Stolen by Canadian distributors [Archive] - Audioholics Home Theater Forums

pam

02-26-2004, 03:26 AM

For the same product as in US:

US/CAD rate: 1.33949 as of Feb 23rd.

Product * * *US MRSP * *Cdn MRSP in CAD *Cdn MRSP in USD * *Diff. MRSP (%)
DVD-5900 *$2,000.00 * *$3,380.00 * * * * * * $2,523.35 * * * * * * *126.17%
DVD-2900 * $999.00 * * *$1,870.00 * * * * * * $1,396.05 * * * * * * *139.75%
DVM-2815 * $469.00 * * * $880.00 * * * * * * * * $656.97 * * * * * * *140.08%
DVM-1815 * $369.00 * * * $700.00 * * * * * * * * $522.59 * * * * * * *141.62%

AVR-5803 * $4,400.00 * *$6,800.00 * * * * * *$5,076.56 * * * * * * *115.38%
AVR-4802R $2,000.00 * *$3,380.00 * * * * * *$2,523.35 * * * * * * *126.17%
AVR-3803 * $1,199.00 * *$2,250.00 * * * * * *$1,679.74 * * * * * * *140.10%
AVR-2803 * * $799.00 * * $1,450.00 * * * * * *$1,082.50 * * * * * * *135.48%
AVR-1804 * * $499.00 * * * *$910.00 * * * * * * * $679.36 * * * * * * *136.14%

BTW, the Canadian Dollar increased by 18% since January 2003. Even if they would not have adjust the rate since a year ago. There is NO justification.

This is only MRSP. The street price in Canada is 194% more expensive than street price in US.

This is Denon. All others are the same.

For Canadians buying in Canada or from authorized dealer is crazy.
It starts from the distributor and goes all the way to the dealers. Greed, Greed, Greed.

In Canada we have laws against monopolistic behaviour but it does not seem to work. Anyway, we have free trade.

pam

02-26-2004, 03:30 AM

I also compared the best price I could find in US with the Canadian price:

Product     Diff. with Best US Price (%)
DVD-5900        158.20%
DVD-2900        193.08%
DVD-2200        141.92%

AVR-5803        181.31%
AVR-4802R      167.19%
AVR-3803        180.47%
AVR-2803        149.31%
AVR-1804        197.76%

(all numbers converted in USD before calculating percentage)

BroonsBane

02-26-2004, 10:54 AM

Wow. Scary.  You did alot of homework before making that post.
I was very against free trade back in the Mulroney era and still am. I have not seen any direct benefit from it at all.
Aside from that...compare Canadian manufactured speakers ie. Energy, Paradigm, PSB etc. They are all much less expensive in Canada vs the U.S. i'm not sure if that holds true for Canadian made amps etc ie. Bryston.

Rip Van Woofer

02-26-2004, 11:19 AM

NAFTA is one of the most perfidious plots unleashed by the crafty Canucks in modern times. I have proof, supressed by fellow travelers in our government, that Mulrooney sold the idea to Reagan by getting him drunk and stupefied with mass quantities of Molson's and poutine! And now, the master plan for Canadian economic dominance is under way, with the beachead being established by Tim Horton's donut shops (where, exactly, do Timbits come from, and what's in them? Huh??), and NHL expansion into places like South Carolina that hardly knew what ice was before that except as something to put in your RC Cola.

The high prices being paid by Canadian citizens for audio gear are helping to finance this pernicious policy.

Wake up, America!!!

OK, but seriously...Canada has always been an expensive country, but the usual weakness of the Canadian dollar vs. US tends to obscure that fact to most Americans. But I remember taking a trip thru Ontario some years back when the Canadian buck was near par, and we wound up cutting our trip short because it got so expensive just to eat, even at chain "family" restaurants! And when it comes to most big ticket items our northern neigbours get well and truly screwed, even before the GST and PST kicks in. Those of us in border areas have a simple barometer of the exchange rate: when the Canadian dollar is strong, the number of Canadian license plates in our shopping mall parking lots increases dramatically!

Gotta go. Must...have...Timbits....

