Finance Minister to meet with retailers about lowering prices

[blankall]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

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.

Well the business I was looking at was online clothing. According to your site it has 17.5-20% duty, plus gst/pst, plus a handling fee. I know a lot of other people in other parts of the world who run similar sites and make a killing. I can guarantee you, with the exception of Scandinavia they do not pay anything close to that.

If you look at our act, we do probably have a 6-8% duty rate, but the kind of items w/ low duty are parts for manufacturing and such. While most final consumer goods (the kind a retailer or consumer would want) have considerably higher duty rates. Clothing for example, which is mostly around 20%. There are obviously policy reasons here. The government is trying to stop us from buying American goods.

[octothorp]

There's a brief mention in this article about Collected Works bookstore in Ottawa, who are lowering their prices to the american price. What this article doesn't mention is the fact that this is not necessarily good for business. Collected Works will take a significant loss as a result of the strategy, as they explain here.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...6e659e&k=52074

However, on January 1, the new pricing scheme from distributors will kick in, which will actually make it possible for booksellers to sell books at prices equal to the american prices and still make a profit. Basically, pressure was applied to the bookstores by the public, and the bookstores in turn applied pressure to the distributors. In the meantime, Collected Works takes a loss on every book they sell through the Christmas season, but they likely hope to win over more customers, who they can then retain and make a profit from once the new pricing system kicks in next year.

[Ironhorse]

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

Not surprised there. The Herald reported on the weekend that Toyota is instructing its USA dealerships to not sell to "non-residents". Just like Ford, GM, and Honda. Presumably, this is to protect their "local" Canadian markets & dealers.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Juventus3

THIS is government in action.



http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

Who said the cons only care about big business?

I think that this is the same as the meeting with the big banks last spring (when there was an outcry over the service charges). I guess since he meets with the industry that was action as well? I don't know about everyone else, but that "action" has me paying the same fees with no change on the horizon!

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Not surprised there. The Herald reported on the weekend that Toyota is instructing its USA dealerships to not sell to "non-residents". Just like Ford, GM, and Honda. Presumably, this is to protect their "local" Canadian markets & dealers.

If that was any company telling AB place not to sell to BC/Sask customers, it would be against the law. But with it being international, I'm not sure what rules (if any) exist in NAFTA to account for this.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

If that was any company telling AB place not to sell to BC/Sask customers, it would be against the law. But with it being international, I'm not sure what rules (if any) exist in NAFTA to account for this.

Considering how litigious the US is, I'm surprised some Canadian has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Toyota USA.

[Juventus3]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that this is the same as the meeting with the big banks last spring (when there was an outcry over the service charges). I guess since he meets with the industry that was action as well? I don't know about everyone else, but that "action" has me paying the same fees with no change on the horizon!

If i recall correctly the outcome of that service charge meeting was a cap on service charge, as opposed to abolishing them (a motion put forward by Jack Layton and the NDP, meaning you should have known it wouldn't happen). The difference here is we're starting to see the price corrections happen. Granted, it isn't because of the meeting alone.

The Apple website is offering their new OS at $129 CDN/USD. Walmart has dropped the price of movies/video games. It's not much...But to be honest the dollar has only been at or above par for two weeks.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by Juventus3

The Apple website is offering their new OS at $129 CDN/USD. Walmart has dropped the price of movies/video games. It's not much...But to be honest the dollar has only been at or above par for two weeks.

Good... now if only Apple would start selling their laptops at the same price as their American store, I'd be happy. $1250 vs $1100.

[mykalberta]

Goverment should stay the hell out of this arena. Let consumers choose, if retailers dont brng their prices more inline with Canadian ones, then cross border shop online. Canadian retailers who refuse to lower prices will go bankrupt and other more efficient buisnesses will take its place.

We can never expect a par price range on everything just because of the higher cost of doing business in Canada, but they should be able to bring prices inline within 10%. If they do that I will shop in Canada.

[Slava]

These price drops have absolutely nothing to do with the meeting anyway. The meeting is not until today, and the price drops are slowly taking place as a result of consumers making different shopping choices.

This is just a pure photo-op type thing for Flaherty.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by fotze

I just fear that the government will enact legislation to protect the Canadian retailers by erecting barriers on the cross border shopping. I would bet money the Canadian auto manufacturers are going to start crying about upcoming layoffs if the cross-border shopping does not stop.

If the Canadian prices were really the same as the US in the first place then there wouldn't be an issue though. They've created their own issue here!

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by fotze

I just fear that the government will enact legislation to protect the Canadian retailers by erecting barriers on the cross border shopping. I would bet money the Canadian auto manufacturers are going to start crying about upcoming layoffs if the cross-border shopping does not stop.

The cons wont. Not unless they get too power-hungry and the numbers start to drop. It would be a Nafta violation.

[jamesteterenko]

Originally Posted by Juventus3

The Apple website is offering their new OS at $129 CDN/USD. Walmart has dropped the price of movies/video games. It's not much...But to be honest the dollar has only been at or above par for two weeks.

