Canada's stronger dollar ($1.05 U.S.) doesn't make much difference!

GF2 prices:

Henrys (Canada)

http://www.henrys.ca/63434-PANASONIC-DMC-GF2-BLACK-W-14-42-OIS-LENS.aspx

Best Buy (U.S.)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panason...337&skuId=2176035&st=panasonic lens&cp=1&lp=2

 

To add insult to injury, Best Buy in CANADA is $200 more, plus below,
the WORST memory prices I've seen in a while.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/pdp/10163462.aspx

 

Fixed U.S. Best Buy link:

http://tinyurl.com/3gnxncd

 

http://tinyurl.com/bestbuycagf2

Henry's prices are not the best in Canada. This has been discussed for
years, and years in re.photo.* The pricing in Canada vs. the USA have
little to do with the exchange rate. The retail and wholesale prices to
the dealers is created from the trade agreements that in this case
Panasonic Canada has made with Japan, vs Bestbuy USA agreements. I note
that Bestbuy Canada has the same price as Henry's. They are still $30
cheaper than Canada Camera.

 

On the subject of Canada Camera. It should be the other way round,
they should be $30 cheaper since they have no store or stock to look
at before making a purchase. That IMO, is worth an extra 10-15%. Some
photogs have suggest 20%.

 

Canada labour rates are higher - and the people who work in stores and
warehouses often receive minimum wage or a wage based on it:

- the minimum wage in Quebec is $9.65. (Lozeau, Photoservice)
- the minimum wage in Ontario is $10.25 (Henry's, Vistek)

And add a mandatory 4% to the above for vacation pay.

- the minimum wage in New York is $7.25. (B&H, Adorama, etc.)
- the minimum wage in California is $8.00. (K&S)

There is also the higher costs of operating a business in Canada which
amount to about $3000 / employee loaded onto the business (taxes,
contributions, etc.) as well as higher taxes in general. The similar
loads in the US are a sliver of that.

If a Canadian retailer settles in Canadian dollars, he will not be
receiving "breaks" from his suppliers.

For disposable income items, inventory purchased at a given price has to
wind out of the system before sticker prices reflect new inventory
purchased with a stronger dollar. It does not behave like a commodity
(instant signaling, price changes by the minute or second).

Canada has the population of California - yet is larger than the US.
Even discounting that to where most of Canadians live (within an hour or
2 of the US border) that makes for higher distribution costs.

I do note that the latest iMacs (released yesterday) have the same price
in Canada as in the US. But Apple have not revised Canadian pricing on
their other systems (laptops, mini, etc.).

 

Really? What's the price of health care premiums to businesses in the
U.S. compared to Canada?

 

There is no designated cost of health care premiums for a business in
the US. Any portion of the health care premium picked up by the
employers is a voluntary policy set by the business. No business is
required to provide a health care premium subsidy. (However, if they
provide it for some, they have to provide it for all workers in the
same classification.)

Your question is not entirely out-of-line, though. If the business
does not provide the benefit of a subsidized health care program, it
will have to pay enough to attract employees who will be paying for
their own health care.

For a true comparison, other factors like cost of living and income
tax rates should be factored in.

 

That sort of nulls out. In Canada, larger companies offer dental, drug
and other insurance plans as well as matching (50% - 100% typical) RSP
contributions (akin to 401k), and so on. That is in the competition to
get and retain more valuable employees. Depending on the company the
amount the employee contributes the plans changes - in most cases tax
deductible. I've worked for co's where the co. paid everything,
contributed to a pension plan (that they did not control) and would also
match 100% of your additional contributions up to 4% of your gross.
(tax deductible for both parties, of course). It was kind of silly to
not max that out!

The basic fact, regardless of RichA's idiocy, is the cost per employee
for a company in Canada is higher than in the US - this includes, but
goes beyond wages.

Most provincial health systems take the money out of general funds. eg:
it is not a separate line item on revenues. (occupational health ins.
premiums aside).

 

The top sales people at Henry's can make CAD $45K, how do you think they
can do that with a 15% mark-up on cameras. It's the extended warranties
and $500+ lenshoods.

 

Really? What's the price of health care premiums to businesses in the
U.S. compared to Canada?

 

"Mike" wrote in message

The top sales people at Henry's can make CAD $45K, how do you think they
can do that with a 15% mark-up on cameras. It's the extended warranties
and $500+ lenshoods.

 

Where this really matters is in the cost of oil. Canada is the #1 plac
we get oil from. If the dollar drops below theirs we cannot purchase a
much oil for the same amount of money. This drives up the cost o
everything

 

Canadian oil from Alberta is 50% or more derived from bituminous sands
(tarsands) and sells at a low price due to its inherent "dirtyness" and
high sulphur content. I haven't checked the prices recently but it's
typically around 2/3 of the price of quality crudes (Texas Intermediate,
Libyan light and so on). It's more expensive to refine and the yield
(product) is a little less than the higher quality crude oils.

But in any case, the US uses about 1/4 of the world's oil. This is
partly justified by the economic output of the US.

But it is not justified by the very low taxation on oil products, the
abusive waste of it.

What should interest you more is that Exxon has a lot oil in its foreign
and domestic reserves, yet they are running their refineries at low
volume to increase scarcity and increase profits (this will be a record
quarter in a record year).

What is most disturbing about that is that Exxon (and others) are
EXPORTING refined product (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel) from the US to
South America, Europe and Asia.

eg: they are creating scarcity (low output) at home AND adding to the
scarcity by exporting refined product from that low output!

In the meantime, while you're paying (what you believe are) high prices
for gas, the US government is subsidizing those profits AND going on
expensive military adventures to secure future oil sources from overseas...

To boot, the US government subsidizes ethanol ($0.45 per gallon!!!!) if
it is made from US corn. Problem with that is that it is at best and
energy neutral proposition (you put so much effort into it energy wise,
that you hardly make an energy return). And ethanol returns about 20%
less energy per gallon than gasoline - but is not proportionately
cheaper despite the subsidy. AND the US government has a heavy tariff on
foreign ethanol. This is to protect against Brazil who make ethanol
from sugar cane - that makes an energy profit.

Further still while even leading GOP members agree that the US ethanol
subsidy makes no sense they refuse to vote it out - too many votes from
the heartland get senators into their precious seats, 6 years at a time.
Not that congressman from Ohio would screw with it either.

There is one single way to save money on gasoline: USE LESS OF IT.

 

Canadian oil from Alberta is 50% or more derived from bituminous sands
(tarsands) and sells at a low price due to its inherent "dirtyness" and
high sulphur content. I haven't checked the prices recently but it's
typically around 2/3 of the price of quality crudes (Texas Intermediate,
Libyan light and so on). It's more expensive to refine and the yield
(product) is a little less than the higher quality crude oils.