[Merged] Should there be a Sub-Forum or section dedidcated to US-Only Deals?

[Neovingian]

Not sure if this has been brought up already, but with the great CDN dollar and amazing deals to be had, for I thought we should have a sub forum or separate section dedicated to US only deals.

I've heard how shopping in the US is bad for our economy & all, but many people feel a good deal regardless of where its had and what country its in.

I realize this is a Canadian based site, with the amount of CDN's doing cross border shopping within the last few weeks, thought it might be a good idea esp. with Black Friday rapidly approaching....Also for those living in Canadian border cities this may also prove helpful.

If this has already been brought up, excuse me. If not your feedback would be appreciated.

So what are your opinions on this?

With enough interest there just migt be a sub forum added. Plus with Nov. 23rd rapidly approaching this couldn't come at a better time.

[kuqdew]

Yes, their should!

Definately. I dont have ameri-friends but I visit the US occasionally and that would be nice.

On the other hand, theres US sites like fatwallet

Would be a neat addition nonetheless

[IceQue]

I think there should be too!!

[CSK'sMom]

Absolutely, particularly with Black Friday coming. I also think we need a couple of stickies in Off Topic and Shopping Discussion that deal with cross border shopping. It just seems like the last couple of weeks or month the same questions are being asked repeatedly (directions, border crossing, etc).

[Impossibles]

Another vote for from me.

I was going to start this thread today.

[CHINAdeals]

+1 eh'

[M.D.]

good idea, I'm up for it even though I wouldn't take advantage of it.
It'll be easier to sift through the hot deals with the US deals separated.

[chrome_dout]

+1 for a US forum!

[skanji]

rfd has always moved with the times. we need to have a US forum, even if it is temporary...

cmon rfd...hit it!

[majesus]

Agreed as well. Makes it easier to browse.
There are many US deal websites out there, but I like to have a subsection on RFD. RFD is the site I frequent, and I also like to discuss these deals on a level with other Canadian members.


I appriciate members who notify us on US Deals but I am getting tired of others who reply "HEY this is only available in the States." Yes, that is what the title says.

[ccubed]

Agreed as well. Makes it easier to browse.
There are many US deal websites out there, but I like to have a subsection on RFD. RFD is the site I frequent, and I also like to discuss these deals on a level with other Canadian members.


I appriciate members who notify us on US Deals but I am getting tired of others who reply "HEY this is only available in the States." Yes, that is what the title says.

+1

With the value of the dollar and the Canadian prices lowering at a slower rate, there will be a lot more cross-border shopping. Time to add the forum - even as a sub!

[Mgz]

yes please

the american deal site is kinda chaotic and hard to browse.

[bokep]

Not sure if this has been brought up already, but with the great CDN dollar and amazing deals to be had, for I thought we should have a sub forum or separate section dedicated to US only deals.

I've heard how shopping in the US is bad for our economy & all, but many people feel a good deal regardless of where its had and what country its in.

I realize this is a Canadian based site, with the amount of CDN's doing cross border shopping within the last few weeks, thought it might be a good idea esp. with Black Friday rapidly approaching....Also for those living in Canadian border cities this may also prove helpful.

If this has already been brought up, excuse me. If not your feedback would be appreciated.

So what are your opinions on this?

With enough interest there just migt be a sub forum added. Plus with Nov. 23rd rapidly approaching this couldn't come at a better time.



This has been suggested numerous and numerous times. In fact I think I've suggested it twice, once in this suggestion forum and once somewhere else where a mod said no; and I've also seen other threads here asking the same thing. For some reason the RFD staff seems to be pretty stubborn with this issue.

[rubberband]

I'd be all for keeping US deals separate - lots of members won't touch them with a 10ft pole due to brokerage and shipping issues.

[skanji]

for everyone that keeps coming back here to post, i suggest you share this thread with others to kindly voice the opinions of (what i think is) the majority...

let's really get this thread going...

[S_G]

Absolutely. I know I should look harder, but I often don't notice the American flag icon until after I've read the deal and realize on my own that it isn't for Canadians.

[Doc_]

count me down on the yes side.

[SkylineGTR]

Another vote for "Yes" from me!!!:D

[RedMosquito]

It would be great if people posted B&M deals available in the border states, many times the web-only deals are kind of useless unless you have a US address to ship to.. may not be all that useful to folks who are not close to the border, but good for those who are.. for example, I picked up my digital SLR at a B&M Office Depot last week from a post I saw on RFD at a significant savings..

