Automaton and other Canadian stores and US Dollars

[Goaliebot]

Originally Posted by supafly

The Canadian government sodomizing us @ customs sure isn't patriotic. Some will say that they need to charge X for X reasons but it's not consistent and I heard stories of custom fees being crazy. My own postman said he delivered shoes to a lady and the fees were more than the shoes. That's my opinion on patriotism.

Also, a lot of Canadian stores want to tap the country south of us which outnumbers us 10 to 1.. Hell, ages 3 and up offers free shipping to the US but not inside Canada. Capitalism and patriotism don't go together at all.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's patriotic to buy from Canadian sellers, I'm saying it's not unpatriotic for canadian TF sellers to list in US dollars. Nor is it based on greed.
That's all.

[Scrapper6]

Originally Posted by supafly

The Canadian government sodomizing us @ customs sure isn't patriotic. Some will say that they need to charge X for X reasons but it's not consistent and I heard stories of custom fees being crazy. My own postman said he delivered shoes to a lady and the fees were more than the shoes. That's my opinion on patriotism.

Also, a lot of Canadian stores want to tap the country south of us which outnumbers us 10 to 1.. Hell, ages 3 and up offers free shipping to the US but not inside Canada. Capitalism and patriotism don't go together at all.

Originally Posted by Einstein

Yeah that really irks me...

Uh, you guys do realize that it typically costs 15-20$ to ship between provinces right? Flat rate fees being charged to us is technically the seller eating some of the cost of shipping.

Unless they get deals for being e-tailers and shipping so much during the year. But I'm not about to open up that kettle of fish.

Hell the only reason Amazon can offer free shipping isn't because they're doing us a solid, it's customer PR and also they're volume is large enough to actually cover the loss of free shipping. Why the hell do you think TRU.ca raised their limit from 25 to 49? They obviously weren't making enough to justify the lower amount.

[supafly]

Originally Posted by Scrapper6

Uh, you guys do realize that it typically costs 15-20$ to ship between provinces right? Flat rate fees being charged to us is technically the seller eating some of the cost of shipping.

Fair enough but why is it free when shipped to the US? What are we, chopped liver? If the store has some kind of deal with whatever courrier where they can ship to the US for free, then I'll say it's all good.

[supafly]

Originally Posted by Goaliebot

Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's patriotic to buy from Canadian sellers, I'm saying it's not unpatriotic for canadian TF sellers to list in US dollars. Nor is it based on greed.
That's all.

I agree with you fellow TF enthousiast

[Shockwave 75]

Originally Posted by canprime

In general the customer, who has the money, doesn't give a rat's ass about your explanation. Yes some customers are willing to listen and understand the situation. However the averagecustomer doesn't care. Price is the determining factor and all your explanations fall on deaf ears.

THIS ↑↑↑↑

Canprime is right. I DON'T CARE about all the reasons to charge in USD. I understand them all, and see why it happens, but I don't care.

As a customer, when I see a Canadian e-tailer charging me in USD, I feel like I'm getting ripped off.
I'm not accusing anyone of ripping us off, nor do I actually think anyone is, but that's how I feel.

Pre-orders aside, which can be complicated, I still don't see why, especially as someone pointed out earlier, that since it wouldn't be ethical to raise the price on an item just because the dollar fluctuates, why these sites just don't list the items in Canadian dollars? I have not really seen a good argument against doing this.

[Scrapper6]

Originally Posted by Shockwave 75

THIS ↑↑↑↑

Canprime is right. I DON'T CARE about all the reasons to charge in USD. I understand them all, and see why it happens, but I don't care.

As a customer, when I see a Canadian e-tailer charging me in USD, I feel like I'm getting ripped off.
I'm not accusing anyone of ripping us off, nor do I actually think anyone is, but that's how I feel.

Pre-orders aside, which can be complicated, I still don't see why, especially as someone pointed out earlier, that since it wouldn't be ethical to raise the price on an item just because the dollar fluctuates, why these sites just don't list the items in Canadian dollars? I have not really seen a good argument against doing this.

