Hi all, Has anyone bought goods,white goods etc.from over the border at Niagara.it would be interesting to know price comparisons on goods bought in the USA .Also any problems with customs.Hoping to be living close to the border and this may keep the cost of furnishing the house a little cheaper.

What do you meant by white goods? In the UK I took this to mean washing machines, fridges etc, here it means bedding and stuff.

Sorry about that,yes I mean electrical goods.Also anything else furniture ,household items virtually anything you can think of

Yes, shop in the US all the time, some things are cheaper, some the same, some more expensive - just have to be savvy about what you're buying.

Also, it's at the border guards discretion as to whether you'll have to pay tax\duty bringing it back in. The threshold seems to be around $200, sometimes you might get away with more, sometimes less - luck of the draw. But always factor that into the cost that you will have to pay, then if you get let off, it's a nice bonus

For us it's a 5 hour drive to the border plus 2 hours to get to shops so we try to coincide shopping trips with a long weekend/weeklong break, some things are cheaper some more expensive, but there seems to be more choice.

my husband works in the US and we live in Canada.....we buy everything that we can in the US, food is easy to bring across.....because u don't pay HST on most foods in Canada, you wont pay HST at the border, the only foods that has HST added is stuff that is prepared, i.e. a pineapple wont have HST, and chopped up pineapple will have HST, but even if u pay tax on it, it often still works out cheaper from the US, we purchased a shower from Lowes, was $300 cheaper even paying the tax at the border, we purchased a ride on lawn mower, was almost $1,000 cheaper even paying the tax at the border, we bought a sectional from Art Van, the exact same sectional in Canada at The Brick was $4,000 + hst, in the US it was $2,000 inc CDN HST and dleivery, they did all the inport paperwork for us.

Isn't the value you can bring in tax free set by Canadian import policy rather than at the discretion of an individual?

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/media/fac...s/060-eng.html


Isn't this the duty free values?
$50 if out of Canada for > 24 hours
$400 if out of Canada for > 48 hours
$750 if out of Canada for > 7 days

There are additional limits on Alcohol and Tobacco.

May be I am wrong.

We have frequently been over and sometimes only spent a few hours. We have sometimes spent around $100 and have brought back a case of beer too. We always tell them what we have and what we have spent and we have yet to pay any duty. Always have the receipts ready to pay, but so far not had to!

its always at the discretion of the border crossing officer, my hubby brought home a huge 5 gallon tin of paint, was $90 and got pulled for tax, 2 days later brought over exactly the same, another 5 gallon tin of paint $90 and didn't get pulled, one thing I will advise is "DO NOT LIE" a friend got stripped searched for lieing about a $40 pair of shoes!! its really not worth it.

Yep, agree with the "do not lie" and make sure you know the policy as well

We did long haul and this was always the policy that we experienced.

I have a question - since giving up the long haul (when we used green cards) we haven't been across the border because we could never get a straight answer as to whether we needed visas with our UK passports or not and didn't want to run into trouble with US Customs at the border! Anyone care to tell?

Make sure you are honest crossing intoCanada, you can have your car impounded.Severeal years ago on our first visit cross border shoping we had a car stipped because we had a $10 pair of shoes we hadnt declared.To be honest we werent aware of the "shopping rules".I was put on probation for 2 years .Customs have the powers,so dont abuse the line.
Its not like popping accross to Carrefour in Calais for the day

If your on a UK passport then you need to complete a visa waiver at the border control. Easy and fairly painless, cost I think $6 usd and only takes as long as the queue.

Must say our border crossings have been really stress free.

If anyone here has a Cdn passport, and frequently travels across a border, I would recommend a Nexus card, they are $50 for 5 years, kids under 18 are free, its easy to apply online, followed by a small interview, alternatively you could travel across the border with a very cute blonde with a low cut top and a nice cleavage, suddenly the border crossing guards turn their "I'm gonna glare at you and make you feel awkward" glare into a pleasant smile!!

$6 US and fill in a form,then fnger prints and retina scan,can take upto an hour or so. Visa is good for 90 days,but one is supposed to turn it in when coming back into Canada.
If you fly into the states you need a ESTA form prior to reaching the airport,cost is $14.You will not get on the plane without a number,you have been warned.