In WA State in King County the sales tax is a tourist killing/local wallet busting 9.5%. I drove 3.5 hrs to buy a new bicycle in Portland, no sales tax and 300 bucks cheaper than Seattle prices. Worth the drive to me, how much are you allowed to bring back to BC duty free? I wonder how business next to Oregon complete with a no tax state next door? Its feels weird to pay what the tag says and no tax. Its quite a nice experience.
Driving to Oregon to buy stuff
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I go quite often. Beautiful drive...If you have a car that has balls, 4.5 hours from border to Portland. Travel at night to avoid traffic. I like buying clothes and electronics.
I'll do whatever it takes to avoid the obscene 9.5% sales tax in my area if it makes sense vs gas spent, time.
Property Tax, 9.5% tax, Obamacare mandate, the taxing never ends. And to make matters worse they are cutting back bus service cause not enough revenue in the County. You think too many taxes has people not spending. Knuckleheads.
Property Tax, 9.5% tax, Obamacare mandate, the taxing never ends. And to make matters worse they are cutting back bus service cause not enough revenue in the County. You think too many taxes has people not spending. Knuckleheads.
I haven't ever done the drive, although I've been to Portland a few times by plane. Driving, of course makes sense, if you're going there to save money on some bigger purchases. Maybe you veterans could help me out with the math on this decision?
I'm thinking about upgrading my laptop. My 13" MacBook (2009) is working perfectly (only 2GB of memory though) but sometimes I think I'm overloading her, asking her to do too much. Anyone who sees me on Perb knows I'm no technical whiz. But, when she gets slow, like FB is taking forever to update a post, I assume I've got too many windows open for her capabilities. I close everything down, restart, and everything moves at top speed again.
Questions: Does it make sense to buy a newer model Mac? Or can I add memory? Would adding memory to such an old model make sense? If I took the purchase route, would it make sense to go to Portland to do so? Would the tax savings be worth it? Maybe not exclusively for this purchase, but to add in a little vacation? I love Portland!
I'm thinking about upgrading my laptop. My 13" MacBook (2009) is working perfectly (only 2GB of memory though) but sometimes I think I'm overloading her, asking her to do too much. Anyone who sees me on Perb knows I'm no technical whiz. But, when she gets slow, like FB is taking forever to update a post, I assume I've got too many windows open for her capabilities. I close everything down, restart, and everything moves at top speed again.
Questions: Does it make sense to buy a newer model Mac? Or can I add memory? Would adding memory to such an old model make sense? If I took the purchase route, would it make sense to go to Portland to do so? Would the tax savings be worth it? Maybe not exclusively for this purchase, but to add in a little vacation? I love Portland!
True, Portland has the most titty bars per capita in North America ....but it's more of a quantity over quality thing (buyer beware)
Is the drive down there to pick up your stuff and the rental of the storage box free as well?
I would think that there is enough profit to cover that as well as the advertising for sale once the stuff is here. He'd have to be careful that there is a market for the item, of course.
Your car will need balls for the long drive AND ample storage space for all the goods! Don't forget to relax and experience the scenery on the coast - an hr drive from Portland.
I have worked down there for many years pre 911 and post 911; I will say that both Customs and Immigration from both countries have really stepped up enforcement.
Should you elect to bring your amazon stuff across its best to declare all of it.
I got my car inspected upon return to Canada last year as I have numerous upgrades to the engine, wheels, brakes etc. Luckily I had all the pdf's of my purchases loaded on my laptop in case of any questions. If I had bought the stuff in OR and not declared it, it would have been a big mess for me.
Should you elect to bring your amazon stuff across its best to declare all of it.
I got my car inspected upon return to Canada last year as I have numerous upgrades to the engine, wheels, brakes etc. Luckily I had all the pdf's of my purchases loaded on my laptop in case of any questions. If I had bought the stuff in OR and not declared it, it would have been a big mess for me.
Point Roberts or Blaine has a few mailbox options. Hagens is popular but a tad pricey.
Upgrade to a SSD hard drive, it'll make the biggest performance difference out of anything.
You most certainly can add more RAM to your Mac, and if you find it speeds up after a restart that's probably exactly what you need. There are websites out there where you can type in your model or even serial number and it will tell you the ACTUAL max RAM your Mac is capable of taking (and not the max RAM that Apple states your Mac will take).
Just type in "max ram mac 2009" into google and it shouldn't be hard to find a site.
I upgraded from 4 GB to 8 GB, bought two compatible sticks from Amazon.ca, it was about $100.
You for sure can find the RAM in Portland as well, if you're looking for a good reason for a vacation!
I know what you mean here, Miss M. As soon as you get through the Blaine crossing, and head up the main drag (is there even a sidewalk), you go left at the lights to the Cost Cutter grocery store, Burger King, and a mini-mall, complete with a Mail Box Store. Is it walking distance? Perhaps. But that does depend on how much time you have and how large the package is that you plan to carry back. When you cross back over into Canada, doesn't anyone have questions about the stuff you're carrying?
There is a chain of hotels c/w brew pubs, restaurants etc etc run by the McMenamin Brothers located throughout Oregon and Washington. Every place I have visited and or stayed at was excellent.
The Crystal Ballroom or the Kennedy School are a ton of fun! The Kennedy School was actually an elementary school and was turned into a hotel, restaurant, and even a movie theatre.
http://www.mcmenamins.com/CrystalHotel
For a truly beautify drive through their mountains and the home of Microbrew is Bend OR which has over 60 breweries with a population of 90,000 people.
I think I am talking myself into another road trip this summer :nod:
