Canadian Dollar At $0.9639 USD

[flip]

article in the herald today about how $70,000 cars in canada are only like $45,000 in the US. they had numerous examples too. interesting read. i believe it was on the opinion page.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by flip

article in the herald today about how $70,000 cars in canada are only like $45,000 in the US. they had numerous examples too. interesting read. i believe it was on the opinion page.

Read the same article. Quite an eye opener.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Exactly. So a Canadian dollar being worth 98.64¢ US would mean that a US dollar would be worth $1.0138 CDN. So the banks are charging about 2% for the currency exchage.

plus 5 bucks per transaction. Atleast TD does.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Dan02

plus 5 bucks per transaction. Atleast TD does.

I believe the 5 dollar fee are for people who don't have a TD account. The RBC service fees of $3.00 per currency may apply when non RBC Royal Bank clients exchange foreign currency for Canadian dollars.

[Wookie]

Omg
1 Cad = 0.990384 Usd

[Draug]

Originally Posted by return to the red

A cutomer of mine actually called down to a friend at the border when I asked him the same question. They said that it really depends on if the TV was manufactured in the states. If it is you will only have to pay the GST at the border. If it isn't you pay GST PLUS a 5% duty. Still much cheaper to purchase in the states

For NAFTA duty exemption, isn't an item manufactured in Mexico or the US treated the same? I thought that all goods made in Canada, US, or Mexico fell into the same category. I know that is the case with vehicles, as I just imported one. Is it different with electronics?

I am also considering going to the US to buy a plasma. I thought the duty was 3.5% on non-NAFTA displays, but maybe it is 5%. Does anyone have a document stating the truth?

Visual Apex, an online retailer, most often has the cheapest Panasonic and Pioneer prices you can find. They are based in Seattle, and allow pickup at their warehouse. They force Canadians to pay the Washington State sales tax, but I believe as non-residents, we can apply to the state to reimburse it back to us. Does anyone know the process for this?

As far as I have found, Visual Apex has the best prices on the 'Professional' Panasonic plasmas (models end in UK). Amazon.com also has some good prices (better than Vann's and Apex in some cases) if you have an American address to receive the TV. I didnt know about Vann's until reading this thread, but am pleasantly suprised with the prices I found there, especially on the 'Consumer' models.

Here is a summary of what I found:
TH-42PH10UK - $913 at Apex
TH-42PX75U - $1241 at Apex, $1150 at Vann's
TH-50PH10UK - $1448 at Apex
TH-50PX75U - $1715 at Apex, $1500 at Vann's
TH-50PZ700U - $2509 at Apex, $2430 at Vann's
TH-58PH10UK - $2090 at Apex
TH-58PZ700U - $3700 at Apex, $3800 at Vann's
TH-65PF9UK - $6,367 at Apex
TH-65PZ750U - $9000 at Vann's

It should also be noted that FutureShop's (Calgary) current flyer (in effect until Sept 20, has a great price of $1299 for the TH-42PX75U.

Besides Visual Apex, does anyone know of any online stores in the NW US that allow pick-up?

How about the retail stores in the NW? Vann's was a great find!

Besides Best Buy and Circuit City, are there other Big Box stores that I should be watching for sales on Panasonic plasmas? I may head down over US Thanksgiving and try to get in on some great sales there. I have heard it is crazy, but dont know much about it.

As also mentioned earlier, Warranty IS a pain. I know that Panasonic's warranty is not transferrable across the border. I think for warranty service, you would have to take the plasma back to the US.

[Nehkara]

The dollar hit 0.9918 this morning but fell back to 0.9836. That said, it is now rising once more and currently sits at 0.9860.

[blankall]

Does anybody have any figures on how much this is costing our economy? Not only are people buying goods in the US, but we lose tourists coming the other way. The biggest hit I've heard, is the oil market. Apparently the transactions are all done in US dollars. So a transaction that at one point but us however many Canadian dollars, now brings in substantially less.

[arsenal]

We are also gaining on the Euro and Pound:
$1 CDN = 0.49332 Pound ($2.02 CDN = $1 Pound)
$1 CDN = 0.70686 Euro ($1.41 CDN = $1 Euro)

So a trip to europe is looking even better too!

[MacDougalbry]

Forgot to mention that there is also a BestBuy in Kalispell (but no Circuit City.)

Don't forget that in Alberta, you also have to pay that enviro fee when buying electronics.

