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Anniversary Sale

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Update Canada

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I just called the Ottawa store with some questions. Here's what she told me. I am interested in a few items from the designer collections so I got put through to that department.

The SA looked up four items for me to see if they would be coming into the store, or into Canada. She could locate the items I wanted, one in her own store and the rest in Calgary or Vancouver. She is not allowed to order anything from another store right away, but in a few days that option opens to her and she is going to see if she can have a few items shipped to her store. She will then ship to me.

The Canadian prices are about 35% higher than the US sale price (a bit less than that, for the shoe that I wanted). This makes sense -- that's just the exchange rate. The discount for the sale is 40%. Free shipping, no duties. You can use a Nordstrom note as well. But you can't use your Nordstrom card to pay.

I decided to go this route for some of my items. I may still order the undies and smaller price tag items from the US and pick them up -- I'm not sure yet.

Anniversary Sale

64 replies

Latest reply was from Style Fan

Anonymous

Well this is interesting. This makes a lot more sense for us. Hope this works out, and I look forward to seeing what you ordered! I'll be back on the forum in August when the madness is over . Til then ...

( Wonder why you can't pay with their card - not that I have one but.....that seems odd. )

DonnaF

Veteran

Seems counterintuitive not to be able to order with your Nordstrom card. WTF?!? They don't want you to get Nordstrom Notes?

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I'm assuming it's because Suz's Nordstrom card is a US one. I tried to get one a while ago, because of the notes, but because I have a Canadian address, I couldn't. She must have been able to get around this because she has a US address that she can use. They must not have cross border credit card abilities.

Thanks for this info Suz, very helpful! I'm glad "we" have some of the items you are interested in.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I have no idea how I got a card. Well, I mean, I do know how I got it; I applied for it. But I got it with a Canadian address. Bills come to my house. However, when I pay my Nordstrom card bills, I pay in US dollars, with a US funds cheque.

Still, they said I could not use the card in Canada because it is a Nordstrom Bank card and (I assume) the bank is not a registered financial institution in Canada.

I'm not so worried about not racking up Notes, because if I pay by Visa I'm also getting air miles, which is just as good for us.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

It just occurred to me that (of course) I will be paying taxes that I wouldn't incur in the US. So I'm not so sure it ends up cheaper for us this way - but these are items I would still want to look at, at least, at full price, and of course I can return for free if I do it this way, and at least I'm not paying duties on top of it all.

Anonymous

Thanks for the info! The duty and exchange are as I would have expected..

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Smittie, the bag was one they said they would have in Canada, but not necessarily in the port colour in Ottawa. But it will be part of the sale in Canada.

Other items I had her check for that were going to be available in Canada (though not necessarily in Ottawa, or not in my size -- but available elsewhere in my size and obtainable, she thought).

Rebecca Minkoff 'Bryn' Double Zip Hobo

$295.00 $117.97

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

18

Rag & Bone JEAN 'The Dre' Slim Boyfriend Pants

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

25

Rag & Bone 'Faye' Longline Double Breasted Wool Blend Vest

$575.00 $229.98

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

38

Aquatalia 'Taylor' Weatherproof Bootie (Women) (Nordstrom Exclusive)

$475.00 $299.25

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

42

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Those new picks are great, Suz! Of all the brands that don't come in my size, I think Rag & Bone makes me the saddest.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

The jeans are your colour, too, Jenn!! DANG.

But...if Kut from the Kloth offers their coloured jeans again this year, they have a similar colour that is really great.

Anonymous

Roger that, Suz.

shedev

Veteran

Love these picks.

Roxanna

Veteran

Love these picks and love this info. I think it's still too much cost for me (I'm so accustomed to paying Canadian prices, and usually on sale) but I can completely see the rationale in doing this, especially with no shipping and duties, which are the real barriers. Those purchases look beautiful, Suz - look forward to seeing you in the gilet!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Suz, there is a canadian Nordies rewards program as well, so make sure you sign up for that.

Interesting that you got a card with your home address. I've tried a couple of times. I wonder if policies changed. But I'm going to try again!

Anonymous

Sounds like you have it sorted Suz. I like your picks!

Beth Ann

Veteran

YLF ingenuity on display! There is real math is shoe math, after all, and it's Honors level when you have to do it internationally!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I'm impressed with your clever NAS logistics, Suz. And ALL top picks. Those are the BEST boots at the NAS.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Elizabeth, seriously about the rewards? I didn't know that. Heck. I have to talk to the SA that I worked with about the Rewards thing.

I don't know how we managed to get the Nordstrom's card. We do have a US$ account because DH has family in the states, but our account is in a Canadian bank.

I think Sveta has a card, too.

Maybe the issue is this: maybe it was possible to get the card before they opened actual stores in Canada, and then it became harder? I've had mine now for several years -- before a store opened up here, I believe.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Wow, that is strange about the differences in rewards programs between the Canada and US systems.
Those Rag and Bone jeans look like the ones I got last year, at a later sale, not during NAS (I don't think that color was part of NAS last year). The color I have is called "Aged Wine," whereas this year it's "Aged Burgundy." I love those jeans! The fabric is lightweight for denim, and so easy to wear. The burgundy items are always so appealing, aren't they? A color that looks good on us and also just feels like fall.
I tried on those booties, too. The SA brought them out, even though I wasn't really in the market for gray suede, as I got some last year. The heel is nice--comfortable and current, the ankle is slim but soft, so it bends easily when you walk, and the gray shade is a good one for me, not blue or purple-leaning but not too brownish, either.

Anonymous

I can't even get the "Apply for a Card" to load when I'm logged in on the Canadian pricing site. So Elizabeth, it's not just you!

