Ahhhhh the joys of Countryizm!!! (yes its a real thing - the sad truth!) We are Canadian and live in Canada for the Spring and Summer but are lucky enough to have a second home in Arizona where we spend 3 months of the year living as locals during the winter months. This Winter i have spent researching and ordering a multitude of parts to pack the F150 with to return back to Canada In May and continue the expedition truck build.
With the current exchange rate we pay $0.34 Cents on the dollar effectively making things just under a 3rd more expensive.... a price i am happy to pay not to be freezing my ass off in -30C!
That said there is a darker side to online purchasing and this has lead to a complex buying process. Amazon.com in the US is 100% awesome as is the Prime service especially when you need things in a hurry, Amazon.com has the widest selection of products i have seen and compared to the country-specific Amazon.ca site. I also understand this as it is a US company and it only stands to reason there would be more of a selection in the country of origin, that coupled with the population density when compared to Canada.
Now as i mentioned before I understand exchange rates and also understand import and shipping duties, it is the way of the world but after comparing the costs of the vast majority of items and taking those costs into consideration i am finding some things are up to $200 more expensive for the same product!!!! ******! This is way beyond the exchange rate and duties.
It was a worthwhile costing exercise for anyone outside of the US to do when completing a build as i have found the vast majority of items i either cannot get or if i can they are grossly overpriced. Even with crossing the border and declaring the items we have purchased we are still better off having bought in the US.
I am all for supporting local businesses, i run one myself but things are really going to have to change in the attitude on price point for people to buy local on allot of items.
Now the only issue i have it how to fit all this stuff in the truck to take home and then the fun begins on the install.
More posts to follow as the build unfolds, thanks for reading the rant and i hope this saves some folks some $$$$.
I will supply a post detailing all of the suppliers i used for each element of the project as this has taken a great deal of time to research and will also hopefully save you some hours.
