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« on: September 14, 2006, 04:05:53 AM »
I have my preferred border crossing, and I stopped there on the way down. He explained that they do not have a credit card machine there (and with the 10% duty on Chinese goods, I did not bring enough money). He recommended that I go to the one that does take credit cards (but where they are very picky about everything).
I expected them to be "anal", but they were ridiculous... I had all my invoices but they wanted the credit card payment receipt, or whatever. Anyway, it worked out okay with them. They charged the taxes, but not the Chinese tariff, so for the hassle, I saved 10% ... quite a bit on the total price (the 2 Canadian taxes are added to the US price plus conversion plus tariff, so it becomes more than 10%). FYI, the tariff on Chinese goods in the US is higher than in Canada, but since that has already been paid, the tariff would have been paid twice.
Last time I was there, the guy read every single ingredient in my vitamins (75 ingredients), looking for steroids, melatonin, DHEA, or anything else on their list.
I also found out that buying the trailer I was looking at in the US requires a $200 inspection fee before I can import and plate it. Not a big deal, just weird.
Funny how... when I bought Chinese goods from a Canadian importer (where we have a lower tariff than the SU does on Chinese imports), they cost me more than when I bought them in the US, and drove them into Canada myself. US is more competitive, larger volumes, bigger discounts at all ends, it seems.
I knew I would have to pay up today, got off easy enough (a few hundred dollars added to cost of the stuff). With duty-free exemption for weekend stays, week-long stays, etc., I do okay.
Buying in Canada would have required waiting at least 2 months to get my hands on the stuff, and each item was hundreds of dollars more to buy here.
Does U-Haul change their rates daily? I paid almost nothing for a closed 5 x 8 that normally rents for $60 - $75 / day.
Maybe the rates go up in peak seasons (like back to school), or maybe their inventory load is too high... weird. If I could always get a trailer for $20/day, I might never buy one.