my sympathies for Canadian quilters.
06-04-2010, 03:52 AM
#41
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Southern Ontario
Posts: 164
Fabric is so much more expensive here in Canada than in the States. I purchase a lot of fabric online - even with the exchange and postage I save a lot of money. I drool when I see fabric online for $3.99 a yard when its probably about $15.99 a yard here. Road trips to the States for a week are fun because stopping at quilt shops is a priority. In august 4 of us ladies are going to Lancaster for 5 days to shop for fabric.
06-04-2010, 03:56 AM
#42
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Southern Ontario
Posts: 164
I buy a lot of fabric online - have never paid duty!! SOmetimes a couple of us will order and ship together to save on shipping prices. Recently I purchased about $75.00 worth of fabric from thousands of bolts - no duty!! Here it would have cost me about $200.00 for the same fabric.
06-04-2010, 05:42 AM
#43
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 20
My main reason for not ordering online is because I don't buy cotton .. if I were a quilter or used cottons for my bags, I may .. but when I inquired with a US company about shipping for 2 yds of their tapestry at $20.00 a yd (I would pay $32.00 here for similar) .. the shipping was going to be astronomical .. far more than the gas I would burn going 15 km to buy it locally .. for me, it just wouldn't balance out .. and yes, I would pay tax/duty and GST because of the weight and the cost .. in addition they used UPS which would have incurred a brokerage fee .. plus I couldn't feel the quality ... I know gals who go to their own quilt shop and see, feel the fabrics and then order it online and of course if you are ordering Moda or something like that, Moda is Moda no matter where you get it ..
Toby
Toby
06-04-2010, 08:50 AM
#44
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Ridgefield WA
Posts: 7,765
Originally Posted by MrsColumbo
I live in BC and yes, our prices are a lot higher than what you pay in the US .. I moved here from the East Coast (of Canada, in Newfoundland where I spent 18 yrs) 5 1/2 years ago and it's even higher there due to the high cost of getting it up so far and across the water ...
Salaries in Canada are higher than in the US by far, particularly here in BC ... the cost of living in BC is extremely high, especially in Vancouver where I live ... people here just don't bat an eye about the fabric prices .. to order from the US isn't feasible when you tack on exchange, taxes and possible duty (depending on method of shipping) so we just pay it ... I just paid $20.00 for a meter of cotton today at Fabricland .. I just got my regular membership 20% off ...
If you get a chance to visit Fabricana you will really be blown away .. I dont know where you are holidaying but there is one in Richmond and one in Coquitlam ... I've only been to the Coquitlam one .. they have Amy Butler, Kaffee Fassett, Asian prints, etc ... great store but also expensive and nothing off unless they happen to be running a sale .. they do have sale fabrics on the side wall though ... probably our sale equals your regular price fabrics though.
Toby
Salaries in Canada are higher than in the US by far, particularly here in BC ... the cost of living in BC is extremely high, especially in Vancouver where I live ... people here just don't bat an eye about the fabric prices .. to order from the US isn't feasible when you tack on exchange, taxes and possible duty (depending on method of shipping) so we just pay it ... I just paid $20.00 for a meter of cotton today at Fabricland .. I just got my regular membership 20% off ...
If you get a chance to visit Fabricana you will really be blown away .. I dont know where you are holidaying but there is one in Richmond and one in Coquitlam ... I've only been to the Coquitlam one .. they have Amy Butler, Kaffee Fassett, Asian prints, etc ... great store but also expensive and nothing off unless they happen to be running a sale .. they do have sale fabrics on the side wall though ... probably our sale equals your regular price fabrics though.
Toby
(I'm still a Canadian.)
06-04-2010, 09:08 AM
#47
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 20
Yes, I probably could however I've always lived in Canada so I've never known any other prices for fabrics and I dont mind paying ... when I lived in NL I had to order my mohair for my teddy bears from CA till I found a supplier in Toronto ... the US company did send it through duty free and I usually only ordered 1-2 meters at a time as it was between $70-100.00 a yd .. the shipping wasn't too bad and I didn't have to pay any conversion or tax then ... once I found the Toronto shop, I would bring back 3-4 meters when I'd go up 1-2 times a year on business .. now I've traded mohair for fabric .. far cheaper.
Toby
Toby
06-04-2010, 09:56 AM
#48
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 31
I feel bad about my previous comment - making a scrappy quilt out of whaterver is one thing - making an heirloom piece is another. I mean, why would I want to spend 1-2 years on a quilt pieced out of salavation army remnants? So, ladies, there are always two sides to a story.
however, I did make a nice t-shirt quilt out my granddaughters hand-me-downs. And the dog received a quilt out of flannel scraps. What a lucky dog :)
Karin
however, I did make a nice t-shirt quilt out my granddaughters hand-me-downs. And the dog received a quilt out of flannel scraps. What a lucky dog :)
Karin
06-04-2010, 10:09 AM
#50
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by KarinSt
I feel bad about my previous comment - making a scrappy quilt out of whaterver is one thing - making an heirloom piece is another. I mean, why would I want to spend 1-2 years on a quilt pieced out of salavation army remnants? So, ladies, there are always two sides to a story.
however, I did make a nice t-shirt quilt out my granddaughters hand-me-downs. And the dog received a quilt out of flannel scraps. What a lucky dog :)
Karin
however, I did make a nice t-shirt quilt out my granddaughters hand-me-downs. And the dog received a quilt out of flannel scraps. What a lucky dog :)
Karin
Toby
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