Buying from LeisurePro in Canada

[Yerba Mate]

I checked out that Leisure Pro site and they seemed to have good prices (even when converted to CDN). I was wondering if any Canadians have had experience buying from Leisure Pro? How is the Duty and so forth? I'm looking at buying a BCD (Looking at the Zeagle Ranger), and the price is quite a lot better on LP even with the exchange rate (about $900 CAD at LDS and $390 USD at LP; Conversion 1USD=1.35CAD).

Or would it be more trouble than it's worth?

[JimC]

You'll get to pay GST on it, shipping costs will be higher and there will be a brokerage fee.

No duty, thanks to free trade.


All said, 9 times out of 10 its cheaper or close enough that buying from your LDS makes a lot of sense. Especialy if you work in an few air cards or something.

[jiveturkey]

Is there any way of determining that brokerage fee before you buy?

[Yerba Mate]

I didn't believe JimC at first about the no Duty thing, so I called Canada Customs to ask them.

If the item is Manufactured in the States, then we don't have to pay duty on it, Nice eh?

So the Ranger at my LDS is $800 before tax, and that is less than retail. The Ranger on Leisure Pro is $530 CDN (at 1 USD=1.35 CAN) before Tax.

They said you still have to pay taxes, and of course there's shipping, which would include some kind of Brokerage fee. I have no idea how to determine the brokerage fee, I'm going to E-mail LP and ask them some stuff.

But it still cannot come close to the LDS. I'm all for supporting local dive shops, but I'm a student, and I can't be giving $200-$300 away just like that.

Wierd thing is I'm also looking at the Seaquest Black Diamond and I would actually be looking at a lower cost at my LDS than at Leisure Pro, Hmm, I guess it pays to shop around.

[zslnk]

Hey,
You will pay NO DUTY buying from LP.com. All you have to do is the following calculation and make sure you get it shipped FedEx, not UPS.

Price(USD)+Shipping(USD)
* 1.4(Currency factor of the day)
*.15(GST,PST on canadian amount)

Your going to pay the 15% at the LDS anyway and on a higher inital amount of money (more savings!), on cheap things like fins and masks I find the LDS better. On more expensive things like BC's and reg/computers they can't come close.

On my new kit I purchased from 4 different places, 3 LDS and LP.com. This gave me the best deal possible and I still supported the local guys!

Craig.

[Yerba Mate]

Does anyone know about how Leisure Pro does their warranties?
I know for some products they give their own warranty, but do they have the manufacturer's warraty for any products? Such as the Zeagle Ranger?

Also those of you who buy Regs at LP, I know some regs come with free lifetime parts when servicing, does those free parts (for Apeks and AquaLung at least) apply when buying regs from Leisure Pro?

[bwerb]

Check your PM's...I have a deal for ya!

[dvleemin]

zslnk once bubbled...
Hey,
You will pay NO DUTY buying from LP.com. All you have to do is the following calculation and make sure you get it shipped FedEx, not UPS.

Price(USD)+Shipping(USD)
* 1.4(Currency factor of the day)
*.15(GST,PST on canadian amount)

Your going to pay the 15% at the LDS anyway and on a higher inital amount of money (more savings!), on cheap things like fins and masks I find the LDS better. On more expensive things like BC's and reg/computers they can't come close.

On my new kit I purchased from 4 different places, 3 LDS and LP.com. This gave me the best deal possible and I still supported the local guys!

Craig.

Not quite correct . . .

First the .15 will vary based on the province you're in (Alberta for example has no prov sales tax so it would be .07).

Second, depending on who ships the stuff you'll get charged a brokerage fee as well. Some shipping companies have minimum of $20. That may not be a big deal when it comes to an $800 BC, but it certainly doesn't make ordering lowing cost item worth it.

With Liesurepro as well they screw you on shipping charges IMO. Put a small accessory, and calculate shipping charges and see what it says.

Darryl

[Yerba Mate]

Thanks for your help everyone,

I decided to take the plunge, so to speak, and buy off Leisure Pro (actually I heard about 95% positive comments, and I decided that was enough to convince me). I guess it's a bit of a risk...Anyways, I'm going to post my results after I receive it.

I ordered a Ranger LTD and a bunch of do dads, incl. shipping it came to $545 USD. It registered on my credit card as $741 CAD which is exactly as I calculated it.

I expect taxes of about 14.5 % on that, which will come to about $850CAD. Considering if I ordered just the ranger LTD it would be $800CAD incl. Tax. and had I ordered it from my Dive shop I was looking at $1100 CAD incl. tax. And that was below retail.

Obviously I don't have the product yet, but I will post an update when I do. I will hopefully give insight to others purchasing from Leisure Pro to the Vancouver area.

[Yerba Mate]

I just got My New Zeagle Ranger Limited by Fedex (I must say Fedex Service is excellent).

The Ranger is in Perfect New condition, no defects, Leisure Pro definitely has me impressed. I would say the Ltd is worth it the extra cash at LP, but at my LDS it was $300 more than the Ranger.

Anyways, getting to the point of this thread.
Ordering from LP to Vancouver seemed much easier than I thought it would be.

Regarding Customs: Many people seem to have different ideas as to what happens at the border. I will tell you how it worked for me. I had called Canada customs and they told me there would be no duty on my purchase. They were not lying. Due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) products made in the USA are not dutiable when going across the border. I do not know how products not made in the USA are dealt with. Taxes are still charged. Fedex called me 2 days before my package arrived saying that they had it at the border and they needed my credit card number to charge "duties and taxes" to (there was no duty, but they say that anyways). There was no Brokerage fee!! I was charged only what Customs told me I would be charged (ie. 14.5 % tax (BC)).

Basically what zslnk said is exactly correct.
Make sure you get it shipped fedex.

Price (USD) + Shipping (USD)
* Exchange Rate (note: credit cards usually charge a small fee for the conversion about 1-2%)
* Sales Tax (7% + PST for you province)

You will pay the Tax separately from the LP purchase. Taxes are not paid to LP they are paid to CCRA (Customs).

If you are anything like me and purchasing gear from the net for the first time, it will make you really anxious. Feel free to PM me with questions about purchasing gear on the Internet.

Based on my experience I would say purchasing gear on the net is worth it except for:
Regs: I am looking at Apeks and you don't get the free parts programme/warrenty if you buy online.
Drysuit: I got a Custom Sized Whites, and seriously how would you get a custom sized whites online??? Well maybe it's possible, but I wouldn't do it.
Weights: Shipping is astronomical, due to the fact that you're trying to ship dead weight.

Dave