I do most of my cross border shopping via ebay... no help to this thread.

Use fleabay too, but the move they pulled in the Spring was not a good one

Too many people under charging to avoid fees and then adding it on to the ship cost I expect.

I wouldn't say it's simple but it's not brain surgery, all the info is on www.riv.ca

Usually the snag is getting the compliance letter from the dealer. Other problems are that you can't lease (so get a bank loan or pay cash) and also the warranty might not be honoured here - this is only really a problem if you live a long way from the border (get a CAA membership) because you can't easily take it back to a US dealer.

With about 90% of cars the only thing needs to be brought into compliance are the headlights, which is usually pretty simple, change of fuse or something. Trip to Canadian Tire. Some cars need the seatbelt mounts fiddled with.

There is an argument about the measurements as well, because they're supposed to be metric on the instruments but I can never understand if CBSA just turn a blind eye to it or whether legally it doesn't matter. Most speedos have metric on them as well, so that is sufficient, but the odometer is another matter. Some can be changed easily because they're electronic but I'm not even sure it matters. Hard to test without driving it over a kilometre.

I'm not a seller on Ebay but a couple of years ago I was talking to a Canadian who ran into problems with the IRS because he was running an on-line business through Ebay. Apparently there is a line in the agreement that says something to the effect that as a condition of being a seller you agree to comply with all relevant US tax statutes, this is because Ebay are basically offloading any reporting requirements on to foreigners. Sounds fair enough you might think but this guy I was talking to started getting demands for filing of a W-8BEN, 1120-F and so on from the IRS.

I can't exactly remember the whole problem he was having but I think it was because Ebay have their servers located in the US and moreover he was selling stuff to Americans, his US-source income is therefore taxable or something like that as he has a "permanent establishment" there.

I am heading to New Hampshire this weekend for 5 days. Going for the beautiful Fall scenery but it doesn't hurt that it's a tax free state and there is an outlet mall close to our resort. Last time we were there we noticed a lot of Quebec car plates. Turns out it is only a 3.5 hour drive from Montreal

Lots of my friends head to Bangor, Maine or Kittery outlet Mall especially around the USA Thanksgiving (Black Friday) for massive sales

Hello fellow Londoner! Don't forget the Sarnia border is only an hour away down the 402. I haven't been myself, but I imagine Port Huron has the usual collection of shops.

Hey Adrian,

Oh yeah! Never even thought of there. Thanks for that