Ordering from Amazon.COM (USA)

[James Knott]

Meng Cheah wrote:
> Evan Leibovitch wrote:
>> Salman Ahmed wrote:
>>  
>>> Recently, someone on this list (I forget who that was) mentioned
>>> Amazon.COM having better prices than Amazon.CA. I checked last night
>>> for a few books that I am planning on getting and not only were the
>>> prices better but a couple of those books are not available new through
>>> Amazon.CA.
>>>
>>> So, to the OP or whom ever else has had experience ordering from
>>> Amazon.COM: are taxes charged on books ordered through Amazon.COM? Any
>>> other charges besides shipping & handling?
>>>     
>>
>> That might have been me. It was convenient in that I am visiting family
>> in the US next week and simply instructed amazon.com to ship my books
>> there. Having said that, I did note that amazon.com did list shipping
>> prices to Canada (and the free shipping deals don't apply to Canada.)
>>
>> Books coming here from the US may be intercepted by customs; while they
>> will not charge duty they may require the payment of GST on the order.
>> (But then if you were ordering from amazon.ca you'd have to pay that
>> anyway.)
>>   
> You may also want to compare shipping costs ($4.99/shipment,
> $3.99/item for amazon.com vs $3.95/shipment and $1.95/item for
> amazon.ca), assuming $Can=$US.
>
> My brother who used to buy from amazon.com, claimed that he has not
> been charged for GST in the past.
> He now buys from amazon.ca.
>
> I think it depends on the particular books you want.
> Eg. Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" is $16.80 (40% off from
> amazon.com) and $18.48 (50% off from amazon.ca).
>
>
No, it depends on whether the item gets stopped for customs etc.  They
often don't bother on low value items.  Books, no matter where you buy
them, are subject to GST.  If you don't have to pay GST when you import
them, consider that a bonus.


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