Are you still buying in the USA? Why?

[troni]

I'd rather keep my $$ in my community, i have yet to buy onlin,e this next frag-a-lot order will be my first online order. and its still located in canada.

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by troni

I'd rather keep my $$ in my community, i have yet to buy onlin,e this next frag-a-lot order will be my first online order. and its still located in canada.

Don't get me wrong, so would I. And I stop in my LFS every time I drive through, and almost never leave without buying something. But for the big stuff I use a lot of, (stuff you would think they would sell at a lower margin because of the volume) I just can't afford to buy there.

[troni]

I definately can understand that, and i yet have to be faced with that.

[Delphinus]

In the late 90's and early 2000's I had no choice but to order many of the supplies from the States ... Fast forward to 2012, I haven't needed to do so in probably 7 or 8 years now, except for maybe the occasional BRS order (they really are the gold standard for some things). But otherwise the supply in Canada has improved hugely. In general I'd rather support local and/or Canadian though. I consider most of the vendors I deal with to be "friends" and while it may not be possible 100% of the time, I try to weight my choices in the direction that supports them. It's a tough business to be in..

[paddyob]

No disrespect , but not certain if it's smart or suicide for a sponsor to start this type of thread.

[lockrookie]

Originally Posted by paddyob

No disrespect , but not certain if it's smart or suicide for a sponsor to start this type of thread.

in an odd sence of the matter at hand i kinda respect the vendor on this question. mainly from the information they can learn by our response if it can help them find a way to help and supply products at comparable costs. already mentioned was filtration media. some things are just not capable to get at lower costs and are out of control of the vendor being at the mercy of thier supplier. and thus far if they had something that i would like i may try them out. just at this time(no offence to reef supplies) thier site is new and i see nothing of intrest to me personally at this time.

[scubadawg]

I always try a local supplier first if they can match or come close to the item I'm buying, I priced out a set of KW Variant 3 coilovers for my car

From U.S. Ebay: 3,299.99 Shipping 59.99 Final Cost: CAD$ 3940.41

2 suppliers from Edmonton, 3500.00 plus shpping and GST, 3600 plus shipping and GST.

Sponsor vendor from 6speedonline:
V3 $2800.00
Shipping to Canada is usually around $125-$150 based on exactly where in Canada it needs to go to. Final Cost: CAD$ 3462.16

Price from Toronto:
The KW V3s would be $2965 + 5% tax + $40 shipping so $3153.25 including shipping and tax.

I asked one of the local suppliers if they can match the Toronto price, and he said his price is his price, so Toronto get's my business

I don't understand how a supplier can turn down an profit just to bring an item that's prepaid? Isn't making some money, better than making no money at all, and what about future business, I won't be calling that company in the future to see if they want to match prices or come close.

Steve at Red Coral match a sale price form J&L, because I prepaid it, since he did not have it stock. I try to keep the money locally, if possible.

[Reef Supplies]

Originally Posted by paddyob

No disrespect , but not certain if it's smart or suicide for a sponsor to start this type of thread.

Little bit of both maybe? hehe

We are very transparent, nothing to hide. Threads like this are what makes us vendors know what out clients want.

Originally Posted by madkeenreefer

Supporting the Canadian economy is great! supporting your local economy even better .
but you said it yourself "above quote" its foolish to spend your money at one place when you can get it cheaper at another.
A good example is pritty much any online retailer in Quebec, they are always going to be more expensive due to the higher taxes.
Same for your store vs lets say J&L Aquatics I get the same thing for less but its still got to cross the country to get here.
This is why I always by outside Quebec

That's not how it works. We cant charge other provinces Quebec taxes :-)

Here is our tax breakdown

Alberta 5%
BC 12%
Manitoba 12%
NB 13%
Newfoundland and Lab. 13%
NWT 5%
Nova Scotia 15%
Ontario 13%
PIE 15.5%
Quebec 14.975% (no kidding we're pi$$ed lol)
Sask 10%
Yukkon 5%

Originally Posted by lockrookie

in an odd sence of the matter at hand i kinda respect the vendor on this question. mainly from the information they can learn by our response if it can help them find a way to help and supply products at comparable costs. already mentioned was filtration media. some things are just not capable to get at lower costs and are out of control of the vendor being at the mercy of thier supplier. and thus far if they had something that i would like i may try them out. just at this time(no offence to reef supplies) thier site is new and i see nothing of intrest to me personally at this time.

Can you Email us what you would like to see on our store? http://www.reefsupplies.ca/canada/contact/

Thanks!

[Megalodon]

Originally Posted by paddyob

No disrespect , but not certain if it's smart or suicide for a sponsor to start this type of thread.

I was just about to make a large purchase of various things from BRS, but after reading this thread, I'm going to buy my Hanna checkers from Reef Supplies instead. With the Canreef discount, they're $6 more per unit, but there's no customs and all that other hassle, and plus I'll feel better buying from Canada. I'm still buying my bulk chemicals through BRS, however. You can't beat those prices.

So suicide? Nah. Smart? Maybe. He makes a good point.

[mseepman]

I really try to buy local but as everyone else in the Okanagan knows, that's an expensive process. Using a local LFS keeps options open to me when I'm in a panic but paying $89-$99 for a bucket of IO salt is too painful so I end up stopping in a J&L a couple times per year.

Many of our LFS are under the same pressures that book stores have been under since the inception of amazon.com Bricks and Morter locations have different costs and I understand that the convenience of that has a cost to me. I hope that more of them look to move part of their business to the web so that they can off-set some of their fixed costs with a few more sales.

Sadly, the bigger problem with the LFS is that they have stayed in the traditional rut of carrying only the big suppliers like Hagen, Coralife or Marineland. Sadly, the quality of those companies goods are sad or worse.

The bright spot for me is that I've convinced my local LFS to join me at MACNA this year so he can see what advances there have been in the industry. Even though this is their profession, I think the store owner is in for a big surprise.