In the global retailing world, if you want to attract a larger customer base, you don't offer the option of a currency that isn't trading high on the list right now.

If you want to maintain/stay in business you have to do things to stay competitive against the giant e-tailers like Amazon.

Why do they charge in USD? Because that is the largest currency currently on the market, or at least one of them. More investors believe in the USD because the US has like a billion or three more people than us.

Economically speaking their dollar is more favorable.

In order to compete properly in the global market (which online is) smaller e-tailers either go bankrupt or go US because that's the only options open to them.

We may hate it, we may understand it to some degree, we may even choose to go elsewhere to spend the money we earn with a more favorable cost. Quite frankly it doesn't matter what we do, it matters with what our neighbours across the globe do.

Do they order at small online e-tailers like Automaton and A3U? Who can say, I don't have those numbers. But if it's the only e-tailer offering an item that you currently want at a price you're interested in than you're damn right you're going to pay. Or their going to pay, or whatever.

Hollywood makes fun of it all the time, but don't be surprised if our currency eventually loses all value and we're forced to deal exclusively with USD and Eurasian equivalents.

Canada has a decent economy right now, in certain ways, but it still can go to hell in a handbasket right quick.

And we all seem to forget that e-tail is a global retail kind of thing, it's not about brick and mortar, it's about reaching out and attracting business across the entire planet.

If that isn't a good enough reason for them to be charging everybody in the current strongest currency of North America, than I don't know what else is. You certainly won't see them charging us in lesser denominations like pesos or something.

[elburrito]

Canadian business operating in USD in Canada sure feels unpatriotic to me. As for the army, everyone probably could benefit from a year or two (or maybe be permanently emotionally scarred). I don't know. This thread is interesting.

Originally Posted by CanBot

Unpatriotic?...wow, I guess I should buy everything from Canada, I suppose? Exercising choice, now that's patriotic. Hell, what's next, I gotta join the army for two years too? This thread is becoming a farce, one patriot at a time.

[Slayback]

Originally Posted by supafly

Fair enough but why is it free when shipped to the US? What are we, chopped liver? If the store has some kind of deal with whatever courrier where they can ship to the US for free, then I'll say it's all good.

It's not free shipping - it's free shipping when they spend over 200USD - and other US based companies have free shipping over 150$. Shipping within the US is different than within Canada. You can draw your own conclusions.

Thanks for the support guys -much appreciated.

[venksta]

Originally Posted by supafly

Fair enough but why is it free when shipped to the US? What are we, chopped liver? If the store has some kind of deal with whatever courrier where they can ship to the US for free, then I'll say it's all good.

Ages ships their US orders through USPS, which has way cheaper rates shipping within the United States, then Canada Post offers shipping within our own country. If you look up the differences, their quite huge. Something that Canada Post may charge $10 to ship to the next province over, would only cost $5 to ship anywhere within the US.

I also wouldn't be surprised if some of the larger Canadian online stores being discussed, have a bigger US customer base than actual Canadians.

[CdnCollector420]

I think when in Canada or .ca, charge in Canadian currency. If you'd like an international business, use .com instead. If you are running your business in Canada, keep your sales in Canadian funds.

I am the GM of a Canadian "Mom and Pops" type retail chain, and we charge in , you guessed it, Canadian dollars. Sometimes we take a hit on the dollar, and sometimes we have to charge more for our products because of a weak dollar, BUT our customers have been loyal to us because of the service and knowledge we offer.

Some consumers are looking for bottom line, others for quality /experience. I would think that if a consumer were looking online to make a purchase, and they choose to shop to at .ca site, that they would be expecting to do business in Canada, with Canadian currency. I have dealt with a few retailers from around the world for my personal collection, and have been willing to pay more to support the Canadian economy.

I think if you want to be an American business, with American money, you should move to America and open shop there. We're in Canada, and we need to keep our dollar strong, not feed an economy that doesn't help our own.


Just my 2 cents and nothing personal directed to anyone in particular.


"When in Rome........."