Seattle is a loooooooooooooong haul. Unless you really want to go there, you are going to eat up most of your savings on gas.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by blankall

Does anybody have any figures on how much this is costing our economy? Not only are people buying goods in the US, but we lose tourists coming the other way. The biggest hit I've heard, is the oil market. Apparently the transactions are all done in US dollars. So a transaction that at one point but us however many Canadian dollars, now brings in substantially less.

Yeah, as much as it's good for an individual consumer....it's actually not that good for our economy as a whole. IMO in order to compete globally Canadians have to figure out how to increase efficiency about 25% from what we were about a year ago....

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by arsenal

We are also gaining on the Euro and Pound:
$1 CDN = 0.49332 Pound ($2.02 CDN = $1 Pound)
$1 CDN = 0.70686 Euro ($1.41 CDN = $1 Euro)

So a trip to europe is looking even better too!

If the dollar goes up slightly more against each of those currencies, it will reach 5-year highs against them both... it is especially close with the Pound.

[Eagle Eye]

One benefit of the rising dollar is that it could help curb inflation in Canada as long as there continues to be a large difference in the price of products across the border (consumers will spend money in the states as long as this is the cast)

Also maybe the higher dollar will finally force canadian companies to be more innovative and effiecent instead of relying on the weak dollar

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Dion

I just set up a US dollar account with my bank today. Bought three thousand dollars worth of American money. I'm renting a place in Phoenix for the month of December. That and I thought it would be a good idea to stock pile some American dollars for future trips while our buck is so high.

FYI, Manulife Bank is paying 4% on Cdn.-dollar desposits and 4.75% on U.S.-dollar deposits. Once set up through an advisor, the client can manage it completely on his own by phone or Internet. No fees either.

I made a large deposit buying U.s. dollars myself for my frequent trips to the U.S., however I did it abour three months ago. Guess my timing was less than sterling.

I hate to admit that I remember when the Canadian dollar was above par with the Greenback. I was in my 20s. I have to admit I doubted we'd see the day when the Loonie was above par, but it's gonna happen. I like this because I travel outside of Canada (U.S. or other countries where the Greenback is the accepted currency) frequently. However, it's not without a price as Canadian exporters are getting hammered. NHL teams in Canada are benefitting, however. So, there is good and bad.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Asia, here I come!!

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

Asia, here I come!!

Goto HongKong who royally screwed themselves over by having a direct link to the US dollar. $1 cdn = $7.7hkd!! Even though the economy is doing good there, the HKD has tanked along with the USd.

Cellphones and clothes! and food!

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by blankall

Does anybody have any figures on how much this is costing our economy? Not only are people buying goods in the US, but we lose tourists coming the other way. The biggest hit I've heard, is the oil market. Apparently the transactions are all done in US dollars. So a transaction that at one point but us however many Canadian dollars, now brings in substantially less.

Costing my company a lot of dollars since most of our sold goods are exported and billed in USD. Not only that, but some of our field hands are paid in USD so effectively they are getting a pay cut.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

FYI, Manulife Bank is paying 4% on Cdn.-dollar desposits and 4.75% on U.S.-dollar deposits. Once set up through an advisor, the client can manage it completely on his own by phone or Internet. No fees either.

I made a large deposit buying U.s. dollars myself for my frequent trips to the U.S., however I did it abour three months ago. Guess my timing was less than sterling.

I hate to admit that I remember when the Canadian dollar was above par with the Greenback. I was in my 20s. I have to admit I doubted we'd see the day when the Loonie was above par, but it's gonna happen. I like this because I travel outside of Canada (U.S. or other countries where the Greenback is the accepted currency) frequently. However, it's not without a price as Canadian exporters are getting hammered. NHL teams in Canada are benefitting, however. So, there is good and bad.

Atta boy! Way to drink the kool-aid so fast!! (kind of an inside joke)

They are seriously great products though, and this is great advice.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Goto HongKong who royally screwed themselves over by having a direct link to the US dollar. $1 cdn = $7.7hkd!! Even though the economy is doing good there, the HKD has tanked along with the USd.

Cellphones and clothes! and food!

Haha, no kidding. I was thinking of Hong Kong, but I'm probably gonna go to Malaysia first, and maybe from there I might or might not make a trip to Hong Kong. Time to Ball and Thug

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Slava

Atta boy! Way to drink the kool-aid so fast!! (kind of an inside joke)

They are seriously great products though, and this is great advice.

I've been using it for a long time, buddy. See you in November ('nother inside joke).