If you order an item from Walthers, they do charge the dealer for the shipping costs. If the order is part of a regular fill, then the shipping costs are divided by the number of items in the order. If you order a single item, the cost becomes more significant. This is no different than when you are ordering an item from Europe. It will cost you around $50 (US) or $60 (CAD). If you divide this between 4 or 5 items, it works out to between $10 to $15 per item, which is acceptable. Canada Post will charge you around $9 for handling, plus the applicable Federal and Provincial Sales Taxes.
I usually ship my items to my US address. Most shipments to the USA are inspected only for illegal goods and are not assessed duty or taxes. US citizens are supposed to declare such purchases to their local authorities and pay taxes at that point. I pay whatever tax that I owe at the border when I import the items to Canada.
As far as buying from local vs overseas. I live, as many of you know, in Montreal. I think that there is one model train shop left in town and they no longer stock European. I could special order the items, but they charge me whatever their list price is, and when you compare it to the European prices, it is way overpriced. Twenty years ago, when the dollar was around 62 cents US, I could buy a Marklin Re 460 in the USA for around $200US. The same item was selling in Toronto for $400CAD and change. The US price came out to at least $75 less than the Toronto price. When the dollar gained against the greenback, the Canadian prices dropped, but given that the US prices increased, it offset that gain a little bit. Today, an equivalent Re 460 is going for $270US (AJCKids), which today is around $370CAD. Eurorailhobbies originally listed the 37462 at $277US (I could not find the Canadian price). Listed Canadian prices were between $350 and $420. The same model at Joes in Germany was 249 EUR. With VAT removed and shipping costs added, it would come out to around $370CAD. You would then have to add Canadian tax and fees.
With the exchange between CAD and US increasing by at least 30%, the price of items ordered from US distributors has gone up by 30%. Orders from Europe have been unaffected, as the CAD-EUR rate remains around 1 to 1.5. The problem is that for goods made in China where the manufacturers have to pay the suppliers in USD, the cost has gone up by the same 30%. The end result is that you have to price shop your purchases very carefully. As I am ordering less than I used to and there are fewer items to group into shipments, it can be cheaper to order from North American sources than from overseas. As item releases are spread throughout the year, there are often not enough items to make the shipping costs worthwhile compared to what it costs here.
My biggest problem is that I have no option other than mail order. Whether it comes from Europe, from elsewhere in Canada or from the USA, I have to trust the dealer to ship me goods free of defects. When you order from one of these sources and you have to return something, you have to pay the return shipment and the other risk that I have encountered is that in this era or limited items, the item may not be replaceable through that dealer without having to cancel that transaction and source it from a new location.
If there are special items, (eg Dutch container cars, etc), I will order them from the country where I stand the best chance of locating that/those item(s) and then hopefully add an item or two to split up the shipping costs. For single items, it is often a better option to source them in North America.
As I stated, check the price and make your decision based on what gets you the most Wagen, Lok, Gleis for your buck.
Regards
Mike C