Clint DeBoer

02-26-2004, 12:12 PM

Are there any additional import taxes on these products that would justify the difference? What is the incentive to buy from Canadian dealers?

Wow.

BroonsBane

02-26-2004, 12:28 PM

As I see it, there are no incentives for Americans to buy from Canadian dealers, other than if you factor in the exchange between the US and Canadian dollar. I'm not sure what Americans pay for duties on imported Candadian goods but for us Canadians it's about 6%. Products made in the US are duty free. Probably our only advantage as an average consumer to NAFTA.

Rip: it works conversely here. When the Canadian dollar is weak, we see a huge increase in US license plates ( i live 45 minutes from the US border)

Rip Van Woofer

02-26-2004, 12:39 PM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>BroonsBane : Rip: it works conversely here. When the Canadian dollar is weak, we see a huge increase in US license plates ( i live 45 minutes from the US border)
I know. I'm one of them! Dinner in Windsor, Shakespeare in Stratford or a weekend in Toronto or Elora is a pretty good deal when the looney is weak.

Oh, and speaking of Canuck conspiracies to compromise our leaders and undermine America's rightful role as leader of the Free, er, entire World, I am about to blow the lid on the George W. Bush/Belinda Stronach (http://www.belinda.ca/Belinda/index.html) scandal. It'll make Clinton/Lewinsky look like a neighborhood curling match. You heard it here first!

jeffsg4mac

02-26-2004, 01:15 PM

Wow! I love cute conservative chics <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> Does she own any guns?

zipper

02-26-2004, 01:54 PM

Living north of Seattle,my buddies & I used to drive up to Vancouver when the drinking age was 19(is it still?).There was a place called Outlaws that had a band upstairs & a band downstairs.One of the coolest places I'd ever been to. We quickly learned about the exchange rate when we ordered a round (4) of drinks & it was $20! this was back in "79-"80 & we didn't make a lot of cash back then. The bars didn't mess with the exchange,a dollar was a dollar,no matter whose face was on it. 5%-6% beer was pretty cool though.Thought gas was cheap,until we figured out it was sold by the friggin liter,not gallon.

 Only reason we go up now is to get 222's over the counter.Not worth the hassle at the border.

Clint DeBoer

02-26-2004, 03:21 PM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>zipper : Thought gas was cheap,until we figured out it was sold by the friggin liter,not gallon.
Now THAT is funny.   <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

JAB

02-27-2004, 01:53 AM

Yes, we get hammered in Canada on imported electronics badly. I believe most of the extra difference is because of volume and the demands from our government's so called protection agencies. With the population of California larger than the whole of Canada, Yamaha U.S. (for example) is going to receive a lot more attention from Yamaha, Japan than Yamaha, Canada. In Canada, all electrical devices are tested by a government lab known as the CSA (I believe the American equivalent is UL) For this test the manufacturers foot the bill for every model submitted whether the unit is approved or not. Unfortunately for us, the CSA demands are different than the UL specs, so a separate costly run must be made for the puny Canadian market compared to the humongous U.S. one. It costs money to ramp-up a tiny Canadian run and are we are paying for it. Not only that, we get a crappy 2 year warranty on the Yamaha Z9 (I have complained bitterly to my Yamaha dealer who passed this on to Yamaha, Danada) compared to the U.S. 5 year one. Yamaha U.S. has even changed their warranties to include models as far back as the RXV-1!!

Yep, volume and competion = lower prices.

Al

Rip Van Woofer

02-27-2004, 01:22 PM

No more lame jokes about Canadian conspiracies, promise!

JAB has some reasonable sounding explanations, but it doesn't seem to apply to all imported goods. Cars, whether imported or North American seem to be fairly comparable in price in Canada and the US, for example. But on the other hand I suspect that auto safety and emissions standards are pretty similar in both countries, if only to keep GM, Ford and DCX happy since they have substantial investments in Canadian plants.

I know the CBC has a show called "Marketplace" that I've seen a few times. Wonder if they've ever done a story on the subject?

BTW, everything I know about Canadian politics comes from watching "Royal Canadian Air Farce (http://www.airfarce.com/)" and "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". I like the cute new gal on RCAF!

