High price in Canada - Low price in USA - same item.

[Bobblehead]

Isn't there anyone on CP in the retailing/wholesaling side that can shed some light?

I'm not saying there are no reasons, and I'm sure some of the reasons brought up may account for some difference. But in this case the difference seem way to big for any single issue or even a few of these issues to account for it.

There are a lot of appliance places in town, so I would think there would be some competitive pressure. Or is it the case that this model is exclusive to a store? I know when i have appliance shopped, lots of places say they will match the price if you find it lower, but every place has a different model number.

How much would paperwork cost? I can't see it being a huge amount.
So some dealers share transportation costs. I can see that, but I can't see a lot of chains putting stores in places that would cost them a lot without making that franchise account for the difference.
Perhaps CSA certifications?

Like I say, there are reasons for higher prices, but in cases like this, a 50% higher price than in Kalispell seems exorbitant.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Isn't there anyone on CP in the retailing/wholesaling side that can shed some light?

I'm not saying there are no reasons, and I'm sure some of the reasons brought up may account for some difference. But in this case the difference seem way to big for any single issue or even a few of these issues to account for it.

There are a lot of appliance places in town, so I would think there would be some competitive pressure. Or is it the case that this model is exclusive to a store? I know when i have appliance shopped, lots of places say they will match the price if you find it lower, but every place has a different model number.

How much would paperwork cost? I can't see it being a huge amount.
So some dealers share transportation costs. I can see that, but I can't see a lot of chains putting stores in places that would cost them a lot without making that franchise account for the difference.
Perhaps CSA certifications?

Like I say, there are reasons for higher prices, but in cases like this, a 50% higher price than in Kalispell seems exorbitant.

The appliance I am interested is available at all the major appliance sellers here in Calgary.... and all for the same $4000 give or take a couple of hundred or two.

When you are talking big $$$ the cost of paperwork is miniscule.

As for CSA certification, I suspect that all KitchenAid appliances are dual certified UL/CSA. and that dual certification would in no way amount to the $1000 difference in the price.

[ken0042]

Rerun, have you done any shopping around armed with these new US prices? And I'm not talking Future Shop, Brick, and Trail. Biggest I'd go is Coast, or a local place (like there's one in Inglewood with a huge Maytag repair guy out front.)

Tell them this is the price you have, you are going to the US for some shopping later this month, and can they come close. Dealing with a smaller guy you could find somebody who has this in inventory and might be willing to let it go for cost or even a little below for the sake of cash flow.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Rerun, have you done any shopping around armed with these new US prices? And I'm not talking Future Shop, Brick, and Trail. Biggest I'd go is Coast, or a local place (like there's one in Inglewood with a huge Maytag repair guy out front.)

Tell them this is the price you have, you are going to the US for some shopping later this month, and can they come close. Dealing with a smaller guy you could find somebody who has this in inventory and might be willing to let it go for cost or even a little below for the sake of cash flow.

Actually, I haven't gone to Coast Wholesale (I bought a Maytag washer there once). I went online to check out their prices, but unfortunately like a lot of Canadian sites, they don't publish their prices.
I do plan on dropping by there and seeing what kind of price they will sell it for.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by fotze

Does this fridge grind up and store hookers? What the hell do you need a $4000 fridge for? I could see a stove or washer or furnace, but a fridge keeps things cold and thats it.

Unfortunately it doesn't do anything like that... but it does have a cold water dispenser in the door and it makes its own ice!

One of the reasons its so pricey is its a side by side, its stainless steel, and its counter depth (doesn't stick out further than your kitchen counter). For some reason adding the "counter depth" adds about $400-500 to the price of the model. Go figure... less capacity than the same fridge in std size but higher price.

However, its definitely not worth paying $4000 for. $2800 I can live with... $4000 I can't.

As for spending $2800 on a fridge? When you think about it, a fridge is probably the most important appliance and the hardest working appliance in your whole house. It runs 24/7 and when it fails you have to replace it immediately. There is no way you can say that about a stove, dishwasher, washer/dryer, etc.

