Best place to shop online?

[u2_Crazy]

I live in Canada which apparently is not the best place to live if you want cheap Aquarium supplies. I have noticed that an Item at Bigalsonline U.S site is 1/2 the price it is sold for on the Canadian website. Petsmart is the same. Is there any Canadian websites that sell items for the same as the U.S Websites?

Of Course I realize that their is a currency exchange factor, but a twin lightstrip is 37.99usd and 79.99 cad. 37.99 usd = 42.25 cad today so I don't understand this?

Also, is there any good lfs near the michigan/Ontario Border?

Thanks for your help.

 

[malkore]

In addition to the currency exchange ($1 US = $1.16 Canadian), there is also the import duty fee to ship it over the border.

If you think Canada is bad, you should see what the Austrailian hobbyists have to pay 8O

 

[QTOFFER]

Don't forget there is a Canadian VAT that is automatically added to any order shipped to Canada.
Forget about Drs Foster & Smith - I checked their website, and they only ship to US addresses (probably because of the VAT hassle).

Don't get me started on VAT and sales taxes! I hate them. They're the most regressive and punitive form of taxation ever devised by a corrupt politician. And why should private businesses have to assume the unpaid job of government tax collector? Like I said, don't get me started!

 

[Crusis]

Heh.. sorry not to be on topic, but I think totally the opposite. Sales tax is a voluntary tax, whereas income tax is the gov't threatening you with imprisonment should you not pay. I'm all for voluntary taxation, and repeal the income taxes. www.fairtax.org is a great place to get information on what a true travesty income taxes are.

With that said, numerous gov'ts worldwide have the same problem that US and Canada do, taxation eating up our hard earned capital. I have a friend who was stationed in Britian, and they have a lawn sprinkler tax! Everything is taxed.

IF you must have an income tax, it should look like:

A How much did you make: ________________
B Multiply by .15: _________________________

C Send amount in line B to US Gov't at X address.

Until the politicians plundered the American public by using patriotism to screw us, there wasn't an income tax. The Supreme Court used to consistently strike down any income tax proposal as unconstitutional, so during WWI the Congress took advantage of class envy to implement a tax for the war, and the Constitution was amended to allow it. People wound up sending a tax check to the gov't every April 15th. THEN, in WWII, Donald Duck was used to advertise for Withholding, and the gov't started taking their money straight out of your check. You know, to help with the war effort. Apparently the war effort never stopped.

The bad thing is that it is institutionalized now. You ask someone, "How much did you make this week?" They will tell you what they took home. They don't even consider what they paid in taxes to be theirs in the first place! But if you ask them what they make each year, they'll quote you the gross figure. Try it, it usually works. Then point out to them that $500 a week doesn't equal $35,000 a year, or whatever the numbers are and let them do the math.

A national sales tax is the way to go, imho.

Sorry for the rant, and I hope you find a good store, but the American tax code is the worst debacle in our nations history, so I sort of have passions regarding the reform of it.

 

[Zagz]

I don't understand it either, BigAls is located in Canada. But I think another factor is BigAls doesn't charge shipping to Canadian residents over $35, and US residents pay shipping.

 

[fearlessfisch]

Free shipping at Big Al's until midnight!

 

[SerLunchbox]

u2_Crazy:

I guess you just have to move to Calgary ... we got some awesome stuff going on here.

I suggest that you join the Canadain forum... There is some members that live in that general area i do believe. I can suggest a few sites for you to look at though.

would would be J&L Aquatics ... AWESOME prices and great deals www.jlaquatics.com
you could also check out canreef ... their buy/sell section is great www.canreef.com
for the BEST food in the aquarium industry i would suggest New Life Spectrum (NLS) .. the Canadian supplier can be located at www.cichlid-food-canada.com
a great place in Calgary that sells fish for AWESOME prices also does orders ($75 minimum) is Gold Aquariums and they can be located at http://www.cichlids.ca/ ... let me tell you ... when you can get 1.5"-2.5" clown loaches for $5, you know you got something going!!!

Hope that helps some

 

[Lonewolfblue]

A national sales tax is the way to go, imho.

Sorry for the rant, and I hope you find a good store, but the American tax code is the worst debacle in our nations history, so I sort of have passions regarding the reform of it.

_________________
Crusis

I totally and completely agree with you.......

 

[u2_Crazy]

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out their websites.

btw. Go Oilers!

 

[piranha]

Check out aquatraders.com and superfishstore.com Both ship to Canada.

 

[jonnyb1425]

BigAls hands-down!

 

[aquarist15]

i dont know of any sites, but the big al's usa store (only one in the usa right now) is 10 mins from my house. Woo! and it has GREAT PRICES! Also, IT'S HUGE!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I wish one was that close to me, lol.