Vehicle prices appear to be > 30% more expensive in Canada. I have even heard some ridiculous examples of 50% or more. Many other products seem to have a 20% premium in Canada. It has about three years since the dollar routinely traded below 80 cents and has been over 90 for the last six month. The fact that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US dollar now is really just giving the public more attention to the issue. Retailers could have done something well before now.

I personally have spent over $6000 in the US over the last month. Some purchases have been online and some were on a business trip that I made recently. Even after shipping, GST, & duties, I have saved about $1500 over buying the products in Canada.

Retailers will have to do something. My wife and I are starting to look for a car. Going to the US is definitely an option for us. We haven't really decided if we are buying new or used or what brand. However, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be willing to buy a new car in Canada for $10,000 more than they are selling in the US. If the US dealers aren't willing to sell me the car because I am Canadian, I will look elsewhere.

James

[Canada 02]

Suppliers defend high prices

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/serv...l_gam_mostview

“We have extra costs – there should be a difference in price,” said Joelle [Joey] Adler, chief executive officer of Diesel Canada.
...
Diesel said freight charges are 10- to 15-per-cent higher in Canada because, with fewer flights and shipping choices, the company has less bargaining power here than south of the border. And duties on imported leather jackets, for example, are 13 per cent in Canada, more than twice the rate in the States, while duties on men's cotton jackets are 17 per cent, compared with 9 per cent in the U.S.
...
Others, such as those making DVD movies, have simply refused to budge on their pricing, he said. For example, Paramount charges Best Buy in the United States $18 (U.S.) for the recently released Transformers DVD, which the chain sells for $14.99; Paramount charges the Canadian chain $24 for the same DVD, which sells in its stores here for $19.99.

[Lurch]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Suppliers defend high prices

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/serv...l_gam_mostview

“We have extra costs – there should be a difference in price,” said Joelle [Joey] Adler, chief executive officer of Diesel Canada.
...
Diesel said freight charges are 10- to 15-per-cent higher in Canada because, with fewer flights and shipping choices, the company has less bargaining power here than south of the border. And duties on imported leather jackets, for example, are 13 per cent in Canada, more than twice the rate in the States, while duties on men's cotton jackets are 17 per cent, compared with 9 per cent in the U.S.
...
Others, such as those making DVD movies, have simply refused to budge on their pricing, he said. For example, Paramount charges Best Buy in the United States $18 (U.S.) for the recently released Transformers DVD, which the chain sells for $14.99; Paramount charges the Canadian chain $24 for the same DVD, which sells in its stores here for $19.99.

I hope there is no one gullible enough to buy a load of crap like this. If I, as a customer, can drive down to the US, spend $1500 on clothing, drive back to Canada, pay the duty and still come out ahead after paying for my gas and hotel, there is no way that costs in Canada justify the prices. A company would have dramatically lower shipping costs and economies of scale must be more than $0, so simply put, margins are higher in Canada. Not that there is anything wrong with that, as gullible Canadian customers (or buoyant Cdn economy) combined with less retail competition are legitimate. I think the issue will sort itself out, especially if the gov't loosened restrictions on small imports rather than the prescriptive bs they seem to be moving towards.

[Slava]

^^^ These more or less echo my sentiments on this subject. This is why the minister of finance is only grandstanding here!

[Juventus3]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Suppliers defend high prices

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/serv...l_gam_mostview

“We have extra costs – there should be a difference in price,” said Joelle [Joey] Adler, chief executive officer of Diesel Canada.
...
Diesel said freight charges are 10- to 15-per-cent higher in Canada because, with fewer flights and shipping choices, the company has less bargaining power here than south of the border. And duties on imported leather jackets, for example, are 13 per cent in Canada, more than twice the rate in the States, while duties on men's cotton jackets are 17 per cent, compared with 9 per cent in the U.S.
...
Others, such as those making DVD movies, have simply refused to budge on their pricing, he said. For example, Paramount charges Best Buy in the United States $18 (U.S.) for the recently released Transformers DVD, which the chain sells for $14.99; Paramount charges the Canadian chain $24 for the same DVD, which sells in its stores here for $19.99.

What? The movie production companies sell a movie to bestbuy for more than bestbuy sells it for?

[Juventus3]

Originally Posted by llama64

Good... now if only Apple would start selling their laptops at the same price as their American store, I'd be happy. $1250 vs $1100.

Meh, that's 13% more. If you look at the cost of doing business up here (high shipping costs, more taxes, etc...13% doesn't seem too out of whack. Maybe closer to 10% would be more appropriate, but I dont think it's something to complain about.

On a $20 000 USD car, 13% is only about $2600...Not $10 000 - $20 000 like we're seeing.

[Flames09]

How does purchasing a vehicle in the states work anyways??? you can only pay cash?? and what are the import costs??? (I would like to no as we're looking into buying a vehicle soon.