Hey everyone,

Looking to have a jaunt across the border next weekend and was wandering where is best for shopping - Detroit or Buffalo or somewhere else I don't know about? Looking to buy regular and winter clothes. Thanks in advance for replies

Which border are you closer to and how far are you willing to drive?

Flint rather than Detroit for economy stuff, there's a big cluster of discount shops there, the Birch Run Outlets. The collections in suburban Detroit if you want high fashion and don't have time to go to NYC. There's also an outlet mall in Niagara Falls NY, that's big but not as big as the one in Flint. It has the advantage that you can look at the falls on the way back.

I always find the cross border shopping thing to be a bit of a farce if you're after stuff you can get in Canada. I do go down to the US but to get things you cannot get in Canada. There was more point to it when the dollar was weak but although the prices are lower in the US the whole thing is set up to stop you from doing it, because of the exempt limits of what you can bring back. Same day return there is no exemption, you have to be out for 48 hours to get anything significant, which is $400.

When you add in your gas and a hotel stay it never works out cheaper, unless you're buying something made in North America that is covered by NAFTA and even then it's rare.

The real reason to do it I think (and the impression I get from people) is it is something to do for the weekend and you have the novelty of shopping at Target and JC Penny's etc., but it's all the same crap you can get here, usually.

The only people I see who really benefit from it are people who live right next to the border, e.g. in Fort Erie or White Rock, because they can go to the supermarket in the US and there is no sales tax on things that have GST/HST applied here and obviously most foodstuffs and the like are made in North America so no duty. Also if you're buying something high value like a car it can be worth doing.

Drywall $15 at Home Depot in Canada, same drywall, $5 in Buffalo. Bathtubs, same model, same shop, 1/3 the price in the US (ten bucks less than that in Atlanta but that's a lot of petrol), hardwood floor, same product, same shop 1/2 price in Buffalo. Similar price differentials apply to shoes and men's shirts. Horse related items are as much as 90% cheaper in the US, dewormer, saddles, the whole range. Farm tools, about 1/3 the price there. Any sort of animal medicine is OTC and cheap at the US TSC but sold by vets at high prices in Canada.

In short, there's not much we buy that it makes sense to purchase in Canada. Oddly, two of those things are cheese and bacon.

I usually find there's some sort of Canadian equivalent that is only a bit more expensive, you can't just compare Home Depot in the two different countries, you always have to shop around. This is why there are Canadian shops, if you go into Visions it's always cheaper than Best Buy for example.

And like I said, you have to add in travel costs and taxes.

I'm in London Ontario so kinds in between them both. Probably no more than 3 hours drive

Cool. Cheers for that dbd

These days we prefer Great Lakes Crossing (Auburn Hills) - http://www.greatlakescrossingoutlets.com/ - smaller than Birch Run but indoors and a shorter drive. Last visit to Birch Run we found a number of stores had closed and several duplicates, although it's still worth a look. There's Oakland Mall en route for the usual department stores plus Somerset for something more upmarket.....

You pay taxes wherever you buy it. I buy a lot of my camera kit in the US, save up to 30-50% less, same brand, model, just half the price in the US. Last jaunt saved me $400. B & H in NY, compared to Vistek in Canada. You have to know your prices though.

Cool

Yeah, but you pay taxes twice, their sales tax and then GST/HST and often duty as well. Not such a problem in Montana as they have no sales tax but then they don't have that many shops either.

Definitely buying my next car in the US, that much is for sure.

Oh I never even thought of buying a car over the border. Would it be much cheaper than buying here? Would it be really complicated bringing it back?

We saved around 25% and got a better spec on the car too! Followed the process on the RIV site and, with help from the dealer, it was very straightforward. Did find a few dealers who were reluctant to sell to Canada or didn't know the processes but they were in the minority.

http://www.autos.ca/auto-tech/auto-t...e-from-the-u-s