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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    SLC, UT
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    Where do Canadian Mags buy gear online?

    Looking for Canadian online gear retailers - not US based retailers. Are there any places where you guys go?

    Much appreciated for any help.

  2. #2
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    Feb 2005
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    even with the raping that UPS-shipping entailed I still shopped at your parent company for cheap stuff. locally the biggest retailer is MEC, http://mec.ca, which has everything but the really vogue clothing brands. its gear selection is very good.

    the rest i get from brick-and-mortar shops.

  3. #3
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    Jan 2010
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    SLC, UT
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    Yep I'm aware of MEC. Just wondering if anyone else is doing specialty outdoor online in Canada. There are plenty of storefronts on the web but it's hard to know what is what without some resident shoppers telling me.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Banff
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    I haven't had much luck finding Canadian online retailers for most of my online purchases. I usually have had to go to the US sites using USPS shipping to get the good deals. Most other times I find what I need from local stores. I have purchased GPS's from GPS city for good deals, based in Calgary but that's a pretty specific item.

  5. #5
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    Sep 2010
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    Shuswap Highlands
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    Besides MEC, I've also order through Valhalla Pure and Wholesale Sports

  6. #6
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    to be more clear: I have not found an online retailer in canada that does deals approaching the stuff available in the US (UPS rapeshipping included)

  7. #7
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    Sep 2006
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    North Van
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    Agreed, I either buy from US online retailers or brick and mortar shops. Often a good deal at a brick and mortar shop pricing will be around the same as what it would cost to import from the US once customs and shipping is factored in. I have yet to find a good Canadian online retailer for ski stuff. I bet there's an opportunity there if someone wanted to set something up.

    When buying from a US online store, I often ship to a receiver just across the border and go pick it up, taking advantage of free shipping often available and avoiding getting ass-raped in brokerage fees.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    North Van
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    Action Sports Outlet (ebay-based and located in Canada) sometimes has decent deals, especially if you're looking for race stuff: http://stores.ebay.com/ASOGEAR

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    North Van
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    BC.com offering shipping to Canada for what it actually costs or for the price difference between the free domestic shipping and Canadian shipping costs would be a nice touch too *hint hint*

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    northern BC
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    Folks will talk about what a deal they got online but don't include in the price they paid what it costs for shipping/duty/exchange ... ALL the $$ associated with getting that product in your hands

    back when exchange was 35% I bought a pair of axo dualies from the factory in Cali,the MSRP price is 159$ but these were on a close out for the crazy smoking hot deal of only 39.95 us$ but by the time I got them on my feet 112can$ which was still a good deal but not a crazy deal

    I usually buy at the local Valhalla pure cuz they have good gear ,they match price on anything that MEC carries,they actualy know what they are talking about,they give good after sales support ,they also support local issues & initiatives, sponsor races ,sponsor film nights yada-yada

    If you are ever going thru Williams Lake check out Red Shred's or even just give him a call ... red has a LOT of my money

    MEC was out of ski boots one year ( in december !?) so I ordered & saved net 10% on T-1's from telemark pyrennes ,they have low prices , there was no duty on plastic ski boots and it was <4 days from Les arc France to my desk in Prince George

    I almost never buy online cuz it almost all has to come across the line I know that if I just have faith the right deal will come along

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    'Merica
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    2,159
    mec.ca or brick and mortar shops. Many people in the vancouver area also either know someone with a place across the line (like my grandparents cabin) or there are a few businesses who will let you ship things to them for a small fee, pick them up yourself and then drive it back into canada.

    But if backcountry.ca were to open up, that would be even better.
    Quote Originally Posted by Smoke
    Cell phones are great in the backcountry. If you're injured, you can use them to play Tetris, which helps pass the time while waiting for cold embrace of Death to envelop you.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    562
    its terrible online - pretty much limited to what is being sold in stores. MEC is pretty shitty - what they sell online is different than in the store, both selections are poor. MEC gear isn't that great. Pretty much REI does it better in every way.

    I got bike shoes from chainreactioncycles - which is UK based. They listed the price in GBP on the form - so only taxed on that. International shipping was cheaper than UPS across the US border.

    amazon.ca - if its not a book they wont ship it to a canadian address (for the most part).
    All my online purchases are from US based stores - either shipped to my parents to hold or shipped to me with my fingers crossed that they don't ship it UPS.

    I noticed that seirra trading post is listing items in canadian dollars now - haven't bought anything though, so I don't know if they have the shipping sorted out.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    'bangin' your girlfriend
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    801
    I have bought stuff from Altitude Sports based in Quebec on occasion, but only when they have discounted something significantly.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Rawesome, BC
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    1,392
    MEC, Valhalla Pure, Wholesale Sports, Cabelas Canada and various eBay storefronts are the ones I've used. But then the last two sleeping bags I've bought were from Moosejaw, free shipping to Canada & both on sale for significantly cheaper than trying to get a local B&M shop to special order them in. I used to buy quite a bit from SAC and the like, but now that shipping has gone up and the number of awesome goods has gone down, it's pretty rare these days. I'm an hour from the border now, so for a big ticket item it may be worth the drive.
    Life is simple. Go Explore.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Banff
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    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post
    Folks will talk about what a deal they got online but don't include in the price they paid what it costs for shipping/duty/exchange ... ALL the $$ associated with getting that product in your hands

    I almost never buy online cuz it almost all has to come across the line I know that if I just have faith the right deal will come along
    You have to actually put in a bit of effort in to it and do some looking around. There are ocasionally places that will do free shipping to Canada, and the key is to only buy from places that ship USPS which in turn hands off to Canada Post and the fee is $8 flat for brokerage so no suprises there. For example, Hilleberg nallo 3GT tents normally sell for $720 in the US, and are hard to find up here. Moosejaw.com had them on sale for $576, and were offering free shipping to Canada. After googling coupon codes it brought it down again to $518, and the exchange rate was in our favour which dropped it to $496...all in it was less than $520 which is a huge savings and is simply not available up here. Also saved over $200 on a sleeping bag. Gotta pick your timing and do a bit of leg work but you can save alot, but you just can't buy stuff willy nilly or you will get hit with fees etc...

