The exchange rate actually works in my favor as I have both American and Canadian bank accounts and I actually get paid in American dollars into the American account for most of what I earn. The duty / tax thing is rather annoying as it negates the fun of purchasing online. In the U.S. you avoid paying any taxes when you purchase online unless the company you are buying from is headquartered in your state. Do they charge duty / taxes on items sent from a private resident in the U.S.? If not I could just have a friend pick them up and mail them to me.

I have no idea why some things can get in without having to pay Duty. Some things even have the PST already paid but not the GST. The reason for this is the seller needs some type of GST collectors account. Needless to say some American companies say- what me collect GST for Canada? what kinda scam is that?- No thanks!! Any parcel being mailed over the border needs to be accompanied with a declaration of, what it is, how much it is worth. Alot of it gets opened by customs (Thought only Russia did that). The exact rules I don't know. Just for yuks, the largest amount I had to collect GST, PST and Duty was for a pen from Germany. Are you ready for this, $700. That's correct $700 in PST GST and DUTY, for a pen......oh yeah and $5 of that was the collection fee On the subject of Duty, here is a funny story. I know this wealthy Korean guy. When he went back to Korea his wife saw some knockoff Gucci purses. His wife thought they'd make great gifts so he bought a dozen at $50 each. When he came back customs saw the purses he explained they were knockoffs and declared the $600 value. Well they were great knockoffs, because customs said sorry they look like Gucci to us. We need $6,500. Needless to say he just left them unclaimed

Woohoo!!! My shoes arrived today. No taxes or duties so the final price was 118.95 CAD. Suck on that Mr. Running Room Price Gouger Guy.

Yeah but the expert analyzers work there ......... Good deal though! Even though it is the wrong shoe for you!

That's funny. Every time I've been in there I've been helped by various people who all look like they have to go home and study for an Econ mid-term once their shift ends. The extent of the expert analysis that I have received was "how do those feel?". Seriously, I had all these expectations of having an expert watch me run on a treadmill and then fitting me with exactly the right shoe. Expectations: 10. Reality: 2.