Canadian dollar worth more than US dollar (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Ulmer]

Um, if you can get 24 bottles for $15, we are being severely gouged - when I say "case" I mean 12 bottles/cans... 24 bottles would be called a "two-four," which is $36 or more. Ya gotta learn to speak Canadian eh.

As for lessons, I think they already have that one down.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Oy vey....

I learned to speak Oz about beer quantitites over at the miata forum.

For the sake of posterity.....
For quantities of 6, 12, and 24 bottles/cans:

Yankspeak: 6 pack, 12 pack, case.

Australian: 6 pack, case, "slab".

Canadian: 6 pack, case, "two-four".

So much for the advantage of speaking the same language.

 

[MikeH1]

6 pack is also known as a half-sack. Picked up many a half sacks in my high school days at lunch time

 

[Adam_S]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...cnsaudi119.xml

Much worse than the strength of the canadian dollar is the possibility of the Saudis converting to the Euro rather than trading the dollar. If they do that, the US could be looking at the worst recession since the great depression, the impact on the dollar, credit market, and housing crunch would be so massive.

Trying so hard not to violate HTF politics rules.

 

[Robbie R]

Check out TV pricing from Bestbuy

Samsung 50" 1080P Plasma (Model # FPT5084)

bestbuy.com price $2899.00
bestbuy.ca Price $3499.00
---------------------------
+$600.00 to purchase the same TV in Canada

 

[Mort Corey]

Why would they not? One asset is appreciating the other depreciating. Next up.....the Chinese.

Mort

 

[Marc Colella]

I purchased 3 CDs from Amazon.com and it cost me just under $35 (including shipping) while the same CDs at Amazon.ca would cost me $55 (not including the $7.70 taxes tacked on afterwards).

It's frustrating that retailers won't budge on their pricing - unless of course the CDN exchange rate drops, then they'll immediately increase their prices. The gouging is just plain ridiculous.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Because governments value stability. A massive shift from one reserve currency to another introduces extreme instability into the marketplace. If the Saudis or the Chinese dumped all of their reserve currency, the United States would go into an instant depression. The United States remains the largest market for goods in the world. A depression in the United States means extreme poverty which in turn plummets the demand for goods. The depression ripples throughout the rest of the market, creating a global depression.

Look at the global ramifications from just the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S.; the UK recently had a dramatic run on the banks when Northern Rock requested a government bail-out. Things didn't settle down until the Chancellor of the Exchequer guarenteed Northern Rock's deposits. That's nothing compared to what a sudden plunge in the dollar would wreak on the world.

Ironically, the United States has checks in place against a sudden market collapse that many other nations don't have. The worst ramifications of a sudden American recession would be felt elsewhere.

 

[TV555]

If my supersized Triple 1/4 pounder w/ extra cheese and mayo fries w/ 2 apple pies and sundae + diet Coke value meal goes over $10, then I'm all for looking for the Old Boogie Lady in Saudi Arabia and Canada.

 

[Nick]

If more poeple start buying stuff online from the state then they'll feel it.
I don't know if Canadian has to pay taxes when buying stuff from US.
If the price is gonna be 10 dollars cheaper with taxes and shipping then why leave the house and waste gas money. Just order online and that will send a message to retailers.

 

[Francois Caron]

Yes, we do pay sales tax on imported goods. Anything above $65 is normally taxed at the same rate as merchandise purchased in Canada. Because of Free Trade, there's usually no duty on the vast majority of goods imported from the US including goods imported from other countries. Even though my Samsung ATSC receiver was manufactured outside of North America, I only had to pay the GST and PST charges when it was delivered. The biggest surprise is when shipping goods via USPS. Even though some of the goods should have been taxed, I've had packages over $65 delivered with no taxes or even customs fees to pay.

Just to show you ho good online cross-border shopping is getting, I've ordered some camcorder batteries and cleaning tapes over the weekend from J&R. For the price of one battery here in Canada, I'm getting TWO batteries from the States shipping included! It was shipped after 5 PM yesterday and it's already on its way to my home at this very minute!

Man, I LOVE to shop online!

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I think we're going to see a significant increase in the amount of spending done online here in Canada given the strong dollar and the slow change in B&M pricing. Just listening to my co-workers talk aroudn the coffee pot these last few weeks I'm hearing lots of chatter about people either going online or driving down to the states for a shopping holiday...sooner or later that has to have an impact locally on pricing

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

The likely correction if retail numbers fall due to cross border shopping will be an adjustment to the prime lending rate which would affect the exchange rate. I don't see retailers adjusting themselves in the short term.

As for the Saudis or the Chinese taking action against the dollar, both situations would have very serious consequences which the US has no control over, although there are also ramifications for the countries involved, so these are worst case scenarios. What is less predictable are private holdings, though whether these are large enough to actually cause major damage I do not know.

What I do know is that even with shipping and taxes added, there hasn't been a better time in almost 30 years for Canadians to be buying from the US.

 

[Marc Colella]

Well it looks 2 of the CDs I purchased at Amazon.com had a price adjustment on Amazon.ca - they increased $2

Another CD I had on my wishlist increased $5 :rolleyes

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Looks like the first lawsuits have been launched over inflated Canadian pricing (http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/0...assaction.html) with the auto industry as defendants, not only for major pricing differences, but also collusion to keep the US and Canadian markets separate.

An example of different pricing from the article:

* A Chrysler Grand Cherokee Laredo that was advertised for $29,215 in the U.S. and $36,215 in Canada
* A Honda Odyssey Minivan that was advertised for $25,645 in the U.S. and $33,333 in Canada
* A Range Rover Sport that was advertised for $58,500 in the U.S. and $78,300 in Canada

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be a bit choked over paying an extra $20k for the same vehicle.

 

[Cees Alons]

Lawsuit??
It's different countries, aren't they?

In Europe the same car can cost quite different in different countries, it used to be a sport to know where to buy a specific model. (BTW also, there were hurdles if you wanted to import a car - since the EU that has become simpler.)


Cees

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Isn't that a British car? Aren't you Canadians supposed to be part of the Commonwealth? I would think you should therefore be paying less for such intra-commonwealth sales of goods.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I've always been quite aware of exchange rates, being from a small country that imports almost everything, and also when considering overseas vacations. I was in the US recently for 3 weeks, and whilst there the USD dropped from SGD1.52 to 1.46. Which coincided with the loonie overhauling the greenback in value. Not that it benefitted me entirely, since we'd already converted our cash before leaving, but I guess it does help our credit card bills...

But consider: when I first went to New Zealand on vacation back in 2003, it was NZD 1 = SGD0.9, and indeed in the late 90s it was as low as 0.7. It was as high as SGD1.25 or so recently, though it has slipped back to around 1.1. Likewise the Aussie dollar, which years ago was below parity with the Singapore dollar, but is now worth over 1.3.

Then again, back in the late 1970s, the Malaysian dollar/ringgit was on par with the Singapore dollar, and now it's worth less than half...

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

This stuff is still going on. I recently bought Jonah Goldberg's new book, Liberal Fascism, which was published in January 2008. The price on the back says "US $27.95/$34.00 CAN". This makes no sense.

 

[Edwin-S]

Belonging to the British commonwealth has as much meaning as NAFTA: none at all. Our dollar is in the toilet against the British Pound. I can't help but laugh when I hear Canadians talking about the Canadian dollar "rising" against the U.S dollar. Our dollar hasn't "risen" anywhere. The U.S dollar has collapsed and joined us in the sewer. The ironic thing is that, fiscally, Canada is in better shape than the U.S, but our dollar is still worth less than the U.S dollar.