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Down the valley a bit further on the good side of the 49th
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    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post

    MEC was out of ski boots one year ( in december !?)
    Classic MEC. One year they had barely any cycling gloves yet in May and I was told it was because they didn't like being left with stock at season's end. I pointed out maybe missing a large chunk of the selling season wasn't an effective way to sell through. It didn't register at all.

    I mostly end up ordering from the states and as said make sure they ship USPS. Amazon sells lots of stuff to Canada but lots they won't. It usually says if it will ship to Canada when you search in their system.

    In Canada most places instead of offering a discount for waiting for the item, never seeing it first and general blind faith they seem to think you should pay full retail pop and they pocket the savings of no B and M and no retail experience. I'm looking at a ti road bike and although it's a Canadian company there is a good chance I'll be buying it from Adrenaline Bikes.
    It's not so much the model year, it's the high mileage or meterage to keep the youth of Canada happy

  17. #17
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    Feb 2005
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    north by northwest
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    i've bought plenty of stuff from Sierra Trading Post, Socialist. they do ship USPS but quote the price of the item so you have to pay a bit when you pick your package up from canada post. much less than what UPS surcharges for "duty and handling fees" at bc.com, but then STP has shittier selection at higher prices (again, en vogue clothing mostly).

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Golden BC
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    Levelninesports seems to have it figured out to Canada so the all in cost is pretty good. Asogear on ebay is in Ont so the cross border stuff is avoided and their prices match the States so its pretty good value.

    If you stick to places that will ship USPS its only a $5 brokerage fee plus I fine its a lot easier to go pickup the stuff at a post office than try to arrange a drop off with UPS or Fedex. Also sometimes the stuff through the post will come straight through, like my last order from Tognar.
    Last edited by DougW; 07-08-2011 at 09:41 AM.
    Mrs. Dougw- "I can see how one of your relatives could have been killed by an angry mob."

    Quote Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy View Post
    dougW, you motherfucking dirty son of a bitch.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Edmonton, AB
    Posts
    248
    I've bought stuff from www.escaperoute.ca for items that are not available to me locally (Dynafit Speedskins come to mind) but if I'm buying online it's usually from the US since they're cheaper.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
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    A guy I talked to in the bike store told me he had built a bike from parts that he had sent mostly airmail from the US which he found was cheaper IF the parcel was under a certain weight (about 8lbs) because there is no brokerage on airmail ?

    Go USPS whenever possible & avoid UPS whenever possible

    The way I look at it Canada has about the population of California, 90% of which is within 100miles of the border so we are the market size of one large state but with a huge land mass, then add in the extra hassle of the border so its no wonder things are more expensive ... but I would rather live in an uncrowded place than have cheap gear

  21. #21
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    Sep 2006
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    North Van
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    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post
    ... but I would rather live in an uncrowded place than have cheap gear
    I guess that's a good way to look at it - paying a slight premium to live in a kickass place.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Cowtown
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    249
    Like everyone else has said, it takes some legwork and research but there are definite deals to be had across the border. Sometimes if you call up a place in the US, you can convince them to ship USPS instead of UPS (even if they don't say so on their website). I got my beacon (pieps dsp) from greatoutdoorsdepot for $360ish to my door, which is $140 less than MEC.

    The other thing to watch for (at least for skis) is ski shops out east. I picked up my (new) Obsethed with STH14 binders for about $650 shipped from a place in Ontario back in March. Apparently 117mm powder skis aren't all that popular at Blue Mountain....

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fat Mike View Post
    The other thing to watch for (at least for skis) is ski shops out east. I picked up my (new) Obsethed with STH14 binders for about $650 shipped from a place in Ontario back in March. Apparently 117mm powder skis aren't all that popular at Blue Mountain....
    For sure. I have a look around a few shops everytime I go back to Montreal to see if there are any lonely, misplaced pow skis kicking around.

  24. #24
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    Mar 2008
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    northern BC
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    Quote Originally Posted by D(C) View Post
    I guess that's a good way to look at it - paying a slight premium to live in a kickass place.
    Well as I pointed out in my 1st post on this subject, look at all the costs involved in buying AND using your gear

    When I lived in Vancouver I lived out in the burbs in an expensive house which has since become VERY VERY expensive, I burned a lot of expensive fuel to get somewhere I could buy cheap gear, then it took forever burning more fuel to get somewhere I could use the "Cheap gear"

    Now I live downtown but in a town in the middle of nowhere in a cheap house, SO cheap that with the ski bum in the basement suite I no longer need to work, crazy close to all kinds of rec and only 3 blks from the Valhalla Pure which I can walk to SO I don't mind giving Dave my money for the great products, great service & great support for the back country initiatives he supports ... when I do the math paying a little more for a piece of gear is really a very SMALL part in the WHOLE equation of life

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Cowtown
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    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post
    When I lived in Vancouver I lived out in the burbs in an expensive house which has since become VERY VERY expensive, I burned a lot of expensive fuel to get somewhere I could buy cheap gear, then it took forever burning more fuel to get somewhere I could use the "Cheap gear"
    Kinda like driving for half an hour to save 5 or 10 cents a litre on gas....

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