JAB

02-28-2004, 04:15 AM

The reason cars are comparible in price is because the U.S. and Canadian government cooked up a deal years ago (before the so called free trade agreement) called the Auto Pact. This allows tax and tariff free cross border shipments of automobiles and related car manufacturing parts.This system works pretty well, as long as the U.S. and Canadian exchange rates are close. Not long ago, a lot of cars coming from the U.S. and Canadian manufacturing plants have been bought by Canadian dealers in Canadian funds and resold to U.S. dealers in American funds. Because of the low valued Canadian buck (which has recently increased over 20%) the U.S. dealers could buy the cars cheaper through Canadian dealers than their own U.S. distributors!! Needless to say, the big three in the U.S. lowered the hammer on the U.S. dealers advising them that their dealership franchise agreements would be terminated if this practice didn't instantly stop. The Canadian dealers were also read the riot act, and the rumour in the city I live in is that a local Chrysler dealership suddenly changed ownership because of lack of compliance.

Yes Martha, there is a grey market in the auto business as well!!

A CBC Market Place investigation is a good suggestion - send them an email! And while we are talking about price gouging, how about the insane charge for new ink cartridges for computer printers, H.P. being one of the biggest offenders!!

Al

Rob Babcock

02-29-2004, 12:23 AM

At least there's a reason the printer carts are so expensive:  they sell the printers at a loss and make it up on ink.  For folks that don't do an immense amount of printing it's not a bad deal.  For those of us that use tons of ink, it's a pretty crappy deal.  Fortunately, HP carts are extremely easy & cheap to refill yourself (I haven't ever bought a new cart for my HP- I'm still refilling the ones it came with).

Epson is more of a screw-job:  their carts have an electronic chip that "counts" ink droplets as they're dispensed.  Once the cartridge "knows" it's empty, it won't print any more even after you refill the ink.

Luckily, though, the chip resetter only costs $17! <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cool:'>

Rip Van Woofer

02-29-2004, 02:13 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>JAB : Not long ago, a lot of cars coming from the U.S. and Canadian manufacturing plants have been bought by Canadian dealers in Canadian funds and resold to U.S. dealers in American funds. Because of the low valued Canadian buck (which has recently increased over 20%) the U.S. dealers could buy the cars cheaper through Canadian dealers than their own U.S. distributors!! Needless to say, the big three in the U.S. lowered the hammer on the U.S. dealers...
I remember that. It was a pretty big story here in Detroit, as you can imagine.

Didn't know about the Auto Pact, though. That explains a lot.

pam

02-29-2004, 02:29 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>hawke : Are there any additional import taxes on these products that would justify the difference? What is the incentive to buy from Canadian dealers?

Wow.
Wow... I did not expect so much reaction.

If we buy from Canada, we add the tax to the amount.

If we buy from US, we add the tax to the amount.

The population is not the problem. Toronto has 4 million people livng down there. Shipping to a store from Los Angelas to New York is the same as shipping from Vancouver to Montreal.

The problem remains the greed of Canadian distributors.
When my friends and family will jump in the Home Theater I know what I will recommend.

If anything, prices should be less expensive here because we make less money than in US. Normally, things should cost less in Canada than in US like they should cost less in US than in Japan. Paying people in Canada for doing the job (distribution and selling) is a little bit cheaper than in the US.

Canadian companies have been greedy. This is part of the reason they are less competitive than US: they invest less and put more money in the pocket and less in new technology.

pam

02-29-2004, 02:39 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>BroonsBane : You did alot of homework before making that post.
Yes.

Also, the alignment was particularly long because the original data is in Excel and the cut and paste did not work. For those who are interested, I have the original xls file for those interested, it is more complete: Denon can not compete in Canada (http://pages.infinit.net/pam/Denon.xls).

Take care

BTW, does anyone have a simple way to cut and paste from Excel?

pam

02-29-2004, 02:44 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>BroonsBane : As I see it, there are no incentives for Americans to buy from Canadian dealers, other than if you factor in the exchange between the US and Canadian dollar.
Broons

The USD-CAD rate was already factored in the number you saw. So when you read that a product is 197% it meas that what you pay 100$ US is 197$ US in Canada (or 262$ Canadian).

pam

02-29-2004, 02:49 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Rip Van Woofer : [quote=BroonsBane,Feb. 26 2004,11:28]I am about to blow the lid on the George W. Bush/Belinda Stronach scandal. It'll make Clinton/Lewinsky look like a neighborhood curling match. You heard it here first!
Hey

I have heard a lot of women who were finding Bill Clinton very sexy. Never heard that of George WMD Bush.

