Cross The Border??

[Fubar]

Just for shits and giggles I decided to see if Canadian industries were lowering their prices as a reflection on the current dollar situation....Right now the Canadian dollar is worth a 1.03 in the US, so in other words, our dollar is worth more. Economist predict it will stay that way for the next 6 months.....so as Canucks we are expecting some great price reductions from imported products.....


NOPE!!! Big Screen TV's, Cars, you name it....the Canadian Industries are not passing along the savings, their just increasing their margins...I've heard folks payin anywhere from 6-14 thousand dollars less on new vehicles state side.....

example from best buy:

Panasonic - 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV in States: $2799 In Canada: $5999

just something to think about.my fellow Canucks??

[Kagan]

Interesting post. We joined my mother and sister in Toronto for Thanksgiving and crossing into Canada on Friday was a breeze. Delay of about 5 minutes. Going south was packed. Looked like an hour's wait.

Crossing back on Monday sucked. The traffic heading stateside was lined up all the way to where the QEW ends at the Peace Bridge. Took us over an hour to get through. 90% of the plates were Ontario.

It doesn't look good for the Ontario tourism dollar, nor does it look good for Ontario's retailers.

No matter how you slice it, shopping with a strong Canadian dollar in the U.S. is the smart choice. I had forgotten how much I hate paying GST.

My brother-in-law did make a funny observation. He asked "If a magazine says $13.99 CDN and $8.99 US, can I just pay the $8.99 in US currency and leave?"

[Blackpearlultra]

We where just talking about this the other day and the consensus was basically what Fub said . You would think there would be price parity to go along with the dollar parity. I know one guy that went to Michigan and bought a vehicle there and saved over $10000. The only issue with that is that he must take it back to Michigan for any warranty issues.

[Fubar]

I think the border states are gonna have a real good Christmas season....the free market always wins<and usually makes things right>

Oh and just lkicks I checked HD

New fatboy US 17175

New Fatboy Canada 19,129

Much better, and it may take some time to work the dollar through the purchases state side for the dealers....there usually pretty good at reflectong the dollar....but hell we have been near parity for 6 months...I guess will wait and see.<for the record don't buy new...oh never mind LOL>

[mrpiff]

You're right Fubar, the free market will eventually balance things out. Everyone from manufactureres to retailers have been charging more in Canadian for so long that it will take longer than normal I think, with the corporations sucking up the lions share of the extra profit.

[Swyney]

Originally Posted by Kagan

My brother-in-law did make a funny observation. He asked "If a magazine says $13.99 CDN and $8.99 US, can I just pay the $8.99 in US currency and leave?"

Someone tried this the other day, had US dollars to pay, no deal, can ONLY pay the Canadian price !

[d.n.f.]

It is starting to change. You will see it in consumer electronics probably post holiday season. Just don't expect any miracles.

Zellers (HBC) just announced they will be dropping prices on US goods.

Surprisingly Harley Canada has been dropping prices due to the lowering US dollar for about four years now (on new bikes). I doubt they have or will on parts.



As the Canadian retailers like to say, screw when you can and screw them often.

And higher CDN dollar should be here for the next two or so years. Expect 1.05

[shell]

I stopped at Harley shop yesterday and someone there told me they had been dropping prices on everything in the store. I did'nt see that much of a difference

[speed]

We are doing our xmas shopping in upstate NY and going to Daytona for a week after Christmas. I also brought a ton of stuff home from Biketoberfest last month.

Everybody works on JIT (just in time) these days and the argument that it takes months for price reductions to hit retail channels is a crock of shit.

With regards to cars STG would know better than the rest of us. From the time you see raw materials and parts arrive to the time it takes to bang a new vehicle out on the line how much time transpires Shell?

SM

[shell]

Basically all parts are JIT Tomorrow my day we do nothing basically I'll see if I can find out some details. But most get unloaded off trucks and taken right to the line. We do have some inventory for just in case shit hits the fan but most is JIT