Canadians are buying product way off the real retail prices?

[bdidol]

This is my 3rd year in Canada. And so far I strongly believe that. The retail and other stores always overpriced their item, and during sale days they are still managing their profits. Not to mention the differences in price of the same products in different stores.

I don't see so far any Canadian Consumer Organizations working to prevent this and protect consumer rights.

In this way we are happy to buy an item, which original retail price should be 10$ for 30$ and still pretty happy when we buy it for 15$.

[khipson]

I'll give you that. When I lived in the US for a while I was wowed by the sales... stores up here just don't try as hard.

But having said that - the US is a WAY bigger marketplace in terms of population base, and there is definitely more competition. If we had a JC Penney, then Sears, Reitman's, etc would have to work harder on their end-of-season sales. If we had a [insert here the drugstore that does triple coupon days] then you can bet Shopper's would be trying harder.

Just a thought, anyway...

[improperganda]

I think your right when you say we pay way too much for things here in Canada. You have to shop around alot to find a fair price these days.

[kerrylj]

I do think that is the case. I believe that part of it is the in the US there are far more customers so they can get away with making less on each customer because they get the volume of sales. Also here there are more costs involved in transportation to many locations across the country. Of course the market also bears these prices so they want to get as much as they can for the items so why charge less?

I do think we also pay alot more in taxes and that makes thing much more expensive. I am always shocked at the deals I see people can get in the US.

[julie.leeds]

You want to see overpriced...Shop in the UK!

I haven't really been over to the states lately even with the dollar being nearly par because I just don't see a great deal of savings on their regular priced item. Granted sale prices are amazing but unless you know where to find what you want on sale when you want it I find it hit and miss.

(sometimes we will go to see what we can find that is different...but we only buy it if we think its worth the price they are asking)

[khipson]

I do think we also pay alot more in taxes and that makes thing much more expensive.

DEFINITELY!! Sales tax in NS used to be 19% between the provincial and federal taxes. When I was in the States and the tax rate was only like 5%, I would always be looking at my receipt, thinking the cashier had missed something or made a mistake.

[anisa]

in the states, ppl also buy a lot more often.
they buy a new wardrobe every season, just to stay trendy. they might live in an awful apartment, in a not so great part of town, but they spend a lot of money on throw away stuff.

[lekate]

They also don't have health care, which we pay for, through our taxes.

[mulock]

" Sales tax in NS used to be 19% between the provincial and federal taxes."

When was it 19%? I have lived here all my life and the highest I saw was 15%. But I do all my shopping online via US retailers to avoid paying the inflated Canadian prices and taxes.

[anisa]

i used to live 20 min from the US border.
on the states side, there were 2 outlet malls and a regular mall and plenty of other shopping within 40 min of my house. had a pass where i could just drive thru the border, and not have to line up.

i RARELY bought things in the states, because there weren't significant savings.
and yes i had an easy time sneaking things over without paying duty, cause my aunt lived on the US side, just on the other side of the border.

the only thing i bought regularly was my chuck taylors, cause we didn't have a converse outlet where i lived. oh, and hair dye, cause they had "beauty supply shops" where you could buy more colors.

this is also when the canadian dollar was about 85-92 cents US, so not a horribly bad exchange rate.

[newb]

I`ve always wondered that if they`re turning a profit at a 70% off sale just how much are they making at regular price??

[anisa]

I`ve always wondered that if they`re turning a profit at a 70% off sale just how much are they making at regular price??

i've mentioned this before

a few years ago, on tv there was a guy commenting on the news i think about retail and sales.

he said that the markup is so great on retail, that for clothing and such, you're not really getting a deal until the item is marked down 60-70 percent off, meaning that these 25-30 percent off sales are really nothing, they are still making more than adequate money. if you buy at regular prices, you may as well just be making a donation to the company

[Woofy]

Look on the bright side....

Because of the higher prices and taxes here in Canada, we Canadians have to think twice before plunking our hard earned dollars for stuff, thereby, making us less consumeristic and materialistic, and inadvertently, more environmentally conscious...

[lekate]

Look on the bright side....

Because of the higher prices and taxes here in Canada, we Canadians have to think twice before plunking our hard earned dollars for stuff, thereby, making us less consumeristic and materialistic, and inadvertently, more environmentally conscious...

Yea, I doubt anyone here cares about that.

[bdidol]

i've mentioned this before

a few years ago, on tv there was a guy commenting on the news i think about retail and sales.

he said that the markup is so great on retail, that for clothing and such, you're not really getting a deal until the item is marked down 60-70 percent off, meaning that these 25-30 percent off sales are really nothing, they are still making more than adequate money. if you buy at regular prices, you may as well just be making a donation to the company

I this its very true..