If you have more information please keep me posted.

pam

02-29-2004, 03:07 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Rip Van Woofer : NAFTA is one of the most perfidious plots unleashed by the crafty Canucks in modern times.
Hi Rip

Nafta was good for US and Canada. The US dollar was too strong compared to their real value. Partly because it was the only reference money. Now the Euro has put the US dollar to a more realistic value. Also those rich Arabs have remove part of their assets from US.

The real problem facing US is not Canada. We have approximatly the same standard of living.

I am a computer specialist and the real competition is from India. Also China is producing engineers faster than they are producing DVD.

This time, I don't see a simple solution because all those countries are producing human ressources (not people, human ressources) that competes with all those graduated persons in US (and Canada). This is a problem that we share with the US.

BTW, isn't it the US who pushed to included Mexico in the free trade. There was no interest for Canadians

We are in the same boat Rip...

JAB

02-29-2004, 05:19 AM

I am not an expert on the different types of ink cartridges HP manufactures, but I can tell you with experience that their Photo Smart models have cartridges designed to fill the land dumps. The color cartridge is very difficult to fill - even the refill professionals have a high failure rate with this cartridge. Also, HP has designed the cartridges (black & color) with the print heads attached to them. These heads conveniently wear out after about 6 refills, forcing the owner of this series back to the store to get gouged repeatedly. Both the black and color cartridges are horribly expensive - I am sure the profit is 1000% or more.

Hey ! I just thought of a great idea! The gas corporations should be the only suppliers of Detroit iron - they could sell the cars as lost leaders for $1000 and than charge $200 to fill 'em up at the pump and ----------- Sorry, Mr. Bacardi talking again!

Al

mustang_steve

02-29-2004, 05:33 AM

CSA and UL certification actually have the same criteria, and the certs mean the exact same thing.

Only differnce is if your insurance co. will recognize that label if one of these devices goes fireball on you.

Here, at work (in the US) we use both UL and CSA.  The problem with UL, is everything has to be UL approved, even though CSA is the exact equal.....its not UL...so you have to get whatever part you are using UL approved as well....  

CSA on the other hand, accepts UL certs as gold for many items.  

Another part is the level of invasiveness of the auditors....CSA just makes sure nothing changed.  UL wants to dismantle everything and put it under a fine toothe comb.  Frustrating to say the least.

Either way I think CSA is better to deal with than UL.

JAB

02-29-2004, 09:32 PM

If you go grey market here in Canada at tle local cut and slash store, quite often you will find various electronics with a UL listed stamp, but no CSA stamp. Without the CSA approval, the Canadian branches will not honor any type of warranty enclosed with the product. They consider it a  circumvention of their regional distribution systems. I know the UL and CSA certifications are alike, but a model intended to be sold in Canada must still go through the CSA process. This is not done as a courtesy, i.e. it costs money!

Insurance companies are not in business to loose money, so I am certain that if it is deemed that a particular electronic device was responsible for toasting your house, condo, apartment,  etc. and was not CSA approved, they would walk on you. Another reason to ponder a grey market purchase carefully.

Al

pam

03-01-2004, 01:38 AM

I would doubt that insurance companies would be able to make their case in court that two standard that are the same but bear different names would be a cause for fire. When it is so obvious you are going to loose you don't go to court.

This is the same thing as saying that a generic medication has not the same side effects as the original one. AAS is aspirin and is Salicylic Acid.

The only thing is that the manufacturers will not provide insurance. When the business case is as good as this one, we should all go to Grey market or even make it ourselves.

JAB

03-01-2004, 03:18 AM

Pam,

I live in a city where some 238 homes were lost to forest fires last summer. In my job,I am currently working with many of these burned-out victims, and so-called ironclad home insurance is not so "ironclad." I have been witness to many owner/ insurance disputes, and they will walk if they can find an out.

