Quote:
Originally Posted by Shopaholic
Sorry but your information is incorrect. The taxes you pay on import are what you pay if you bought it at your local store, yes. Duties are extra over and above taxes and depend on the item and where it's made. Brokerage is something else altogether.
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I apologize. I am not making myself clear.
Yes, for commercial shipments, origin of manufacture, not origin of shipment, is the key driver. Computers, cell phones and similar devices are zero-rated items for duty from the US, China and many other places. That's why the "duty" some folks are fussing about is irrelevant. You are paying the same duty (in this case $0) if you purchase it in a local store -- you just don't see it because it's embedded in the sticker price.
For one-off imports, the brokerage fee is the distinguishing charge that matters, depending on the shipping method. Folks buying Google Nexus One phones, as example, bought from the Google US website but made by HTC in Asia, are imported into Canada duty free. E-readers, like the Kobo, would follow the same model.
Of course, we're buying Kobos from a local source so none of this discussion of duty matters. These policies do kick in buying things like Android tablets direct from Hong Kong on ebay. But again, this class of goods are in the duty free category.