Anonymous

I can't apply either lisap!
I called, and the agent said I had to apply in-store.
How do you get a card if you're a Canadian with no store nearby (well, other than being Suz)?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Well, this is really weird.

What I did -- and this was before there was a store open in Canada, mind you--- I went to the website.

I registered for an account. I then applied for a card. It took a little while to go through, if I recall.

Try typing in Nordstroms US first (perhaps there is a separate Canadian site??) and try making your website settings for delivery to the US and see if that helps. It may be seeing a Canadian IP address and assuming you want Canadian Nordstrom's. You have to be on the US Nordstrom's system.

In point of fact, I have had items delivered to multiple addresses in the US and to my home address in Canada by ordering through this same account, the only difference being if the value is over $40 it will get dinged for duty at the border if I order directly into Canada -- but ordering small items this way works perfectly well (no extra duty).

Anonymous

I'm taking this as a sign to move on to better uses of my time

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Good plan, Lisa!!

If I lived in Toronto or Montreal or even Ottawa I would probably never have bothered with this whole thing. It's just impossible for me to shop in Kingston and really hard for me to get away for weekend shopping trips in the bigger cities, and even then, they don't carry my size a lot of the time. So here I am.

Colette

Veteran

Suz, that's a lot of effort but I must say, you did a great job figuring it out. I'm even more in awe at your ability to pull together such fab outfits with the lack of shopping in your area. I'm going to stop complaining that my closest Nordstrom store is about a 30 minute drive now.

kerry

Veteran

I've emailed the store manager at the Ottawa store to see if any of the items I'm interested in are Canadian stock. Fingers crossed he answers my email!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ooh. Great idea to email. I phoned and got put through to a department, but I didn't ask about items in other departments as I didn't want to put them to too much trouble or make things confusing. However, I might do so in a few days.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Colette, it took me years on this forum, and lots of misses, before I figured out this online shopping game. I'm lucky we have Zara, BR, and J. Crew -- 3/4 of my wardrobe comes from those places.

Anonymous

...ok, and just to make sure I'm understanding things correctly, the *reason* we're calling/emailing Nordstrom Canada is to see whether we can get Canadian prices on these items, which are going to be lower than US prices, is that right?
If the things we want are only available in the US, we can still buy them online, but we'll get them at the US price, refactored in Canadian dollars based on whatever the exchange rate is that day.
Is this about right?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I'm not sure why others are calling, but I'm calling because I live in a place without a Nordstrom's store. In the past, to participate in the sale, my choices were to:

Order things to my home in Canada -- thus incurring delivery costs, extra delivery costs to return anything, and extra duties...not to mention a long wait. NOT WORTH IT, so I never did it.

OR

Order things to a US postal address (or a Nordstrom store in the US) and travel across the border for a massive try on session, return anything I didn't want immediately (saving on postage, duty), pay duty at the border on anything I wanted to bring back (or sneak it through).

If I was lucky, I, or a family member, might be going to the US around the time of the sale. That happened last year; my husband and his son were gone for several days at sale time so they picked things up and we didn't have to pay duties as they had been across the border long enough.

The reason I am calling Ottawa now is twofold.

1. If the items are available in the Canadian system and part of the NAS in Canada, I will pay the CANADIAN sale price -- which is about 35% more than the US sale price (depending on the item). But then, the regular Canadian price is about 35 to 40% more than the regular US price. For most items. So this makes sense. In other words, this is adjusting for the CAD.

But I'll pay in Canadian dollars (won't have to take whatever exchange rate is going that day) and I won't pay duty and I won't pay for delivery or returns.

Is it super cheap? No. But if these are items I want anyway and the price is as good, or better, than what I would pay later in the season, that is good for me.

Also, by calling ahead, I (supposedly) got these items reserved in my size, which is a size that disappears fast. I don't completely trust yet that all of this is going to work out, but I'm crossing fingers.

2. Also, these items will be shipped to my door. I don't have to make a trip to the US and try them on in the bathroom of a lumber supply store, which is what I usually do, or pay by the box for the privilege of having them delivered and stored there. (It costs $5 per box to have things sent to a US address and since Nordstrom's often sends a pair of underpants in its own box, this can add up crazily!!)

This may be less relevant to you -- you have a store you can shop in. I don't. I'd have to spend a day getting up to Ottawa and back to participate in person in the sale. Which is another cost to me, of course, both in time and expense. (Train and taxi or car and parking...you get the idea.)

Someone else can do the math on this...it's pretty complicated -- taxes here, vs. duties and paying for each box at my US address...I don't know....but what I do know is that for me, given where I live, and the lack of a Nordstrom's store, this is a heck of a lot more convenient.

If the items we want are not available in Canada (i.e. not on the Canadian system and not part of the Canadian NAS) the only way we can get them is by ordering online from the US or going to the US to purchase. At least that is my understanding.

ElizabethP seemed to have a different answer to that. I didn't ask because all the items I requested info on were going to be part of the Canadian sale.

To recap. If you are a Canadian:

You can shop in the US or order online internationally from Nordstrom's and have it delivered to your door. (It costs you delivery, duties, and the exchange, and it takes extra time to get here. If you need to return anything, you also pay extra to send it back.)

You can order to a US address and pay in US$. Delivery is free but you may or may not pay for "storage" at the US address. (A FAB US friend will sometimes facilitate.) If you make returns immediately, from within the US, returns are free. You do not pay duty on anything you choose not to keep.

Or you can buy in Canada from a Canadian store, paying the already-adjusted Canadian prices. But you can't buy ONLINE in Canada -- only in store or -- as I did -- by phone, with the item number.

Those are the 3 options as I understand them.

Hope this makes sense!

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