Canadian collectors - Current loonie exchange rate

[SwitchStance]

Hello fellow Canadian collectors!

I have been collecting Hot Toys for about 3 years now .. Currently the prices are getting pretty insane. A $220 figure will cost you $280 just for the exchange rate alone, then add $30 for shipping and then provincial tax. So a $220 will end up costing around $325 (in Alberta, which has the lowest Provincial tax).

Have any of you decided to hold back on some purchases because of the exchange rate? This question is open to the international community as well.

 

[theguru1]

It's not just Canada. In Australia our rate has nose dived. At one point we were around 1.10USD, in the space of about 12-18 months, we are now sub 0.75.

So that $220USD figure, is now over $300AUD. While space is somewhat due to my slow down in collecting over the past couple of years. The general price increase, combined with the 30%+ increase due to exchange rate, means, that unless I really really really want it, I don't get it.

Of curse the fact that SS now really only make DC, Marvel and Starwars statues, which apart from a couple of old Starwars PF's, I don't collect any of that, then the last SS item I got was the Jessica Rabbit PF and I suspect it's going to stay that way.

Funny how governments/business keep pushing everyone to spend spend spend for the economy, yet more stuff keeps happening that makes you want to do the opposite.

 

[roybatty]

the last hot toys I purchased ways dofp wolverine...after shipping and customs charges that brought it up to just under $400. insane, its a great figure but not worth it in anyway. I had a few more figures on pre-order but cancelled...they can wait until our dollar firms up again.

 

[SwitchStance]

The problem with waiting for the dollar to go up is you'll probably have to pay Ebay prices for the figures you want if they have already sold out.

 

[ebor]

Thankfully I live very close the the US border, I have all my SS figures shipped to a freight forwarding company--paying the flat shipping fee within USA ($10-$15/figure), they charge me $3 per item to pick up at their business. I hate that the loonie is now .77/USD

 

[Jesse_nz]

I live in New Zealand and if I buy a $220 figure its already turned into $330 with the exchange rate, 66c to our $1 then factor in the $40 shipping from sideshow and a $220 figure becomes almost $400. I really hate when i see people in the US complain about a $15-$20 shipping charge when we have to pay $40, when only a few years ago it was $25 from sideshow. And if I ever order from BBTS they only ship UPS and that works out to be between $60-$70

 

[SAB]

Its always adorable to see people in North America complain about shipping prices

 

[Sidewinder]

Buying from SSC for internationals is really only worth it with a dollar that's on par with the US really. The only exception is SSC exclusives and they're the only ones I am buying from them right now.

Once you add that $30 or $40 shipping from SSC onto the cost of the figure, it's cheaper to buy locally for me.
Black Widow $220 + $30 shipping on Sideshow so $250 total and the figure is $300 shipped in Australia. So it's a $50 difference, but once you factor in the exchange, it is cheaper overall.


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[Riceroket]

The current exchange rate has killed my enthusiasm for collecting Hot Toys, $300+ for a regular figure is just too much. I stick to buying second hand off Kijiji locally from people selling off unwanted figures.

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[Aliaz]

Buying from SSC for internationals is really only worth it with a dollar that's on par with the US really. The only exception is SSC exclusives and they're the only ones I am buying from them right now.

Same here. When you factor in shipping and customs its just not worth it.

And as for exchange rate, 1 swedish crown is worth 0.11 USD

 

[SwitchStance]

Ouch, thats really bad .. I am assuming the Swedish don't buy a lot of items from the US

 

[Lejuan]

Its always adorable to see people in North America complain about shipping prices

Our blessed government is about to push through changes to the GST threshold for imports. $1000 tax-free will drop to twenty bucks. Arseholes.

 

[Aliaz]

Ouch, thats really bad .. I am assuming the Swedish don't buy a lot of items from the US

That depends. We have quite a high VAT on some stuff so its usually cheaper to buy clothes and shoes even of you get hit with customs charges. We bought alot of clothes on our first visit to NY because it saved us alot of money. But now the customs have gotten better so they catch pretty much everything, a few years back it was much easier. And most of the US sites don't ship to Sweden so you need some sort of forwarding company.

Last time I bought a snowboard I got it from the US, got hit with a pretty big customs fee and still saved about $100 so miracles do exist.

 

[Sidewinder]

Our blessed government is about to push through changes to the GST threshold for imports. $1000 tax-free will drop to twenty bucks. Arseholes.

As always when the Libs are in we get slugged with more tax! It won't be long before we're paying a 15% GST too!

I knew our $1000 threshold would be too good to be true to last.


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