Staples closing...

[LoneWolf_53]

Not my experience. Precisely zero of my foreign shipments incoming by Canada Post have been charged PST+GST.

Stop buying from Asia then!

I've been paying taxes on stuff shipped from the US and other places, and I said right off the bat that Asia was the exception.

That's not to say that the odd item doesn't slip through from the US,without getting nabbed by customs, but then again I think the value of the transaction has a lot to do with it.

After all you can cross the border and purchase up to a certain amount, on a day trip, without having to claim it, so in that regard they probably have some sort of formula they follow.

Purchase something worth a couple hundred bucks, from the US, and see if you don't get dinged upon delivery.

Some of the couriers, FedEx for example, will even drop items for me, then I get a bill in the mail months later, requesting brokerage and taxes.

[samsquench07]

yep, I got dinged with a fed ex shipping cost about 2 weeks to a month after my delivery, that I didn't think about. It was a heavier item, so it cost an extra $150

[twobits]

*try again without the personal attacks!*/ferri

[delSol97]

Why would or should I use valuable time and gas going to stores to pick up products, dealing with a sales drone that knows less about these products than what I was able to learn after 5 minutes on Google, purchase it online for less and have it shipped to my front door in a day or three?

Retail sales for many things can, should, and will go the way of movie rentals.

There is a "better way".

[Poindexter]

It may very well be the "better" way at this point but consumers are painting themseles into a retail corner.

Eventually the cost of delivery will catch up to and more than likely pass the little extra it would cost to shop at these stores. At that point you and I will be paying the cost of shipping on behalf of these companies. It's a great business model for these chains when you think about it. And once the store fronts are gone its very unlikely they'll be back. You simply can't have your cake and eat it too. So enjoy it while you can because at some point we'll all be paying extra for consumer's short term thinking.

[Randall T]

The other scenario is that the large corporate stores will dwindle away and leave some room for the local, more specialized operations. Today's corporate mentality is killing retail. Service and inventories are sacrificed to meet budgets designed to keep the shareholders happy and the board of directors "employed". Profit margins are decimated by promotions and give-aways in the battle of luring customers. Genuine long-range plans have been replaced by week-to-week acts of desperation in order to keep the peace. The smaller retailers have the flexibility to quickly adapt to market changes and to the demands of their geography. They need only to answer to themselves. The good ones will survive and consumers will all be better off. Online markets are also not exclusively for the big corporate players. Small business can also use them as tools to enhance the profits of their walk-in operation(s). As consumers, we can enjoy the benefits of both worlds.

[hobbyguy]

Specialty stores do make a lot of sense and have the option of building customers.

Big box retailers have used their buying power to achieve SALES. (When I plan to buy things from big box stores, I know which one has the best price on the various items I need, and I buy just those items from each one.)

The difference becomes heightened with the availability of online sales. If it is just price that is the factor, the online retailer comes into the picture and fairly often wins out. That takes a share of my "price only" purchases away from the big box guys.

When quality becomes more important, or I know that the independent retailer is "close" on price, or I need help with the purchase, I head to the independent. Quite prepared to pay a little extra for the service provided by specialty stores.

By the way, most of what I buy out of Asia is not readily available here, and I regularly buy stuff online out of the US, and England, using the postal service - and I never get charged PST+GST.