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Canadians on BF


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My hubby is Canadian & they dont have a big shopping day before X-Mas like the US does. When I first met my hubby & told him about BF & hoe crazy it can get, he couldnt believe it. Then when I took him out on his first BF experience he was stunned. LOL He just couldnt get over the crowds, people waiting in line outside for hours on end, etc. LOL It was an experience he never forgot. LOL

 

Yes they have Boxing Day which is the day after X-Mas I remember correctly. heh

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  • 2 weeks later...

Canada's Thanksgiving and our Thanksgiving are basically the same. The only difference is the day.

Yup. Turkey, family. The whole bit. we just celebrate it the first weekend in October.

 

And Boxing Day is rediculous too. Although i usually skip it because i prefer to just spend time with family as i've shopped enough the month before.

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i'm canadian and live in windsor, right across the river from detroit :D my neighbour and i are heading over and i can't wait!

 

we always celebrate thanksgiving here on the 2nd monday of every october (columbus day for you yanks ;) ) and it's all the same as what you do. our big shopping day is boxing day which is the day after xmas. you KNOW i will be heading out that day too lol!

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Black Friday is a shopping tradition for me and has evolved from a one day trip to Port Huron to a three day excursion to Saginaw.

 

We head over Thursday night where we stop at the Cracker Barrell for Thanksgiving dinner (you can never get enough turkey).

 

We hit the hotel, get a copy of the paper and start looking through the ads (although we already know what is on sale from Gotta Deal!)

 

After a quick swim or a soak in the hotel hot-tub, we get a good nights sleep and hit the Walmart for 5:00 a.m.

 

We shop all day in Saginaw and then head to Birch Run for a full day of shopping there on Saturday.

 

Saturday night we head back to Canada with all the great purchases we made.

 

It used to my major shopping trip and now it has turned into a weekend away with the girls with the additional perk of getting some great deals.

 

I am counting the days ......

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In Canada, and indeed any other country that celebrates it, Boxing Day (in French, lendemain de Noël, "day after Christmas") is also "day after Christmas") is also observed as a public holiday, and is a day when stores sell their excess Christmas inventory at significantly reduced prices. Boxing Day has become so important for retailers that they often extend it into a "Boxing Week". This occurs similarly in Australia and New Zealand.
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Boxing day shopping is not the same as it used to be.

Not many people here in Vancouver will line up for deals anymore.

 

I am a big BF fan and go the night before to Bellingham, WA. It's not as cold as other areas but if it's rainy and windy, it sucks!

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:eyepoppin I am Canadian and live about 5 hours from Bangor Maine. We are heading down for BF and are so excited!!! We have boxing day but it is nothing compared to these prices. Last year we actually talked about opening gifts on New Years Day so we could get the Boxing day deals but now that I have discovered BF my kids are gonna wet themselves when they see their gifts!! Im not sure what to expect with the crowds though. God Bless America!!!
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i'm in Windsor,Ontario about 10 mins away from tunnel to Detroit. this is my 1st bf but from what i have seen so far, there is not much to get excited for this yr :( boxing day used to be good too but the last few yrs, it;s not so great...seems according to a lot of posts on here bf is going that way too.

 

what parts of the US are my fellow Canadians heading too? do you find with the exchange rate and the duty that its worth the time?

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what parts of the US are my fellow Canadians heading too? do you find with the exchange rate and the duty that its worth the time?

1. I'm heading to the buffalo/niagara falls area.

 

2. With the Canadian dollar as high as it is now you can get good deals even with the exchange on alot of purchases. There are some things that are generally still cheaper at home though. CDs for example. Canadian pay amoung the lowest prices for cds in the world. As long as you know the prices at home you'll be able to spot the deals.

 

3. As for duty. 24 hours you can bring back $50 duty free per person. (24 hours is counted in days though, wierd. So you can go over at 11pm and come back the next morning and it counts as 24 hours. 48 hours you can bring back $250 duty free per person. If you do end up paying duty it really does make many of these deals not worth while.