I say spend a few bucks and get a good one that will last.

Another thing about the KitchenAid fridge is that it has a 10 year warranty on the compressor and seals and a 5 year warranty on labour costs. Most other manufacturers only have 5 years on the compressor/seals and 1 year on labour costs.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Another thing about the KitchenAid fridge is that it has a 10 year warranty on the compressor and seals and a 5 year warranty on labour costs. Most other manufacturers only have 5 years on the compressor/seals and 1 year on labour costs.

Which they probably won't honour if you purchase it cross-border.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Rerun

As for spending $2800 on a fridge? When you think about it, a fridge is probably the most important appliance and the hardest working appliance in your whole house. It runs 24/7 and when it fails you have to replace it immediately. There is no way you can say that about a stove, dishwasher, washer/dryer, etc.

I say spend a few bucks and get a good one that will last.

Another thing about the KitchenAid fridge is that it has a 10 year warranty on the compressor and seals and a 5 year warranty on labour costs. Most other manufacturers only have 5 years on the compressor/seals and 1 year on labour costs.

But you can get Kitchenaid fridges for a lot cheaper then $2800 for the same reliability. And an expensive fridge doesn't do a better job then a cheaper fridge of the same brand. It might actually do a worse job because side by sides use more energy then traditional top freezer models.

But spending a premium on a stove is worth it because it will do a much better job cooking.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Which they probably won't honour if you purchase it cross-border.

http://www.kitchenaid.com/assets/pdf...S_Warranty.pdf

The warranty certainly appears to apply to both USA and Canada,

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

But you can get Kitchenaid fridges for a lot cheaper then $2800 for the same reliability. And an expensive fridge doesn't do a better job then a cheaper fridge of the same brand. It might actually do a worse job because side by sides use more energy then traditional top freezer models.

But spending a premium on a stove is worth it because it will do a much better job cooking.

Yes you can, but you are paying a premium for the "counter depth" size and the SS finish.
As to why I want the Side x Side feature (more $$$ again) I hate having to dig through a pile of frozen food in order to find what I'm looking for (or not find because its not there any more). I like the fact that in a Side by side, everything in the freezer can be easily seen and got at. How many times have you virtually emptied your bin type freezer (leaving everything on the counter) to look for that steak you would have sworn was still there.

I also like the convenience of having readily available cold filtered water...... and an infinite supply of ice to drop into my rum & cokes while I enjoy the summer on my new deck.

[The Yen Man]

I guess the higher prices are reasonable. Do you think it's cheap dog sleding that fridge up to us like that?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Rerun

However, Bestbuy in the USA has this fridge on sale now for $2422 US (which would be approx $2800 CDN) and there is a BestBuy in Kalispell Montana. Frankly for the $1000 difference in price I might just take a drive down to Kalispell and buy it there.

Not that I blame you, but how far of a drive is it from Kalispell to Calgary anyways, has to be like 5 hours (424km and just under 6 says google maps). So consider that it could be a day there, a day back, possibly hotel for the night plus gas to drive both ways. Than factor in that the Canadian dollar has come up about 15% in the last 3 months and that starts to eat up a fair chunk of that price difference. Say you wanted to buy with a credit card, thats anohter 2.5% foreign currency fee that you'd get dinged with. Even if you pull off the drive in a day thats a long full day of driving. What was that 15-16 hour day on the road worth to you, add in $250 for gas for pretty much any truck to make that run (which you have to own one, or have someone willing to lend you one) and back. So for most goods where the savings isn't that significant it's not worth the inconvenience for most people.