[lotfi.bm]

+1 for the us sub-forum

[Squeeky]

Yep

[doubleA]

Most definitely....US deals postings will only continue to go up (and will go up exponentially as we get closer to Black Friday...) So most people will only clutter up the regular hot deals forum anyway. It's time to embrace US deals!

[d_Ave]

I say YES, but only because I am sick of seeing US deals that I can't get! :twisted:

[Angultra]

A subforum would get my vote, but not an entire section or forum.

[minghia]

I think the reason RFD doesn't have one is because their corporate sponsors are Canadian and they want to keep advertising to Canadians only.

But I am totally in favor.

[kuri]

Being in Vancouver, +1 :twisted:

[hopsoid]

can't we just have a poll or something like that??

[fireguy9]

considering I shop more in the U.S then here,,, due to ebay and having a U.S based shipping mailbox,,,,,, I say yes to the U.S deals sub forum;)

[LNahid2000]

Definitely. I usually use slickdeals or fatwallet, but those have a lot of online only deals and I can't get those. I'd love to be able to use this forum to find out about B&M specials in Buffalo since those are harder to find on slickdeals or fatwallet.

[skanji]

Yes - Permenant, Canadians shop in the US now more than ever!
Yes - Temporary, while the dollar is good
No - Canadians can look elsewhere for US deals

[skanji]

can't we just have a poll or something like that??

DONE - VOTE NOW!
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509560

[fuji_man]

I wanted to say yes, but I think we should enforce that any US deal should require a shipping price too. And maybe even a ban for any deal that require UPS only (Since UPS for Canadian Shopper Sucks?)

[JiffyPB]

You are missing a poll option.

No - US deals are perfectly fine in the main forum.

[Ryan]

Added the option.

[skanji]

Added the option.

thanks Ryan!

(an just so everyone knows, it was 12 votes in when this option was added)

[rubberband]

This is a great idea for two reasons:

RFD is supposed to be CANADA's deals site, and it's getting more and more cluttered in the hot deals forum with random US deals all over. If I wanted US deals I'd got to fatwallet or something.

Second, and most important, we could have a couple of sticking with tips for US shopping. Especially that UPS shipping is the devil. Or at least a cousin or close friend.

[karenb]

Yes! Yes - permenantly, Canadians shop in the US now more than ever!

[Kaitlyn]

In my eyes there are two kinds of US deals - ones that ship to Canada and others that require Amerifriends or trips to the US. Are you proposing that both types be included?

[skanji]

In my eyes there are two kinds of US deals - ones that ship to Canada and others that require Amerifriends or trips to the US. Are you proposing that both types be included?

that's a great point. I think both should be included...

[CSK'sMom]

Yep, all deals and stickies with all the questions about shopping in the US that are now being asked in just about every single forum..

[Mendesb]

personally, I kinda dislike going into the Hot Deals section , read a bit only to find out its available only in US. Should be a seperate place for maybe "Only available in US" or something

[dealforme]

I guess a sub-forum would help clear the clutter in the main hot deals section. Mind you this forum is geared for those who are closer to the US border (TO & Vancity).

[skanji]

I guess a sub-forum would help clear the clutter in the main hot deals section. Mind you this forum is geared for those who are closer to the US border (TO & Vancity).

umm, there are a TON of cities that are close to the US border than just toronto and vancity (btw, since when is toronto close to the border??)

;)

[cantara]

Yes, there should be another forum/subforum.

I've posted a couple of deals where the item was cheaper and easily available. Within 3 posts, wingnuts came in to let us know that they couldn't take advantage of the deal and that it was mean to wave it under their noses. Creating a separate forum would allow for the sharing of this information without us having to go through multitudes of websites that are strictly US and regional US. It's not going to help me to know that Arizona retail store ????? has a fabulous sale.

I'm surprised that the posters that crap in the threads marked 'US ONLY' don't also open the diaper threads and whine and moan that they don't have their size on sale.:rolleyes:

[Traian2003]

YES! This is a great idea. Sick of seeing some good deals and then find that it's US only.

[aimfox]

Canada ftw... i dont want usa to do with canada.. its pointless

[skanji]

mods - what's the call???

[kuqdew]

mods - what's the call???

We need an RFD-wide vote.

It's like the admins are ignoring us senior members

[skanji]

Mods, kindly combine this thread with this one:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509560&page=2

...and also, any update on at least the thinking behind not doing a US deals thread??

[skanji]

Mods, kindly combine this thread with this one:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505238&page=2

...and also, any update on at least the thinking behind not doing a US deals thread??

[Hello-]

With the high value of the loonie there has been an increase in the number of US Deals which few of us actually have access to.

Think it would be great if the canadian and american deals could be seperated.

Thanks for reading!

