Canadian Customs/Duties: Amazon VS .gg Website Purchase?
Hullo!
I'm finally caving on getting a new phone - which I hope will last me - after resuscitating my LG V60 ThinQ too many times now. After years of on-and-off research and procrastination, I've settled on a RedMagic phone for all the features I'm looking for within an okay price point for my wallet. I had been keen on the 11 Pro, but with their availability looking nonexistant through official channels... I've given up and will bite the bullet by spending an additonal $150 CAD on the S, as much as I don't really care about the minimal upgrades.
I'm wanting to jump in on the purchase this weekend, but one major thing is holding me back: the official .gg website (and the .tech one, though I'm shopping from Canada) lists the potential for customs fees/duties to be passed on to the customer. This could be a huge chunk of additional money I'd rather avoid.
I emailed them about this along with a few other questions, and they promptly replied with a pretty standard explanation... but no hint as to the likelihood of it happening. I assume it's more likely to happen if they ship from a warehouse in Hong Kong, VS from inventory held in their Canadian warehouse.
All that is to say, I want to know of anyone's personal experience with shopping for a RedMagic phone/tablet/device via Amazon VS/or on their official site, if your receiving address is Canadian**.** I'd particularly like to know if you were ding'd additional fees/duties if you ordered from their official site.
Right now, it's looking like Amazon is the better option for me, because
1) Quick/guaranteed shipping (and I'd really like to have this in my hands within a week, before the 11th, for game-event reasons),
2) No additional customs fees/duties mentioned.
Cons for purchasing via Amazon, however, are
1) $50-$175 more at check-out, depending on the RAM/storage size,
2) No option to purchase the official RedMagic screen protector via Amazon (that one has the best reviews, but if anyone now has experience with a different/newer screen protector - not case - purchased elsewhere, let me know!).
Please note that this is through the Canadian branch of Amazon. The seller on Amazon appears to be RedMagic themselves. Also, I did check for warranty options, and they're thankfully the same via both Amazon Canada (from RedMagic Direct) and RedMagic's .gg site.
TL;DR
If you received any RedMagic products to a Canadian address, did you pay any additional fees/customs at your door/on pick-up? How recently? Did you have a good/bad experience overall?
Thanks!
edit: accidentally typo'd about the price being the same between both Amazon and .gg