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1. I'm heading to the buffalo/niagara falls area.

 

2. With the Canadian dollar as high as it is now you can get good deals even with the exchange on alot of purchases. There are some things that are generally still cheaper at home though. CDs for example. Canadian pay amoung the lowest prices for cds in the world. As long as you know the prices at home you'll be able to spot the deals.

 

3. As for duty. 24 hours you can bring back $50 duty free per person. (24 hours is counted in days though, wierd. So you can go over at 11pm and come back the next morning and it counts as 24 hours. 48 hours you can bring back $250 duty free per person. If you do end up paying duty it really does make many of these deals not worth while.

 

thanks for the response:D since i live so close to border i head over there a lot to shop (sometimes almost weekly lol) so i don't buy a huge amount at a time to save myself from paying duty. last time we were there i spent about $300 CAN (not including the food or gas i bought over there but they cant trace it so i dont say anything!) and it was dh, ds and i and i didnt have to pay any duty. i never have yet actually. im just worried on black friday they will be targeting everyone coming back across the border and i'll end up paying. i don't mind paying a little but as i said i've never had to pay it before so i don't know how much $$$ it could be. i'm going over with a girlfriend so i guess i will only get away with my $50 this time:no:

 

oh and about the 24 hr thing i have never heard that! we have never been over for even close to 24 hrs, 10 hrs MAYBE and we've never had a problem bringing back our $50 each.

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oh and about the 24 hr thing i have never heard that! we have never been over for even close to 24 hrs, 10 hrs MAYBE and we've never had a problem bringing back our $50 each.

They're usually quite leinient if you keep it under $50... and they usually let groceries go as many are duty free because of free trade. But yes they can stick you with duty if they like. The worst duty is on alcohol. It can be anywhere from an extra 30-45% in duty on top of what you paid.

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They're usually quite leinient if you keep it under $50... and they usually let groceries go as many are duty free because of free trade. But yes they can stick you with duty if they like. The worst duty is on alcohol. It can be anywhere from an extra 30-45% in duty on top of what you paid.

phew thank god i never buy alcohol there lol! the only thing along those lines i ever pick up are marlboro's for dh and so far i have never had a problem bringing those back. do you know the numbers as far as duty goes? i am going to *try* and not spend more then $300(US) but i doubt i will even do that cause the ads arent that great. i looked on the canadian border agency's (or whatever it;s called) website and i found it very confusing the way they explain what you have to pay, if you know can you explain it to me?

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:D Re: Any other Canadians heading down for BF? I'm heading down and meeting up with a bunch of my family on thursday. Big Dinner, Early to bed. And then the madness.

 

 

 

My mom and I go down every year - sister lives in OH - we do same thing - big Dinner and then rummage through the flyers and off to madness bright and early!! Can't wait - only 7 more days!!!!

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I had a great BF experience last year and hoping for the same this year. I border cross quite often since I am a dual citizen and have family in the U.S. Duties on goods vary widely and depend on the product and country in which it was manufactured. Because of NAFTA most items manufactured in the U.S. and Mexico are duty free. If you go over your exemption you have to pay duty and taxes on any liquor, cigarettes and items manufactured outside North America. If you have no duty items you will only be charged sales taxes. I'm looking forward to another BF, counting down the days. Happy shopping everyone.
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From someone who goes across the border every couple of weeks or so (Vancouver, BC), I can tell you from our experience, for a day trip, as long as you do not have tobacco or alcohol, we never get stopped for as much as U$80 each person. We always buy a lot of groceries as well (can't beat 2 lbs of cheddar for U$3.99!)

 

We have been doing this for years (including post 09/11) and have never had to go in to pay duty.

 

When I have crossed in Manitoba to North Dakota, they seem to be a lot stricter there than the BC border. We had to show all our receipts and even take in our bags even though we all had under U$50, so who knows why?

 

I think that there are just so many people who cross at the BC/WA border that they don't bother to strictly enforce the stated daily allowance just because of the sheer numbers of us.

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