[jerryhung]

If you want US Deals, search on RFD for the US deals websites

there are too many to start

FatWallet
SlickDeals
.................................. RFD x 10

[Laserheart]

I would like to suggest a separate forum be created for United States deals.

The number of US deals posted in Hot Deals seems to be growing exponentially with the Canadian dollar becoming on par with the US.

I am wasting a lot of time looking at threads only to read 1/3 down the page and find out the deal is U.S. ONLY! Some people are nice enough to post that it is U.S. only, but there are more and more of them every day!

Is it possible to have a separate thread for Hot Deals U.S.?

Most Canadian companies won't match U.S. prices, so for those of us not near the border, or not willing to drive to the U.S., the forums here are getting to be more and more cumbersome to sort through for Canadian deals (which is why we use RFD!).

There are numerous sites that deal with U.S. deals, and there are ways that RFD can manage this so it doesn't get overrun with U.S. content.

Anybody have any other suggestions?

[Neovingian]

Mods, kindly combine this thread with this one:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509560&page=2

...and also, any update on at least the thinking behind not doing a US deals thread??

Skanji, we appreciate other thread & your poll you posted. I think your post can't be merged with mine because of the poll you created I recall hearing something about post with polls in them being harder to merge with other threads.

With the high value of the loonie there has been an increase in the number of US Deals which few of us actually have access to.

Think it would be great if the Canadian and American deals could be separated.

Thanks for reading!...Actutally with this recent advancement in technology and this stuff called the Internet, many US deals are now within reach for most Canadians.

Secondly even if the Loonie wasn't as high as it was a month ago, US prices are still better 99% of the time.

If you want US Deals, search on RFD for the US deals websites

there are too many to start

FatWallet
SlickDeals
.................................. RFD x 10...While many of us appreciate your opinion, some of us already use those sites and while we all agree we prefer the layout @ RFD which is why we would like a sub forum or a US deals section.

There actually aren't that many US deals sites, contrary to what you may have heard many are riddled with spam & pop ups, some even require a subscription before you can see the deals.

Also based on the feedback in this thread and Skanji's 85% of the people who voted in his poll, voted in favour of making a US sub section or US-Deals forum.
you forgot to mention: dealcatcher.com

I think the reason RFD doesn't have one is because their corporate sponsors are Canadian and they want to keep advertising to Canadians only.

But I am totally in favor.Sorry to burst your bubble...but Last time I checked Home Depot & Citi financial are 2 of the largest American owned multi nationals and they advertise and sponsor certain forums on RFD.

Also why would RFD or any site want to limit is ad revenue by limiting itself to Canadians only?

[Laserheart]

I would really hate to see this degrade to the point where someone else comes up with the idea of a "Canada-only" deal site... Isn't that what RFD was created for???

[Rehan]

Mods, kindly combine this thread with this one:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505238&page=2

...and also, any update on at least the thinking behind not doing a US deals thread?? Threads have been merged.

Personally, I like the idea of a separate US deals sub-forum...but it's not up to me to make the call.

[rmanke]

Why aren't the administrators even addressing this issue with a comment??? I've been a member for a very long time, and I still love it, but it is getting really frustrating sifting through and having to read deals which I do not have access to.

I've "wasted" a LOT more time on RFD lately than I ever have, because I am reading threads half way through before I realize it only applies if you happen to want something shipped from the US, or have the ability to drive down there.

I second the concern that someone may consider starting a splinter site that restricts its deals to Canada only. After all, that's why I came to know about RFD in the first place.

What do new users of RFD think when they come here, and find a lot of US deals, and then think that this site is not really focused on Canadian deals, and then decide to continue looking elsewhere?

[skanji]

Why aren't the administrators even addressing this issue with a comment??? I've been a member for a very long time, and I still love it, but it is getting really frustrating sifting through and having to read deals which I do not have access to.

I've "wasted" a LOT more time on RFD lately than I ever have, because I am reading threads half way through before I realize it only applies if you happen to want something shipped from the US, or have the ability to drive down there.

I second the concern that someone may consider starting a splinter site that restricts its deals to Canada only. After all, that's why I came to know about RFD in the first place.

What do new users of RFD think when they come here, and find a lot of US deals, and then think that this site is not really focused on Canadian deals, and then decide to continue looking elsewhere?

+1

while rfd is the site i visit most often, it is frustrating to have the mods (almost all of them) remain silent on certain subjects.

even if you guys are thinking about it, let us know....we're all a community, remember??

[Laserheart]

Meanwhile...silence reigns...

[rubberband]

Why aren't the administrators even addressing this issue with a comment??? I've been a member for a very long time, and I still love it, but it is getting really frustrating sifting through and having to read deals which I do not have access to.

