Bit of a Vent

[digital-audiophile]

I don’t disagree at all. I know that most LFS are small and are owned by private citizens, with the exception of a few and we are lucky that these big ones do not try to put the little guy out of business like a Wal-Mart would.

I don't think any Canadian has a problem with a little bit of a price differential on consumer goods but as I mentioned in another thread that when shopping for highchairs on the weekend I found them to be more than $50 more here in Calgary than they are listed in American stores. This does not make sense to me, especially considering that Calgary is in the middle of a baby boom with more than 20,000 babies being born every year I don't think a lot of US cities are experiencing these same kinds of numbers but they still pay less. Another thing is that the dollar has been at or near parity for the past few months but brand new current issue magazines still have a large differential in price on the cover. This makes no sense to me.

Although I will continue to support as much local business (remember I am talking all business not just fish) as I can because I understand the value of buying local, but in the end it comes down to the almighty dollar. I am not a rich man by any means and if I can keep a few extra dollars in my pocket by buying from the US online (especially living in an expensive inflated city like Calgary) you had better believe I am going to do it.

We live in an age of global consumerism. Even 10 years ago it was not always viable to buy from another country, but with the internet at the state it is today it encourages price shopping and more competition. I would not be able to keep my job for very long if I continued to purchase pipe from a local mill at a greater price just because they are "nice guys from Calgary" I am already working with mills in Europe and Asia because they provide a better value for the company dollar.

[Delphinus]

You know a price difference of $50 on an item worth a couple hundred wouldn't even bother me. What bothers me is where the price differential is so vast it's just ridiculous for lack of a better word.

Luckily, I find that at least in this hobby, we don't see too many cases of "let's rape the Canadian consumer". But there are easy examples in different industries:

The bike carrier I use is made by Thule. At one point, Thule was a Swedish company. I don't know if the brand still is or isn't. But the exact model I use has a MSRP of $600 in Canada. SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS. The same model in the U.S. has a MSRP of $300. How does the exchange rate of even 6 months ago to a year ago or whenever it was really bad, justify a DOUBLING of the cost? I found an ebay retailer who was selling them for $260. With taxes shipping and brokerage and with a WEAKER Canadian dollar at the time, I landed that thing to my door for less than half the Canadian MSRP. I don't mind paying a premium to keep things local but there is a point where it makes no financial sense anymore to do so.

Another example? Cars. Look at the prices of cars in Canada and the U.S. .. Again, it's just ridiculous. I know a person who bought his Subaru in the U.S. 2 or 3 years ago, could sell this 2 or 3 year old car locally here for still more than what they paid for. Absurd.

But what's really outrageous now is some companies are putting policies in place to prevent U.S. retailers to selling to Canadians. A lot of people in the media telling their stories about how they tried to buy a car and the dealerships aren't allowed to sell to them.

Bombardier takes the prize here. A Canadian company who we've subsidized with our tax dollars has said to U.S. retailers "You may not sell your products to Canadians." They say it's to protect the Canadian retailers. Even the U.S. retailers find this frustrating. The article I read in the Herald quoted one as saying "for years Americans would go to Canada and buy Sea-Doos up there because the dollar was in their favour. Who was protecting MY interests then?" In my opinion this is flat-out a policy of discrimination against Canadians which when you think about how we've paid our TAX dollars to subsidize this company is really offensive.

[Ken]

Hi Neal, I sincerely support and understand your frustration and venting because I have a similiar business and maintenance company that we operated. I live in a small town on Vancouver island, population less than 50,000 people, and the few aquarium reef hobbyists supports mostly online or out of town. My percentage of retail is less while my maintenance clients is my living. As our town is fairly small, there is not a huge reef hobbyist here compare to larger city like the mainland. Maintenances takes me up and down the island just to make a living. I have been in this hobby for 37 years and very passionate about, I am still learning and I am not about to quit. We have spent many hours with maintenance clients just staring at their prize aquarium because they are themselves passionate about the hobby. I just took a drive around town lately and noticed many retail stores have closed down. I feel supporting your local store for whatever at a reasonable price is fair, considering where you live. We are small but we provide good service and support our local stores and local charities. Where in our town can you come by at 10:00 pm and get a 10k MH bulb in an emergency? Tonight, we just picked up 3 boxes of Bali shipment, each and every one of these livestock will be accilimated carefully, housed in a stressfree environment, fed the best quality food and trained to aquarium life and then after 6 weeks or more, will be sent to one of my maintenance client's aquarium. They will not be advertise as "new shipment in" tomorrow. We are passionate and we do care about the livestock that are placed in our hands for their well being. Neal best of luck to you sincerely. Regards Ken