american vs canadian pricing

[OldNewGuy]

Well not everything is cheaper in the US.... To my surprise the Excalibur micro crossbow, down here in the US (Myrtle Beach) is on sale for $899 US... that's the same price for the Micro in Canada, so buying some items in Canada can be cheaper...
With the exchange rate there is no real saving on anything I looked at...including ammo

I got lucky and purchased from Cabela's Canada 3 Big GameWarrior DX Ladder stands for (including taxes and delivery to my home) a grand total of $255.85, now that was a deal and a half.....sometimes the deals are there when you aren't looking...
PS I picked these up late January this year....

I've been following this, and wanted to add this little tidbit. I bought an Excalibur crossbow a couple of years ago from Bass Pro, the price was around $750 CDN + Tax. Two weeks later, I was in the U.S., at a Bass Pro in Kansas City area, and saw the exact same X-Bow for $499 USD.

What really boiled me was (a) the Canadian dollar, at the time, was really close to par, so the exchange was not a huge factor (b) All of the Excalibur bows were made in Canada - about 75 Km down the road from my home, this means under NAFTA they're duty free as Excalibur took pride in proclaiming "all Canadian" products. And, even with no duty, there would have been additional transport charges to cross the border, plus Customs Clearance fees.

As a Canadian, I'm oriented, and pleased, to support Canadian retailers where possible (and I know Bass Pro is U.S. based, but they operate as a Canadian retailer here, with pricing supposedly within a reasonable place from other Canadian retailers - not cheaper, usually more expensive, but not a huge differential, and all their employees are Canadian). I am more than willing to pay a reasonable amount on top of pricing in the U.S., figuring AFTER currency conversion - usually I figure I can stand being hosed for 20% or so more after currency is taken into account. In the case of the Excalibur, the 50% premium is far from that.

But it really fried me to pay more for a Canadian-designed/Canadian-made product in Canada than outside the country, given the above factors.

More galling was that I mentioned this to an Excalibur rep at a hunting show a couple of months later. His response - a sheepish look, and "yes, I know, it's Country Pricing". In other words, a Canuck will get hosed the same whether it is domestic sourced or out of country sourcing.

Sorry - rant over.

Old New Guy

[MikePal]

Welcome to the forum..good first post.

Yes there is Canadian pricing..all you have to do is look at a paper back book and see the two prices clearly marked and clearly different.... and it doesn't mater what the exchange rate is/was from the time it was published till you bought it.

[rf2]

New vehicals cannot be tranfered over to a Canadian resident from the USA until it is so moany months older and or so many kilometers. That is how the governments are screwing us otherwise everyone would buy their vehicals south of the border. Used vehicals are not a problem, thats why so many dealerships buy used vehicals from the states and ship them up here to sell to us

I would like to see any information supporting this. I am almost certain that this is not accurate.

[MikePal]

I would like to see any information supporting this. I am almost certain that this is not accurate.

Me too..I seem to remember when I asked about it at the CBSA all I had to show was that the vehicle was cleared to leave the US (dealers responsibility), bill of sale and then you had to have a safety done within a set time frame here to get it plated.

When the $ was at par there was a stream of new cars coming across the border.

Info from the CBSA site:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...48-eng.html#s3

[Bandwagon]

New vehicals cannot be tranfered over to a Canadian resident from the USA until it is so moany months older and or so many kilometers. That is how the governments are screwing us otherwise everyone would buy their vehicals south of the border. Used vehicals are not a problem, thats why so many dealerships buy used vehicals from the states and ship them up here to sell to us

I purchased a BMW and Silverado back when the dollar was at par, no issues and imported both vehicles myself. Sorry I think your information is incorrect.

[last5oh_302]

Me too..I seem to remember when I asked about it at the CBSA all I had to show was that the vehicle was cleared to leave the US (dealers responsibility), bill of sale and then you had to have a safety done within a set time frame here to get it plated.

When the $ was at par there was a stream of new cars coming across the border.

Info from the CBSA site:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...48-eng.html#s3

Thats pretty much it in a nutshell ( btw the inspection can only be done at Canadian Tire - they're the only one's with federal inspectors, hmm) but you also need clearance from the manufacturer ( a letter) that there are no recalls (if you're buying from a dealer they should take of that).

Everything you need to know is here. You also have to give the border youre crossing 72 hours notice, and I'm not sure they do this at every border crossing so you might want to check that out as well:

https://www.riv.ca/

[Bandwagon]

Thats pretty much it in a nutshell ( btw the inspection can only be done at Canadian Tire - they're the only one's with federal inspectors, hmm) but you also need clearance from the manufacturer ( a letter) that there are no recalls (if you're buying from a dealer they should take of that).

Everything you need to know is here. You also have to give the border youre crossing 72 hours notice, and I'm not sure they do this at every border crossing so you might want to check that out as well:

https://www.riv.ca/

When leaving the USA you have to visit US customs to export the vehicle, they want to see you with the title of the vehicle before it leaves the country. The USA has demands around when you cross and they are specific on submitting your paperwork in a timely manner.

[last5oh_302]

When leaving the USA you have to visit US customs to export the vehicle, they want to see you with the title of the vehicle before it leaves the country. The USA has demands around when you cross and they are specific on submitting your paperwork in a timely manner.

Yes, but they need the paperwork, or some of it (the no liens and recall stuff I think) 72 hours before. I'm just going from memory here so it may have changed, but I doubt it.
It will all be in the link I posted above.

[welsh]

As far as paperback books, there are specific reasons for that price differential. It's not the exchange rate. But that's getting off topic.

Re bows, I'd be curious whether Excalibur charges the same to US retailers and distributors as to Canadian. These price differences often start from the manufacturer.

[OldNewGuy]

Re bows, I'd be curious whether Excalibur charges the same to US retailers and distributors as to Canadian. These price differences often start from the manufacturer.

Welsh, when I spoke to the Excalibur guy at the hunting show, while he didn't specifically say that there are different prices to USA and Canada, his answer ("it's country pricing") certainly hints at it as that is a term commonly used by exporting manufacturers.

I've seen much the same from Auto Parts operations, even parts at GM Dealers in Canada have a higher dealer net price than American dealers pay.

Complicating the matter is, don't forget, that it was Bass Pro in both cases, US and Canada - and from what I've been told Bass Pro U.S.A. negotiates the pricing/costing for both entities; I don't see BP readily volunteering to make the Canadian store cost less than that for the stores in the US.

Perhaps a little bit of the big gouge is on the parts of both the vendor (Excalibur, which was under different ownership at the time, now they're American owned) and the retailer (Bass Pro). Either way, it doesn't much pass the "smell test" as far as charging Canadians (in the case of Excalibur, their home market) more for the same product, from my perspective with the exception of a 20% +/- differential to cover higher cost structures up here in Soviet Canuckistan.