I've "wasted" a LOT more time on RFD lately than I ever have, because I am reading threads half way through before I realize it only applies if you happen to want something shipped from the US, or have the ability to drive down there.

I second the concern that someone may consider starting a splinter site that restricts its deals to Canada only. After all, that's why I came to know about RFD in the first place.

What do new users of RFD think when they come here, and find a lot of US deals, and then think that this site is not really focused on Canadian deals, and then decide to continue looking elsewhere?

+1 here, too.

When users who have been around for the better part of 5 years start to complain, it's time to pay attention. :)

[007craft]

i think RFD has turned into one of those big companies we all hate. I would expect a forum like this with a community like this, to listen and create the new US forum (theres enough support) within a few days. Its been a month now since we all started asking and no response. WTF?

I dont want to see US deals in the Canadian deals forum. Otherwise RFD just becomes fatwallet and slickdeals, which both have occasional canadian deals posted. And if RFD is gonna become just like those site, I might as well stop coming here and visit those sites instead since their larger.

Lets keep this site Canadian only and create a seperate forum for US deals.

[charlesk]

I'd really like US only deals (i.e. no (reasonable) shipping available to Canada) to be posted in a separate forum.

RFD is great for keeping me abreast of what is a good price for a lot of items, as well as for pointing out great deals, but US only deals not only clutter up the Hot Deals forum, they also make it hard to keep current on what a Canadian good deal is.

If I were planning a trip south I would still like to be able to check out what's hot - so lets make a special place for these posts.

thanks

[Laserheart]

Do the admins even read this forum????

Maybe the problem is that they stopped reading the Comments and Suggestions forum?

[Ryan]

So the reason we haven't really said anything about this is that debating it internally as well. It's also a pretty crazy time here because we're currently working on getting boxing day flyers and we've had to add server hardware every few weeks over the past 3 months because traffic is just going nuts.

That being said, I think we can generally agree that US deals that you have to actually be in the US (or know someone there) probably shouldn't be posted in the Hot Deals forum, but if a company ships to Canada, then it really isn't an issue.

Right now the number of US posts is peaking because of Black Friday, but after that it's likely to calm down significantly. We want to see how it is after Black Friday before making a decision.

[Laserheart]

Thank you for showing us you are listening to our concerns!

I don't think it will die off as much as you might think with Christmas (and the requisite Boxing Day) around the corner.

[skanji]

Thank you for showing us you are listening to our concerns!

I don't think it will die off as much as you might think with Christmas (and the requisite Boxing Day) around the corner.

+1

Black Friday is significant, but people started coming to rfd to discuss deals....there is an insane amount of deals happening in the States. Issues related to Canadians are important (rebate availability, taxes, duties, tarrifs, shipping concerns), etc...

This will last far past Friday.

[kuqdew]

Come on Ryan/Derek...

[skanji]

+1

Black Friday is significant, but people started coming to rfd to discuss deals....there is an insane amount of deals happening in the States. Issues related to Canadians are important (rebate availability, taxes, duties, tarrifs, shipping concerns), etc...

This will last far past Friday.

I forgot to add that the above issues like Canadian rebate availability from US purchases, taxes, duties, tariffs, and shipping concerns all can only come from rfd.

Sure we can go to a US forum for deals, but at the end of the day, the deal may be cold when you factor in all the other costs mentioned above. Alternatively, there may be Canadian retailers that you could get the same item for considerably cheaper.

My highest expectations is to wake up Canadian retailers to show what the cost is for consumers to buy in the US.

My suspicion is this will be the worst Christmas for Canadian merchants ever with sales down anywhere from 15-40%. It will force them to give consumers the biggest boxing day ever.

I only expect RFD to grow as a result with consumers looking more and more for deals...

[MrDisco]

i just wished all the US Black Friday threads were put in their own section so as not to clutter up the cdn deals.

[skanji]

just to bring this thread up again - I believe there were about 5+ posts regarding US deals today...

Still something we should have, particularly around xmas time...

[Laserheart]

Is there a way to prefix all US deals (ie. ones people have selected the US Icon) with some text denoting it's US Only?

I use RSS feeds to read my RFD postings, and the icons people are using to denote US deals are not showing up.

This still doesn't address the fact that a lot of people aren't using the icons, but it would sure help!

[Laserheart]

Things are starting to get pretty harsh in the forums with people arguing whether there should be a separate forum for US deals:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525495

I think something should be done... for one thing, it would stop people from being angry in the forums over it (which in my mind is not really acceptable, but what can you do?)