I see it, with our dollar many days now worth more than the USD..if we end up buying at a good buy and then pay the 14%..we have done well! I buy what I want---fess up to it---and all too often they wave me through. If not, it offsets the times they do!