rachylou - no, no, no, - this has to due with the value of the Canadian dollar vis a vis the US dollar. Right now ours is worth much less than yours. It means the $68 dollar sweater shows up on the Nord website as (I forget exactly but...) $80 CDN. That 's just the difference in currency value. The other costs are import and shipping costs , which have nothing to do with supporting our social programs, per se. (of course our taxes do, but in this case, not directly) Shipping is what it is, and import duties are a result of NAFTA and depend upon the place of manufacture and the fibre content of the garment. The point is, I can buy this same stupid $68 sweater here (not the identical sweater, but the same kind of sweater) from a Canadian retailer like Ricki's or Reimtan's and still pay $68 for it. Canadian.

Value is a huge consideration, and it's where we Canadians allow our heads to be clouded by exciting different branded merchandise we cannot find here. And my sweater was a perfect example. It's a simple, perfectly nice fairly low-priced sweater, and no more. I am out of my mind to choose to pay what turns out to $100 of my money for it.

Anyways.....

excellent reply and contribution Gaylene - and you keep reminding me to pay more attention to Simon's. Thank you!

My motivation to order from the US is strictly to get petites. Dammit I wish I was taller! It's so hard to find things that work on a 5' body. A large portion of my wardrobe is Banana Republic due to petites and availability. All of my coats are BR, JC and Talbots. I do my best with what I can reasonably find and occasionally regular items work for me. But I yearn for more selection.

I've only ordered from J Crew and Talbots....(Talbots is off my radar these days). JC feels somewhat safe because there are reviews galore online and they are kind enough to give complete measurements for items. And now that we have a store in my city I'm able to view a small portion of their inventory.

Simon's. Ah, Simon's. I keep forgetting. Thank you, Gaylene....

I think I forget because I have not been able to try on their things in person and what is on the website is not (in general) their best stuff. In the stores themselves, they stock some lovely things. I have visited the Montreal store and need to do that more often. I really should shop more often in Montreal, period.

Well, see, that's what I mean by tricksy. A lower Canadian dollar should mean you get "less sweater", but you can actually get "more sweater." You can get what is essentially the same sweater for CAN $68, which costs USD $68.

I guess the thing is, I'm trying to figure out where the scam is.

Gaylene, I haven't even heard of half the places you mentioned, I'm going to have to check them out.

See... I'm even MORE disadvantaged... a Maritimer! 1000 miles from the nearest anything...

Sorry, RachyLou, a low Canadian dollar makes that USD $68 sweater a CAN $80 sweater BEFORE we get to add taxes, duties, and shipping. Since our wages are roughly comparable and our personal taxes are generally higher, once I fork over close to CAN $100 to put that sweater on my back, I need to think of it as being in a different price range. Now, when the US$ and CAN$ were more or less equivalent the sweater was comparable. If the US$ ever tanks and the Canadian dollar skyrockets, then you'll see masses of Canadians descending on your stores.

I'm inviting you ALL to come shop in the US with me in Seattle. I love shopping in Boston and Santa Monica too, so take your pick. xo

Ooh! I want to come shopping with you in Seattle, or Boston, or pretty well anywhere. Too bad I'm half a world away. I'll start saving up now...

I'm up for that!

Dimity, you're invited - OF COURSE.

I pick Boston
I've been kicking myself for a while at not making more of an effort to get there a few months ago...

Jokes aside ladies, I'm sorry it's a mare shopping online in Canada from US stores.

I am always up for shopping in Boston
I am sorry to hear ordering from Canada is becoming such a pain.

nother dumb question, Gaylene. When we say the wages are comparable, that means - if we both did the same job in our two countries - I make USD $50 and you make CAN $50, right?

But back to being able to get a basic acrylic sweater for CAN $68 or less... How is it that it a basic acrylic sweater cost USD $68 in the US? Someone is cheating me, I tell you (!)

When I was in Jamaica, I don't know, the weekly wage was some ridiculously low figure. Like JAM $100. Ok, but people were not dying on the streets. For JAM $5 you could get like 20 lbs of rice. In the US, for USD $5, I'd be getting a 1/2 lb of rice. So things are dire there, of course... but the price of things is some voodoo.

I just did an interesting comparison with an Ikea JennyLund chair. I know it isn't clothing but it's one of the few things that we have in Australia that is identical to what you have in the US. In the US, the chair is $199US.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/cata.....S89830491/

In Canada, the chair is $199CAD.
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/cata.....S89830491/

In Australia, the chair is $449AUD.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/cata.....S89830491/

So in Canada, it seems that you're getting the chair at a discount on the exchange rate if you compare to the US. In Australia, you're paying way more than the exchange. On today's rates, a chair at $199 should be about $250, not $449 in Australia. What this says to me (based on this one small example) is that if you're in Canada, then you're better off buying things there if you can, and if you're in Australia, then be prepared to be taken for a ride.

I don't know for sure, Dimity, but Ikea might be the same price in Canada and the US because it's an import for both countries. Swedish not American.

That's an insane amount in Australia.

