It's always interesting to compare chapters.indigo.ca, amazon.ca and amazon.com for books.
Amazon.com usually has the best prices and best availability of obscure items, but you don't get free shipping. Once upon a time I think that their default international shipping option resulted in being dinged up to $35 or so in customs brokerage fees (upon delivery) but that's not the case any more. As far as I can tell they build a modest handling/brokerage fee or something into the shipping charges. The only bummer is when it's something that can't be shipped to Canada. Usually when that happens it's not
Amazon but an "associated vendor" (or whatever they call them) who doesn't want to ship internationally. When it's something really desirable and the discount is big enough, we have it shipped to the nearest UPS store across the border in the USA and make a trip to pick it up. You have to take into account the time (3 hours or so from Ottawa), gas (maybe $30), bridge tolls (around $7) and UPS fees ($5/package) and you have to declare your packages and pay GST or HST when you return to Canada (they know that you've been there only 15 minutes and you've been to the UPS store!) These costs are partly offset by the savings from filling your car with gas before returning (which you don't have to declare).
Surprisingly to me, amazon.ca doesn't have the same items as amazon.com or even the same (or similar) prices. My impression of it is that it's similar to chapters with respect to selection, prices and shipping rates (or availability of free shipping).
Chapters is often a disappointment to me when I comparison shop with amazon.com, but every holiday season it's guaranteed that our family will receive several "chapters cards" as gifts because it's easy to purchase these at Chapters or Coles bookstores. What happens is we transfer these cards to our online account. The account balance builds up for a while because we most frequently order stuff from amazon, but then we say, "gosh we have a lot built up at chapters" and we make a big order for Christmas presents or whatever.
Moral of the story: for books, CDs, DVDs always compare amazon.com, amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca for availability, price and shipping options. If you're giving gift cards, I recommend giving amazon.com because I think it's the overall best place for online shopping. They're the most appreciated book-related gift cards in my house and they can be used to purchase lots of other stuff as well.