Canadian Ski Equipment Prices

L

Legoman

Member
Im going to be purchasing a lot of equipment when i go to canada to do a ski instructors course and im trying to budget how much this will cost, as iv only managed to find retail webistes in US dollars. Iv heard its about 10% more in Canada but thats not really specific enough for me to work out how much money im going to need.

Could someone point me in the direction of a Canadian retail site, i know i can order from US sites to canada but is that going to be more or less expensive and how long does it take to receive equipement due to border controls and stuff.

Also if anyone could give me any general info on how much skis bindings n boots cost roughly in local stores, i.e suspects, ar6s, hellbents, marker griffons/sth 12s just some general ballpark figures would be appreciated.
 
at my local ski shop in canada the suspect are 679$ without binding and the spk pro are 499$ everithing is + taxes depended where you go
 
hmm that seems like a huge hike in price compared to the us prices,

what are the taxes and gst or whatever they are called, in percentages? sorry im coming from the uk where our taxes are always included.
 
still cheaper than the UK. Tax depends on state. In canada (nationwide) there is GST (i think,Im not canadian, but spent some time there) which is 6-7% and some states add pst (provincial sales tax) which is another 6-7%. Basically if your in whistler (BC) you add 13% tax (PST+GST) and if your in alberta there is no PST added, so its either 6 or 7% GST. it takes a while to get used to as marked prices are less than what you pay.

Dont buy anything right away as you may get a discount depending on who and where you do instructor training.

If you import skis from the US, you have to pay a shitload in Import duty so it better be one hell of a deal in the first place.

Sorry, Im not canadian, I too am from the UK, Im sure a canadian will be able to give you the low down on all this.
 
GST (federal tax) is always 5%, PST (provincial sales tax) varies from province to province, and is added on after GST. Alberta has no PST. The Maritimes have the highest PST rates. I think the highest of any PST is 10%
 
where r u gonna b in Canada. Quebec thru Mtl ? Ontario thru Toronto ? BC, Alberta ? There are webstores but Canada isn't up to USA web ski stores. Not worth ordering thru the USA. US exchange, prov tax, VAT/GST plus delivery cost. Tell me where I'll try to name some retail stores... the cdn $ has recently dropped against the US...
 
Where will you be? Yes, GST is 5%. In BC, PST is 7% and Alberta doesn't have any because they have oil. pretty much, ordering across the border can get pretty complicated. I try to avoid it and have a shipping address just on the other side to help with that. If you do order though, DO NOT USE FEDEX. Im not sure about UPS and such, but I would advise against it. if you can get it shipped via USPS (postal service) you can estimate the cost pretty well. the thing with couriers is they will hit you with a thing called a brokerage fee, which is a hidden fee and can be f ing redic. there is no way to find out how much it will be until you receive your order. anyways, there arent really any Canadian online shops with much selection. maybe you can meet someone from the states or with a connection or somthing so you can have stuff shipped there if your close to the border. otherwise, you will probably have to tough it out and buy from a shop. or if you know some cheap UK places, you might be able to order it from there and actually avoid some costs if they offer free shipping to canada. i dunno if there are ski shops that do that, but i know of a couple bike and snowboard ones that do. good luck.
 
Thanks for the replys guys some really usefull info. Im gonna be in jasper, ab doing my course so atleast i dont have to pay pst which is cool.

I think ill just buy local if i can it seems like a lot of effort and uncertain costs just to make a small saving if any by going through the states, but should have somebody ship for me from the states around the end of the season so might be able to get some bargains n stuff if needs be. No way would i buy stuff in the uk though shit is so expensive its ridiculous, thank god the exchange rate just went back up to.
 
Prices on skis are a bunch more expensive. I think $800 or more for the Hellbents.

As reference, Bacons are $600ish in the US, and $650 in canada. Invaders retail for about $450 in whistler, and less than $300 in the states.

GST is 5%, PST is (as stated above) varying. Bringing stuff across the border costs GST+PST+Duty (ranging from 8% on skis to about 20% on clothing). Total tax of 20% or more. That's if you claim...

Keep in mind that if you're from the US, you have 15% off right now, as our dollar is only worth 84 cents of a US dollar. It's not looking like CAD is going to be worth more any time soon either...
 
Sign of the Skier, at Yonge Street and Lawrence. The address is 2794 Yonge Street. If you wanna trek out of the city to Oakville, Corbett's is a good store (http://www.corbetts.com/Store/help.php?section=contactus&mode=update)

Hope this helps
 
^ sounds like good advice. plus, do you really want to be wearing out brand new sick skis when your just instructing/taking a course? anyways, back to duties and stuff even though you said you prolly wont bother, some more advice. if you were to get something like moments or anything else made in North America, you shouldnt be charged duty. they also often let you go easy as long as you are nice and such (if you are down for a few days you also get to bring back a certain value of any goods for free). I would recommend declaring though. it can get pretty awkward trying to talk your way out sometimes. this coming from someone who's car they decided to search the one time i didnt declare something. the fact that that thing was a couple bottles of chemicals in weird packaging without a receipt as well as the fact that i had a triple beam balance (ie a great scale for really accurate measurements - ideal for drugs if you do that) didn't really help the situation.
 
As long as you are professional, they wont care. You dont have to be a (huge) weenier, just treat it like a job interview, because thats really what it is. As far as skis go, you cannot ski on groomers to standard on bents, but I did my one and two on twins. By III though, someone will tell you to get skis with a max 16 m radius for obvious reasons.
 
Nah i fully intend to get some "weener" skis lol, if i can afford it or find any i would get some stockli rotor 76s for teaching in super sweet skis for that sort of thing imo. Plus i dont wanna be learning/teaching on battered park skis.

Saying that just seen the new D-Structure site, looks sick and free shipping in canada, seems like a good site for my needs, shame they dont have many fat skis but seems like the whole stock isnt up yet.

+ karma for all the help if it lets me
 
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