Thank you - Canadian question about buying in US

[jenden]

Thanks for accepting me to this forum. Lots of great info here.

We ( my wife and I) are stackers/collectors from Canada. Hope I can ask a question here otherwise please tell me where!

Because I live in a remote area I need to buy online

So far I've bought from silvergoldbull in Canada, thecoinshoppe in Canada, canadianpmx and the Royal Canadian mint.

Has any Canadian bought from US online stores? What about exchange rate, transport and customs fees?

Are some deals so good that it's worth it?

Thanks for any help!

Denis

[trp]

Hello, Denis. Welcome to the forum  

[jenden]

Thanks trp

[ChrisSilver]

Hello Denis, welcome to the forum. You may find that a post in the main General Precious Metals section gets more of a reply in regards to your specific question.

@artincoins though specialising more in luxury art pieces may be able to help in regards to importing into Canada. He is based in Canada.

I may be mistaken but I thought that there was no import charges or taxes (may still have to fit a certain criteria) He may also be able to help with bullion, I’m not sure, so just incase I’ve tagged him in, incase he is able to help  

 

[jenden]

Thanks ChrisSilver - I will write in that section.

[artincoins]

14 minutes ago, jenden said:

Thanks for accepting me to this forum. Lots of great info here.

We ( my wife and I) are stackers/collectors from Canada. Hope I can ask a question here otherwise please tell me where!

Because I live in a remote area I need to buy online

So far I've bought from silvergoldbull in Canada, thecoinshoppe in Canada, canadianpmx and the Royal Canadian mint.

Has any Canadian bought from US online stores? What about exchange rate, transport and customs fees?

Are some deals so good that it's worth it?

Thanks for any help!

Denis

Morning Denis,

As long as you are importing a purity of .95 gold or .999 silver (or better) your metals will be exempt of any duties or taxes.  Shipping fees will vary from dealer to dealer and for sure, with having to deal with the currency exchange, there will be some fees involved on the payment.

When I first started collecting metals and prior to kicking off my own retail endeavors, I had purchased from AMPEX and found them to be very reliable.

Hope this information is helpful and if you have any other questions, I'll be happy to assist further.

Michael

[jenden]

Thanks Michael - so you found that the exchange rate was worth it for the deal back then?

[ChrisSilver]

21 minutes ago, jenden said:

Thanks Michael - so you found that the exchange rate was worth it for the deal back then?

You may be able to use a service such as Currency Fair or Transfer Wise, to get better rates when buying in a different currency to your own.

[artincoins]

1 hour ago, jenden said:

Thanks Michael - so you found that the exchange rate was worth it for the deal back then?

Unless buying something from RCM, you effectively already pay the exchange rate as any bars or coins manufactured outside of Canada has this built in.  Most of my inventory is sourced in Euro's or USD so when it's time to set the list price, the exchange rate is already accounted for.

No matter what your payment platform, credit card, wire transfer PayPal, etc.  it's the added foreign transaction fees that you add on that you don't pay when purchasing from within Canada.  

Edit:  You asked earlier about customs fees as well.  If your dealer ships via USPS there won't be any fees.   If they use a commercial carrier (FedEx, UPS) and the order value is in excess of $2000 CAD, there will be a broker fee to process the clearance.

 

[artincoins]

24 minutes ago, ChrisSilver said:

You may be able to use a service such as Currency Fair or Transfer Wise, to get better rates when buying in a different currency to your own.

Absolutely 100% Transferwise (now Wise) is my sole payment platform for all of my inventory purchases plus any other online payments I need.  They have the best market rates on the currency exchange (PayPal is the worst) but there's still a fee for the transaction.

 

[jenden]

53 minutes ago, artincoins said:

Absolutely 100% Transferwise (now Wise) is my sole payment platform for all of my inventory purchases plus any other online payments I need.  They have the best market rates on the currency exchange (PayPal is the worst) but there's still a fee for the transaction.

 

Thanks artincoins. I really appreciate all your comments. Your store looks fantastic too for any serious collector.

[jenden]

57 minutes ago, artincoins said:

Unless buying something from RCM, you effectively already pay the exchange rate as any bars or coins manufactured outside of Canada has this built in.  Most of my inventory is sourced in Euro's or USD so when it's time to set the list price, the exchange rate is already accounted for.

No matter what your payment platform, credit card, wire transfer PayPal, etc.  it's the added foreign transaction fees that you add on that you don't pay when purchasing from within Canada.  

Edit:  You asked earlier about customs fees as well.  If your dealer ships via USPS there won't be any fees.   If they use a commercial carrier (FedEx, UPS) and the order value is in excess of $2000 CAD, there will be a broker fee to process the clearance.

 

Make lots of sense. When I see great US deals I will make some calculations to see if it's worth it.

[jenden]

57 minutes ago, artincoins said:

Absolutely 100% Transferwise (now Wise) is my sole payment platform for all of my inventory purchases plus any other online payments I need.  They have the best market rates on the currency exchange (PayPal is the worst) but there's still a fee for the transaction.

 

Never heard about these services. Will definitely look it up.

[jenden]

1 hour ago, ChrisSilver said:

You may be able to use a service such as Currency Fair or Transfer Wise, to get better rates when buying in a different currency to your own.

Thanks for the info ChrisSilver. Will lookinito it!

[artincoins]

38 minutes ago, jenden said:

Thanks artincoins. I really appreciate all your comments. Your store looks fantastic too for any serious collector.

Awesome, thank you for the kind feedback and for paying artincoins.com a visit.   If there's ever anything there that catches your eye, please use code WELCOME at checkout for 5% off your first order.

[CadmiumGreen]

Denis, Welcome aboard The Silver Forum!