Places to get scanners in Ontario

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meplat

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Do you guys buy your scanners locally or do you order them from the US?

I have a BC92XLT that I ordered from the Uniden site. I've been looking to the Durham and Radioworld sites, but am not aware of any other sources for equipment around the province.
 

meplat

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I mainly order them from the US. They are a rip off in Canada. Both RadioWorld and Durham Radio are far too expensive.

That seems to be the case. For example, I went to scannermaster.com and checked the prices there. For a BC396XT with the USB cable and carrying case, delivered with taxes and changed to Canuck bux, the total was $698.50 . At Durham Radio, the same scanner without those extras or taxes and shipping is $689.99. With the cable, carrying case, delivered with taxes, $870. That's a difference of over $170!

I don't know if scannermaster.com is the cheapest, but I'll be looking at ordering from the States.
 

Jay911

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I order from Scanner Master most of the time these days. I have no interest in getting bent over by the Canadian places. I think the latest Radioworld flyer/catalogue has the 996XT up for $849 Cdn or some silly thing.
 

mciupa

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Hey, guys if you don't have to buy new, there are a few individuals in Ontario that sell quality used scanners and have great sales feedback.
Make sure you check the Classified forums here. :wink:
 

EJB

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Or look at Craigslist, You never know what you are going to find.
I bet there are members here who might be willing to conduct business.
 

meplat

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Thanks, but I'll buy from the US. Even at $600, it's still almost $100 cheaper to import one.
 

Infinitig37x

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i mainly buy from the usa but have done some nice deals locally with the likes of toronto kris and wz1.
the shops around here mainly sell those radios to tow truck drivers that dont care how much they cost cause they right them off.

with that said meplat you have to be real cautious how the yankees ship them 2 you avoid ups like SARS lol

plus at 600 bucks that kris charges atleast you can get the radio right now and not 2-3 weeks later and as well it may not be a good idea to openly dis what someone asks for radios on here your forgetting that he will program the radio as well
jeff
 

meplat

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I order from Scanner Master most of the time these days. I have no interest in getting bent over by the Canadian places. I think the latest Radioworld flyer/catalogue has the 996XT up for $849 Cdn or some silly thing.

I get most of my amateur equipment from the States. Besides Scannermaster, I'll check the ham stores. I've yet to get anything radio related that was improperly packaged. Based on the short time I've been on this site, I haven't read anything bad about Scannermasters.

Thanks all for your inputs.
 

torontokris

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You can get one brand new for $500??? Do share from where?
is that before the shiping 13% customs tax and any brokerage fees?

Scanner Master it's gonna be $620 cad odd range.
eBay (no warrenty I'm guessing) all I see are $514 US + 30 US shipping = $566 CAN (not including customs taxes).

I can't get them for $500 CAN and I have bought 50 of them an do this daily. Based on my own experience Id say I don't think you can get brand new for $500CDN all included



Thanks, but I'll buy from the US. Even at $600, it's still almost $100 cheaper to import one.
 
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meplat

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What I pay can clearly be seen using Scannermaster's shopping cart and the exchange rate from any Canadian bank. In my case, Scotiabank. As a customer, I have to pay USPS (US Post Office) for shipping, and will pay GST and PST upon arrival in Canada. Our post office collects those fees.

I do this myself. I sell books to the US and purchase most of my amateur gear there. There's no magic or strange fees.

According to scannermaster, my order comes to $568.90 US. Specifically, that's $495 for the radio, $26.95 for the USB cable and $17.95 for the case. This is delivered (United States Postal Service Priority Mail International - $29). HINT to CDN buyers: Don't get UPS or Fedex to deliver if you can help it.

The exchange rate at Scotiabank is 1.0825. Converted to Cdn dollars, that's 615.83 CDN. Upon arrival, there will be $69.82 taxes owing (GST and PST) plus Revenue Canada's $5 fee. total $690.00 Cdn, give or take a few cents.

I must point out that this includes the USB cable and carrying case, delivery and taxes.

There are no brokerage fees with the US post office (USPS) and there never have been. There is no such thing as "customs fees" except for the $5 to $8 dollar RevCan charge that the post office collects for them. The GST and PST apply to this order.

The scanner itself is worth $535.84 CDN. That's retail, as sold by Scannermaster. If you are not getting them for less than $500 CDN, since you are a retailer, I would suggest that you are getting hosed. I don't mean to be rude, but I do not believe you. Regardless, what you pay is none of my business.

These dollar figures are not lies on my part. They are from the bank, the post office and Scannermaster.
 
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torontokris

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Your figures make no sense. you said you could get for almost $500 cdn (that I was so expensive at $600).

Scanner master no USB price... $495US + $29 shipping = $524 US
= $554 can according to online currency conversion

$554 * 1.13 (GST PST what I called customs / import tax) = $626 + $5 charge (I guessed $620 yesterday)

I'm NOT a retailer $600 is the final price which is still less then importing from the US/ Scanner Master. Not bad eh?

You asked for advice on the board (pretending to know nothing so I offered help), you got advice from the guy (me) who imports these daily. Now your all of a sudden an expert at where to get them. You told me you pay almost $500cdn for them but none of the math calculates even close to that.

If you can get it for so cheap go ahead buy it. But I think anybody else would be on my side with the figures.

Good luck in your scanner purchase.
 
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EJB

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I dunno exactly what the law is but there are brokerage fees that your courier company willnormally charge you to clear your shipment thru customs and into canada. Should you have an agreement with a brokerage company you can work that into the prcie i.e. pay a fee for items cleared thru customs.