As Thunderball states, there are additional costs associated with doing business in Canada given our more socialist state, and part of that does get put on the consumer.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Not that I blame you, but how far of a drive is it from Kalispell to Calgary anyways, has to be like 5 hours (424km and just under 6 says google maps). So consider that it could be a day there, a day back, possibly hotel for the night plus gas to drive both ways. Than factor in that the Canadian dollar has come up about 15% in the last 3 months and that starts to eat up a fair chunk of that price difference. Say you wanted to buy with a credit card, thats anohter 2.5% foreign currency fee that you'd get dinged with. Even if you pull off the drive in a day thats a long full day of driving. What was that 15-16 hour day on the road worth to you, add in $250 for gas for pretty much any truck to make that run (which you have to own one, or have someone willing to lend you one) and back. So for most goods where the savings isn't that significant it's not worth the inconvenience for most people.

As Thunderball states, there are additional costs associated with doing business in Canada given our more socialist state, and part of that does get put on the consumer.

I can get there and back in 12 hours max.
I've got a truck ... if it costs $250 in gas I'm still at least $750 Cdn ahead of the game... plus my gst on $2800 cdn will be $140 while the gst on $4000 if I bought it here in Calgary would be $200 (just saved myself another $60).

I'll pay cash... so no extra fee's from visa.

I don't know about you, but it takes a lot longer than 12 hours of my time to earn that $800 cdn if I bought the fridge here in Calgary.... $800/12 = $66 / hour net which probably works out to about $100 per hour gross for my time.

For me, spending 12 hours on the weekend traveling to Montana and back, to save $800 is well worth it.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I can get there and back in 12 hours max.
I've got a truck ... if it costs $250 in gas I'm still at least $750 Cdn ahead of the game... plus my gst on $2800 cdn will be $140 while the gst on $4000 if I bought it here in Calgary would be $200 (just saved myself another $60).

I'll pay cash... so no extra fee's from visa.

I don't know about you, but it takes a lot longer than 12 hours of my time to earn that $800 cdn if I bought the fridge here in Calgary.... $800/12 = $66 / hour net which probably works out to about $100 per hour gross for my time.

For me, spending 12 hours on the weekend traveling to Montana and back, to save $800 is well worth it.

The captain planet part of me has to make an honorable mention about the extra CO2 emissions of driving down in a truck to buy a fridge

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load...451931924.html

According to this site you will only need to pay GST. Not sure how you get around the Evironmental levee from Alberta.

Also warranty looks to be an issue with some.

Since it is a federal agency collecting the duty and taxes, unless the government of Alberta has a Memorandum of understanding for that particular tax, CBSA will not collect it on their behalf.

[flamefan74]

Originally Posted by ken0042

And the dollar difference is only part of it.

The thing to remember with Best Buy here- it is a different company than in the States. All that Best Buy here is Future Shop stores, and Future Shop has paid licensing/royalties to Best Buy- US to be able to use the name.

Actually, Best Buy bought out Future Shop in the early 2000's. Best Buy USA is their parent company. Which would make me think that Best Buy and Future Shop up here would be part of the overall company buying power. Take into account that no duty for items made in USA coming across the border, shouldn't the fridge only have a difference of currency exchange and transportation costs? $1000 seems like a pretty steep difference to me and probably has more to do with the fact that Canadians just take it and don't complain.

[Shazam]

If it makes you feel any better, I find that toothpaste is always more expensive in the USA.

[notoepik]

Kalispell's Best Buy is not huge, so make sure they actually have the appliance you want in stock. Lowes also sells appliances, and is across the highway from Best Buy.

Let me know if you needs some assistance, we can use a boost the economy here

[Vulcan]

What I was looking at a while ago were Panasonic plasmas and Samsung LCDs. There higher end models are very popular and they've just come out with new models. These manufacturers have raised their prices drastically on their mid to high end models compared to the States, usually charging 50 to 75% more in Canada while other, less in demand manufacturers can give competitive prices. We just don't have enough competition.

[FireInTheHole]

Originally Posted by fotze

FYI, there is a bestbuy going in westhills eh.

Woooooooooo Hooooooooo!!! About time!! I'm sick of driving to Deerfoot Meadows or Northlands to go electronics shopping. Best Buy >>>>> Linens n Things (RIP)

[drewboy12]

But the thing is you can still afford it... In the US its like a luxury item that people pin to their ice box and tell their children one day we will have it... one day.