If you feel that a CSA rating is not worth a hill of beans to a Canadian Insurance Company, that's your call. I personally would never buy a UL listed only receiver, etc. to save a few bucks which is what you get on the grey market. UL approved electronics, whether they are exactly the same specs or not, are not considered legit in Canada until tested and approved by CSA.

I prefer Aspirin over generic ASA.

Al

Rip Van Woofer

03-01-2004, 07:30 PM

I took a look at the CBC Marketplace show's Website and they don't seem to have done a show on the cost of consumer electronics in Canada, at least not as far back as I cared to take the time to look (about three or four years). Maybe an email from some of you Canadians to them would result in a story as was suggested above (I'm a Yank so I'd have less cred).

They did do one on printer cartridges, though.

Oh, and I was kidding about NAFTA being a Canadian plot. And about our Dubya and Belinda. She's too good looking for him! But like pam said, maybe Clinton...

Actually, the conventional wisdom on NAFTA (with which I agree) is that it has neither been as bad as its detractors feared or as good as it boosters promised. In short, it's like most human endeavors!

But Tim Horton's has been expanding here in the States!

pam

03-02-2004, 01:35 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>JAB : to save a few bucks which is what you get on the grey market.
How about twice the price?

I would not go through a lot of trouble for anything under 25%.

Also have you heard of many AV equipment causing fire? It is more dangerous for me to take a plane than to have a fire caused by AV equipment.

Would you pay twice the price for Aspirin?

pam

03-02-2004, 01:41 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Rip Van Woofer : But Tim Horton's has been expanding here in the States!
Hi Rip

You are winning in the exchange. We gave you Tim Horton's you gave us McDonald, Wendy's, Burger King, Starbucks, Home Depot, Walmart, Ford, GM, Chrysler, F-18, Pfizer (hey! hey!), Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Intel, Dell and Ikea  <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

Rip Van Woofer

03-02-2004, 10:19 AM

Ikea's not ours...they're from Sweden. We don't even have one in the Detroit area...yet.

Now, would you please take back Celine Dion? <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

BTW, where in Quebec are you? It's truly la belle provence -- my wife and I visited there some years back. We did a lot of the usual tourist stuff in Montreal & Quebec City, and drove up to Tadoussac to take a whale cruise. Lots of pretty country, nice small towns, and friendly people along the way (even though Quebec separatism was still very much alive then & we are of course English speaking. Maybe if we'd been from Ontario it would have been different?). *Visited Ile aux Coudres, Baie St. Paul (I think) & other places along the way. Only thing we hated was getting stuck behind logging trucks crawling up the hills with a huge load of timber that was held by what seemed to us to be dangerously small chains! We kept imagining ourselves being buried under tons of logs on a remote road.

JAB

03-02-2004, 11:27 PM

Pam;

Don't fly, drive, or walk to buy your grey market receiver. Have it delivered to you and if it is only UL listed, don't plug it in!!

Don't buy Bayer stock.

I predict a long and prosperous life for you.

Soothsayer Al

pam

03-03-2004, 12:13 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>JAB : Don't buy Bayer stock.
Hi JAB

I bought Elan (ELN) stock a few years ago...

pam

03-03-2004, 12:21 AM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Rip Van Woofer : Now, would you please take back Celine Dion? <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>
Hi Rip

You bought Celine's disk, keep her. <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

BTW, you can ship us Janet <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/love.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':love:'>. As we have partly a french background, we have less problem with nudity (you should see publicity in France on telivision and in magazines).

The trick when you travel is Quebec is to learn 30 words of French. You try in French first and the person your talking to will switch to english to help you (most of us are bilingual). Actually, you just have to learn to say Excusez-moi (Ex-cue-zay-Moo-Ha) and people will hear the difference and will gladly help you.

Rob Babcock

03-03-2004, 05:52 PM

So I guess the French have no problem with washed up, no talent former pop-tarts either! <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':laugh:'>   Well, you're welcome to Celine and Janet!

pam

03-03-2004, 08:29 PM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Rob Babcock : So I guess the French have no problem with washed up, no talent former pop-tarts either!
Don't really know about the french (except Bireli Lagrene and Batiste Trotignon) but if you really want to know about french canadians, just come to the Montreal Jazz Festival: 10 days of Jazz, 300-400 shows. A lot of free shows.