This is my job, I have been doing it for 16 + years, dealing with shipping, very courier comapny immaginable and customs.

If TorontoKris is within $25 bucks of scannermasters price I dont see why anyone wouldnt take a chance. I look at feedback here and his is always good and I have heard good things about him.

If I am ever in the market I would probably holler at him.
 

RickLeb

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In post #4 Meplat says that he went to scannermaster.com, and calculated the cost to be $698.50.

In post #9 he says the cost would be almost $100 less than Kris's $600 price. I interpret that to be a cost of just over $500.

I seem to be confused, is the cost $698.50 or is it $500.

I purchased my 396XT from Kris for $600, and I couldn't have been happier.

I exchanged a half dozen emails with Kris before making my decision, and he answered each one quickly.

He accepted an older 785D as a trade-in which wouldn't happen with a mail order purchase.

He then made arrangements to meet me in person so that I could save on delivery charges as well. Which I don't think you would want to do if your purchasing from the USA.

He also programmed my new scanner with my local frequencies so that I could enjoy listening to it while I read the 278 page operators manual. Would anyone else do that?.

He spent half an hour talking to me about programming tips, and making suggestions as to what software to use. You are not going to get that help with a mail order purchase.

All in all, I found the $600 price from Kris was the best I could find, and the extra services made it an even better deal.

Rick
 

meplat

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torontokris, I asked a question about where to go to buy scanners in Ontario. Since I was looking for businesses and you said that you sold them, I thought that you were a business. I knew about Radioworld and Durham Radio. A couple of other sources were provided. I was NOT pretending anything. If anything, you were. You said that you sold some scanners, mostly digital. I thought that you were a legitimate business.

Regardless, my figures make complete sense. Here they are again, slowly. If you do not charge tax, that makes a difference. It would have saved a lot of misunderstanding had you said so to begin with. You might mention that in future to people that do not know you.

The online exchange that I used is my bank. The actual amount that the bank charges to buy or sell US dollars. Scotiabank – Foreign Exchange Rates

United States Dollar (USD) 1.085000 (buy 1 US dollar) 1.027500 (sell 1 US dollar)

It's updated daily.
---

Scannermaster - BCD396XT - $495 US ($537.08 CDN)
Acessories (USB cable & Carrying Case) - $44.90 ($48.62 CDN)

Subtotal $539.90 ($585.79 CDN)
USPS Shipping - $29.00 ($31.47 CDN)

Total - $568.90 ($617.26 CDN)

GST, PST & RevCan - $80.27

Grand Total - $697.53 This includes a USB cable and case.
---

Let's do this again without the accessories.

Scannermaster - BCD396XT - $495 US ($537.08 CDN)
USPS Shipping - $29.00 ($31.47 CDN)

Sub-Total - $524 ($568.55 CDN)

GST, PST, RevCan - $78.91

Total $647.46

Your total, shipped, would be around $610-$615, since you do not charge tax. I do not know if you can provide a USB cable and case, but it doesn't matter. My concerns would be for shipping and warranty issues.

Hopefully, everything is clear now. And again, thank you, but I will order from the US.
 
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meplat

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I dunno exactly what the law is but there are brokerage fees that your courier company will normally charge you to clear your shipment thru customs and into Canada.

To be clear, there is no courier being used. The United Sates Postal Service -USPS- is shipping it to the border. Canada Post takes it from there. There is no courier service like UPS being used.

RickLeb, I am glad that your transaction went well. I am not trading anything in, nor am I close enough to Toronto for an easy or economical meet.
 

torontokris

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I never said I WASNT a business.. I said I wasnt a retailer (which im not).

I do sell USB-1 cables and cases.

Thanks for the figures but even calculated "slowly" they still arent $100 LESS then im charging but ya it doesnt matter now.

Anyways good luck from Scanner Master, enjoy the scanner.





torontokris, I asked a question about where to go to buy scanners in Ontario. Since I was looking for businesses and you said that you sold them, I thought that you were a business. I knew about Radioworld and Durham Radio. A couple of other sources were provided. I was NOT pretending anything. If anything, you were. You said that you sold some scanners, mostly digital. I thought that you were a legitimate business.

Regardless, my figures make complete sense. Here they are again, slowly. If you do not charge tax, that makes a difference. It would have saved a lot of misunderstanding had you said so to begin with. You might mention that in future to people that do not know you.

The online exchange that I used is my bank. The actual amount that the bank charges to buy or sell US dollars. Scotiabank – Foreign Exchange Rates

United States Dollar (USD) 1.085000 (buy 1 US dollar) 1.027500 (sell 1 US dollar)

It's updated daily.
---

Scannermaster - BCD396XT - $495 US ($537.08 CDN)
Acessories (USB cable & Carrying Case) - $44.90 ($48.62 CDN)

Subtotal $539.90 ($585.79 CDN)
USPS Shipping - $29.00 ($31.47 CDN)

Total - $568.90 ($617.26 CDN)

GST, PST & RevCan - $80.27

Grand Total - $697.53 This includes a USB cable and case.
---

Let's do this again without the accessories.

Scannermaster - BCD396XT - $495 US ($537.08 CDN)
USPS Shipping - $29.00 ($31.47 CDN)

Sub-Total - $524 ($568.55 CDN)

GST, PST, RevCan - $78.91

Total $647.46

Your total, shipped, would be around $610-$615, since you do not charge tax. I do not know if you can provide a USB cable and case, but it doesn't matter. My concerns would be for shipping and warranty issues.

Hopefully, everything is clear now. And again, thank you, but I will order from the US.
 
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