Finance Minister to meet with retailers about lowering prices

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

True, but a lot of saving vanish after having to pay Shipping and handling fees or broker fees.

I find that as long as they don't ship thru UPS I'm still saving a good 25-30% AFTER shipping & taxes than if I bought at the mall.

[edn88]

It seems pretty simple - if there is true competition, one vendor will lower their price because they can to attract business away from others. Once that happens, prices will come down.

And in the meanwhile, those who can shop from the USA direct will, in places like Vancouver and Toronto, where 20% of the Canadian polulation live, retailers will be forced to compete - and when they do prices will go down everywhere.

[arsenal]

Exactly what fotze said. Right now, American dealers in the boarder states are being told not to sell to canadians, period. Right now, if you are interested in purchasing a vehicle from the states, to save some money, you will have to go farther south.
In that sense, it is not a free market, and canadian car dealerships, will not have to reduce prices, as canadians are being somewhat forced to purchase from canadian dealerships.

I don't think other items are being reduced as much either. Books, electronics, computers, tv, etc are still higher priced in canada, as compared to the identical item in the US.
What about satellite radio? Has the monthly subscription charges changed at all? That's just picking up signals from the air.

Retailers have been used to charging canadians more. And now that the canadian dollar is cheaper, there is more a profit margin for keeping canadian prices higher, and keeping canadians purchasing from canadian retailers. There is going to be a lot of resistance to change any price points.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

The auto manufacturers are getting more ridiculous by day. I was on a Toyota test drive today when the salesdroid mentioned that Toyota will be limiting or dropping sales of replacement instrument clusters, to convert to km/h. (take that with a grain of salt, coming from a salesdroid) That and Toyota is already dragging their feet to file 2008 modification information with RIV, paperwork necessary to import a car.

It's one thing to not drop prices, but restricting the free flow of goods is something that really needs a Government sponsored beat down.

I just remembered Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry is my MP. Time for a letter.

[Bobblehead]

I'm not sure what the Canadian government can do about a company's policy for it's American outlets?

Something like Bombardier, I agree they should cut any subsidies.

It is dirty pool, and if it were all within Canada it would be called Resale Price Maintenance and is already illegal. But when you are talking international, I'm not sure what can be done without agreement from the US (who really should want to encourage Canadian money purchasing goods from US retailers).

[blankall]

We will always see a massive price difference in Canada. For the poster who suggested importing goods from the states to start their own business. I actually did try that. I was hit with a 30% duty charge. It killed all profit margin. I love how the finance minister tries to deflect the true cause of the problem by blaming retailers. I know they probably are responsible for a portion of the price difference, but I have no doubt the majority of it is caused by duty.

Also its not fair to expect the same prices in the states anyway. The consumer market is just not as good in Canada. Its less efficient to transport goods and we have less people shopping in the stores. Its a question of economy of scale.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

The auto manufacturers are getting more ridiculous by day. I was on a Toyota test drive today when the salesdroid mentioned that Toyota will be limiting or dropping sales of replacement instrument clusters, to convert to km/h. (take that with a grain of salt, coming from a salesdroid) That and Toyota is already dragging their feet to file 2008 modification information with RIV, paperwork necessary to import a car.

It's one thing to not drop prices, but restricting the free flow of goods is something that really needs a Government sponsored beat down.

I just remembered Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry is my MP. Time for a letter.

....dont you think a car salesman might have a motive to tell you they are dropping the availability of these?

[Bobblehead]

I don't think you can blame transportation costs when prices are so much cheaper in Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming, etc - those are as remote or even more remote than many centres in Canada. SW Ont has as many shoppers and as good a transport system as anywhere in the US, and they aren't significantly cheaper than Alberta (and are perhaps more expensive with PST).

[Antithesis]

Well I know my wife and I have decided to not buy any more consumer goods that we can put off buying because of how much cheaper it is down south. We will just wait until the summer time, head down to Spokane, make our purchases there, and end up with a small vacation out of it.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by blankall

....dont you think a car salesman might have a motive to tell you they are dropping the availability of these?

Hence the grain of salt I mention in brackets.

Lack of instrument clusters isn't the issue since most people that import have km/h in smaller font scribed on the speedometer. Toyota not submitting 2008 model information to RIV can totally derail the importation process.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by blankall

We will always see a massive price difference in Canada. For the poster who suggested importing goods from the states to start their own business. I actually did try that. I was hit with a 30% duty charge. It killed all profit margin. I love how the finance minister tries to deflect the true cause of the problem by blaming retailers. I know they probably are responsible for a portion of the price difference, but I have no doubt the majority of it is caused by duty.

Also its not fair to expect the same prices in the states anyway. The consumer market is just not as good in Canada. Its less efficient to transport goods and we have less people shopping in the stores. Its a question of economy of scale.

30% duty? What countries were you importing from? Libya? North Korea?