I was not refering to the musical side of Janet...

Rip Van Woofer

03-03-2004, 09:32 PM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>pam : The trick when you travel is Quebec is to learn 30 words of French. You try in French first and the person your talking to will switch to english to help you (most of us are bilingual). Actually, you just have to learn to say Excusez-moi (Ex-cue-zay-Moo-Ha) and people will hear the difference and will gladly help you.
I usually try to learn a bit of the language no matter where I go, although Turkish and Bahasa Indonesia were tough!

Not to make anyone jealous (heh,heh), but right now I´m in Mexico on Isla Mujeres brushing up my tourist Spanish! Just landed today. Me and Mrs. will be here for nine days. We´re going to drive to Merida in the northwestern Yucatan later in the week and check that out for our first time.

Meanwhile my computer is shut down so my Website is down too, if anyone tries to visit my page.

Hasta la vista!

pam

03-06-2004, 05:30 AM

Hi

Panasonic DVD-F85: MRSP in Canada 379.99, MRSP in US: 149.99USD (or 199.99 CAD).

Difference 190%.

See below
DVD-F85 in US (http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&modelNo=DVD-F85K)
DVD-F85 in Canada (http://www.panasonic.ca/English/audiovideo/dvd/dvdf85.asp)

Clint DeBoer

03-06-2004, 04:07 PM

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>pam : Panasonic DVD-F85: MRSP in Canada 379.99, MRSP in US: 149.99USD (or 199.99 CAD).

Difference 190%.
WOW.

JAB

03-07-2004, 03:35 PM

In U.S.A.                In Canada

Broken Leg                 $6000 USD                  $0.00
Presciptions                 Lots  USD                up to 50% less
Cars (same models)      Expensive                   Cheaper
Taxes                        Outrageous                 Ditto
Quality of Life                Fair                         Tops in World
                                                                U.N. Survey

Ya win some and you loose some!!

pam

03-10-2004, 08:02 PM

Hi JAB

The broken leg is paid by value added taxes and income tax. Everything we buy in Quebec we must add: 7.5% on GST and 8% of PST. If I buy from US, I have to pay these tax, same as if I buy in Canada.

Also we have big income tax. Something like 40%-50%.

All of this covers the price of health care. About the medication, the reason it is lower is because it is also covered by Government so they can negotiate better prices.

Finally, health insurance has nothing to do with AV equipment surcharge in Canada.

zumbo

03-11-2004, 03:08 PM

Ah, I see we made it to healthcare! <img src="http://www.audioholics.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>

JAB

03-12-2004, 12:44 AM

Pam:

You are missing my point??? Agreed that A/V prices are lower  in the U.S., but we have a lot of advantages in other cost comparisons.

Also, see that I mentioned taxes were outrageous in both countries.

As you know, the Canadian government has been running a balanced budget for many years and actually paying down the debt. The U.S. has an huge escalating government debt (Iraq is expensive) that is going to haunt us in both countries.

Have you purchased your grey market receiver?

Al

pam

03-12-2004, 01:21 AM

No still looking.

For now I have two approach:
Expensive: A B-Stock AVR-5803 from an authorized dealer;

Less expensive:
- Yamaha 2400;
- Denon 3805;
- Outlaw combo (would allow to upgrade the controler without upgrading the amplifier which is the component that varies less in price and features).

I don't buy very often so I take my time. Also if I end up in US, I will buy from there...

pam

03-14-2004, 06:17 AM

One question.

Some people are talking about authorized dealers and the fact that an equipment manufacturers would
not honnor warranty on his own equipment if it did not went thru an authorized dealer...

What is the difference between a equipment maker that does not respect his warranty
because it has not gone thru authorized channels *(we are not talking about equipment that has been stolen)
and a father who does not recognize his child after making him/her.

You go to court with a DNA test and the father will be forced to pay for child support.

Or if you prefer, suppose a father makes a child in another country and does not recognize the child.