Funny thing is my Ikea Ektorp sofa that I bought in Canada was actually made in Canada, but the one I bought in Australia was made in China and has a hinge that folds the back down for flat packing. Talk about globalisation, huh!

rachylou - re wages: no, when you make $50 an hour, we likely make $65 Cdn - thus being comparable. Our minimum wage is much higher than yours too. Certain professions are better paid in the US - medical ones are the most prominent ones. Our medical system and amount earned is controlled, whereas yours are not. Anyways - this is all stuff that is widely available to read on the web Re why the stupid $68 sweater can be had in both countries at the same price? Because we are importing the same sweater from the same off-shore factories in Asia and have our buys negotiated in Cdn dollars. You get the benefit of scale of economy vis a vis your larger population, but Canada is a desired trading partner and has better shipping ports and less union interference to deal with. Sometimes Cdn importers will negotiate their off-shod production in US dollars - all depends upon the trading value that day.It's like playing the stock market.

One thing that can go wrong when you have to trade on currency value in booking off shore production, is that you are negotiating your production based on the value of the dollar at the specific time. It really shows when books are priced a year ahead of landing on the shelf .....and then the dollar increases in value and matches yours. Consumers freak out, and rightly so. That might explain the IKEA situation - based on where that stuff is actually manufactured and when the price was set.

And further to the wage thing: our wages somewhat reflect the difference in the cost of living here. (minimum wage being much higher for example)

Interesting. Comparable and yet not.

Love the conversation here!

Gaylene - thanks for compiling such a comprehensive list of fantastic Canadian shopping sites! I am officially thanking (or blaming) you for my latest online order from Simon's! It's never been on my radar but I spied a pair of plaid pants that I thought might be fun. And with free returns in Canada, why the heck not!?

Angie - I'm always up for a shop with you in Seattle. Best.time.ever

What kiwigal said!

I always just look at the total cost and decide whether it's worth it to me to pay that much for the item ... I don't care if the cost is on delivery taxes, exchanges rates or the cost of the product, and I don't really care whether my cousins in Chicago would get it for $30 less. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not!

My head is spinning from all these numbers! On the bright side - we have Club Monaco and prices in US are the same as we have here in Canada so we win here
I can count on one hand when I ordered things from US to be delivered to my house. I learned this hard way but don't do it again - unless it is worth it. I did order Land's End puffer coat because I could not get anything of this quality here in Tall and it was on sale and free shipping - and I did not ned to return so overall it was worth it.
I never order from Nordstrom. That's why I do my yearly extravaganza at NAS when I drive over, try everything on and keep only what I want - and if I am lucky I don't even need to pay tax on the border.

On another note I was in one of our 2 big "upscale" (for our city) malls last night and left it pretty depressed. The space where Sears store was which closed a year ago is still boarded, MEXX is having a closing sale, Club Monaco store closed last year, The Bay store has no household items in it, only clothing (you need a set of dishes or towels - too bad!)...the list can continue. So much for shopping B&M local stores On the bright note we have a huge Forever21 store spanning 2 floors...but I never shop there.
At least Danier store is still there!
Gaylene, I love your list and should expand my online shopping from Canadian sites. The recent discovery was shoeme.ca (thanks Michelle) with free shipping and returns. It is not the same selection as Zappos has but still darn good for us - and there is something in my size I can try on!
We need to make YLF gathering in Montreal one day!

Oh yes, Montreal! I'm in!

Sveta you're the second person who has mentioned Sears. Ours is still alive and well. As is the one where my mother lives. Call me thick, but I didn't even realize they were closing stores!

But how much is it The Tyranny of Choice?
Which I see many members of the forum succumb to.

Real crazy is that some great swimwear and amazing leather goods are made in Canada, imported to US, and sold back to Canadians via websites and catalogue!

I do catalogue LE and LLB, but only when the $C is close to the US$. Things aren't so good right now. Mostly I'm B&M, and try to approximate what I see.

Heads up folks, I'm saving up since I'm going to Seattle in October 2015 to visit my Dad...and other things!

Interesting discussion. I am not really up to speed on this issue but my bug bear is shipping costs to Australia. They vary so much. I must admit I don't understand the duties etc that you incur in Canada. My husband orders quite a bit from the US (sound and musical equipment) and he finds it very cost effective. He buys his guitar strings from the US and pays about 1/3 of what he would pay here (he tends to buy in bulk). I am nervous about ordering from the US simply because of the potential cost in returning if necessary. I think my only purchase from the US was my harem leggings. Ordered from Urban Outfitters and the shipping was only $9.00 which is equatable to local shipping - Metalicus orders incur a $10.00 shipping fee. However when I have looked at ordering from Nordstroms, shipping has generally been around $25.00 and postage back to the US can be costly. The positive side of this is that I now prefer to shop locally. If I look hard enough and long enough, I can usually find what I want here and I like to support my local retailers. Of course the challenge is that in the US you have SO MUCH choice and variety... it makes it VERY tempting.

Agreeing with TS I will only order items from the U.S. that I cannot get here in Australia. Because of the much smaller market here, Australian shops don't always pick up on all the trends that are readily available in the US (or Europe for that matter).

Hello ladies,
I'm a new member although never got to formally introduce myself yet. However, as a Canadian currently living in the US, couldn't pass by this topic!
In general I think shopping in Canadian big cities is quite good, in terms of both selection and prices (I'm from Montreal but fairly sure it's similar in Toronto, Vancouver etc). However, if we talk about "niche" markets (e.g. petites as was mentioned by one of the previous posters, or maternity clothes, or premium denim), US market clearly offers more choice and better prices. I used to order maternity wear from the US and even with all the duties it turned out cheaper than in Montreal stores.
Canadian online shopping is however in rather sad state and is definitely not where one would expect it to be in one of the most developed countries in the world. Glad it's slowly improving however.

Hi Daria - thanks for chiming in ,and nice to meet you!