If it manufacuted in the US or Mexico there is NO duty.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by blankall

We will always see a massive price difference in Canada. For the poster who suggested importing goods from the states to start their own business. I actually did try that. I was hit with a 30% duty charge. It killed all profit margin. I love how the finance minister tries to deflect the true cause of the problem by blaming retailers. I know they probably are responsible for a portion of the price difference, but I have no doubt the majority of it is caused by duty.

Also its not fair to expect the same prices in the states anyway. The consumer market is just not as good in Canada. Its less efficient to transport goods and we have less people shopping in the stores. Its a question of economy of scale.

Just curious how long ago was that, and if you used an agent at the border to import?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

30% duty? What countries were you importing from? Libya? North Korea?

If it manufacuted in the US or Mexico there is NO duty.

Most goods you buy in retail stores are not manufactured in the US or Mexico. I was trying to buy from wholesalers. it actually worked out to over 30%, but it wasn't strictly duty. 15% for duty and then gst/pst on top and then a handling fee on top. This was about a year ago. Canada has one of the highest duty rates and is one of the strictest on enforcing it outside of Scandinavia. No I did not use an agent. That would have saved on handling fees, but I believe there was some flat fee, that would not have been worth it for what was just a venture.

I don't think you can blame transportation costs when prices are so much cheaper in Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming, etc - those are as remote or even more remote than many centres in Canada. SW Ont has as many shoppers and as good a transport system as anywhere in the US, and they aren't significantly cheaper than Alberta (and are perhaps more expensive with PST).

I dont know if I would call those states "isolated" per say. They are all connected by major highways to huge city centers.

The issue is actually infrastructure and economy of scale. The more people you have buying something in an area, the cheaper it becomes per item to transport, produce, and retail. Canadians will always suffer from this. Part of what being Canadian, IMO, is sacrificing economic gain for other values so I don't have a huge problem w/ it.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Not everyone lives along the Border.

80% of Canadians live within an hour of the border. If retailers don't drop the prices to reflect the change in the dollar they will feel the crunch, interest rates will go threw the roof and we'll have a mini recession on our hands.

[Vulcan]

Checking computer part prices in Canada and the US, I don't see much of a difference anymore. The way I understand it some goods have to have their previous orders sold at old prices until new stock at lower prices can be sold. What I've been looking at lately are LCD TVs and the prices seem to be dropping here but I don't know if that is natural or because of our dollar. If a person goes to the States for a TV, he'll get a lower price but he'll put up with more hassel and the way I understand it, the guarantee won't be any good up here.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by blankall

Most goods you buy in retail stores are not manufactured in the US or Mexico. I was trying to buy from wholesalers. it actually worked out to over 30%, but it wasn't strictly duty. 15% for duty and then gst/pst on top and then a handling fee on top. This was about a year ago. Canada has one of the highest duty rates and is one of the strictest on enforcing it outside of Scandinavia. No I did not use an agent. That would have saved on handling fees, but I believe there was some flat fee, that would not have been worth it for what was just a venture.


I dont know if I would call those states "isolated" per say. They are all connected by major highways to huge city centers.

The issue is actually infrastructure and economy of scale. The more people you have buying something in an area, the cheaper it becomes per item to transport, produce, and retail. Canadians will always suffer from this. Part of what being Canadian, IMO, is sacrificing economic gain for other values so I don't have a huge problem w/ it.

Most goods actually only have around a 6-8% duty rate as most countries fall under the Most Favoured Nation tariff clasification. But I could understand that all the additional fees, gst and transport costs would bring that up quite a bit. But I don't think it is fair to say Canada has one of the highest duty rates when that is not the case.

ADD: If anyone is interested to see what the duty rate is for any good to be imported into Canada go to this link http://cbsa.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tar...if/menu-e.html click on the most recent 2007 customs tariffs.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by T@T

80% of Canadians live within an hour of the border. If retailers don't drop the prices to reflect the change in the dollar they will feel the crunch, interest rates will go threw the roof and we'll have a mini recession on our hands.

Yes...I agree, I didn't say otherwise. My comment was directed to the comment that people should just go buy there goods from the USA. It is not that easy for A LOT of people. No transportation, distance to any major US shopping centre, inadmissibility into the USA.

[Vulcan]

Me being a motorcycle rider, find the price parts in Canada outrageous. I just checked the price of a front tire for my bike at Blackfoot Motorsports. A Bridgestone BT020 120/70/17 costs $151 and the prices are still about the same as 5 years ago . In the States the same tire can be bought for $96.40 but some sites don't ship to Canada and if they do shipping can be expensive. The same tire in a Vancouver shop was going for about $200 so Blackfoot was still cheaper.

When the dollar was sitting at 67 cents I ordered two tires from Blackfoot as the price would have come out about equal for my Canadian dollar, not anymore. I'm getting ripped off.

[if.away]

I think that flat screen TVs are much more expensive in Canada than the US. I was looking at purchasing one of the newer models and the price difference is definitely considerable. Too bad Amazon.com does not ship TVs to Canada

[jolinar of malkshor]

I am going to Vegas in April, driving down so if anyone wants anything let me know.