[quote=oma66]
Originally Posted by deema
Originally Posted by oma66
Originally Posted by deema
The UPS guy just came to deliver my new sewing machine (xmas gift from hubby), but there were duty fees that could only be paid by cheque or credit card...well, hubby is at work and the cheque book and plastic are with him, I only have cash and my debit card for our joint account...I had to turn the man away and tell him I'd pick it up later at the depot. I closed the door and shed a few tears...I wanna play!!! :([/quote
I can understand shedding a few tears. Let me ask you this, if someone were to send you a box of fabric, would you have to pay duty on it as well? If you order fabric from a store in the USA, must you pay duty on it also?
It depends on the price of what's coming across the border - there's a number where you don't have to pay duty fees until you exceed it (don't know what that is, lol). Also it depends if it is a gift or a purchase. Typically, when I purchase fabric online, the store includes duty fees in the total purchase price, so it's taken care of, and if (for example) a friend sent me a huge box of fabric as a gift, I wouldn't be charged duties.
Even still, buying fabric online, paying for shipping AND duty fees is cheaper than buying locally, sadly.
I think I must feel a little guilty complaining about the prices of fabric in the quilt shops - but I am retired and need to watch my pennies and get the most I can for every dollar. Still it is better than in Canada from the sounds of it. Thanks for answering my question.
Well, in reality, I bargain shop online...I pay 1/4 (or less!) of the price of fabric in my local shop, for higher quality fabric. Paying the shipping and duty fees brings it up to about half the price I'd pay in my local shop. An example - I bought 7yrds of fabric, and 2 spools of thread in a recent order. With shipping and duty fees, I paid less than $50. That is less than $7/yrd, and here I'm paying up to and over $20/metre (39") for comparable quality of fabric. It's waaay worth it to shop online, especially if I can find a good deal.