Automaton and other Canadian stores and US Dollars

[Slayback]

This is why i see stores using CAD stores using USD - and this is why i did it with the WarDog from Badcube. Almost all stores have to deal with suppliers or manufacturers who will only deal in USD funds. If i am selling figure x that i purchased in USD - and i convert into CAD - and the CAD $$ drops again or fluctuates even remotely - i'm going to be taking a hit, so that when i have to buy stock again - i have to convert to USD funds - at a lower rate. I'm losing $$. This isnt a few $$s but can be hundreds to thousands of $$ depending on my intake. So as a store - i'm suddenly out a chunk of $$ that can be used for anything and everything.

As for people who purchase overseas or shop for the best pricing - all the more power to you. you earn your $$ so spend it the way you want to.
Personally i dont mind spending with Canadians because in the end - if they disappear it will make me purchasing goods that much more difficult. Why would i purchase from an american shop when i can support my local economy or another local dealer?

[ccsquinty]

Originally Posted by Einstein

You guys are forgetting one think, the banks charge you a fee to convert your money to US funds, so does your credit cards.

By Canadian retailers charging us in US funds we do pay more.

They should offer to send us our bills in Canadian funds, they can find out the exchange rate very easily at the time they send an invoice.

I personally prefer to shop where I get

the best price, lately that is overseas.

Go and apply for a chase amazon visa...cdn

No foreign exchange service fee
No annual fee

It's the best card to make purchases in foreign currency

[Pgianos]

Originally Posted by mcfmullen

The reason is guarantee of not getting caught by duty fees.

Still never been.hit from.customs buying Lots from.overseas.... worth the risk

[bubbacon]

Personally, I lost interest in Automaton when they converted to U.S. funds. To me, if you're a canadian retailer, use canadian funds.
Having said that, I like Automaton and have had only great service from Mario so nothing personal there.

[Einstein]

Originally Posted by Slayback

This is why i see stores using CAD stores using USD - and this is why i did it with the WarDog from Badcube. Almost all stores have to deal with suppliers or manufacturers who will only deal in USD funds. If i am selling figure x that i purchased in USD - and i convert into CAD - and the CAD $$ drops again or fluctuates even remotely - i'm going to be taking a hit, so that when i have to buy stock again - i have to convert to USD funds - at a lower rate. I'm losing $$. This isnt a few $$s but can be hundreds to thousands of $$ depending on my intake. So as a store - i'm suddenly out a chunk of $$ that can be used for anything and everything.

As for people who purchase overseas or shop for the best pricing - all the more power to you. you earn your $$ so spend it the way you want to.
Personally i dont mind spending with Canadians because in the end - if they disappear it will make me purchasing goods that much more difficult. Why would i purchase from an american shop when i can support my local economy or another local dealer?

You know an invoice can be done up the moment an item sells and be converted directly to CND dollars then right?

[Bruticus82]

With the way the Canadian dollar has been fluctuating lately (now below 80 cents US) charging in US dollars is really just a way of the retailers trying to insulate themselves against currency fluctuations because their costs are in US dollars and their sales are otherwise in Canadian dollars.

If they put a preorder up and tell everyone the cost will be $100 Canadian (including their markup), and then in the months between preorder time and billing time the exchange rate fluctuates and the price would actually be $110 Canadian (i.e. the difference between September 2014 and February 2015), that $10 comes out of their own profit. That cuts into their margins. Imagine that happens on every preorder they have.

By charging in US dollars they know they will make back their US dollar cost, and make a US dollar margin, without worrying about the exchange rate eroding their profit margin.

Yes, we might pay a small amount more for conversion from Canadian to US dollars, but it gives them the pricing certainty they need to stay in business.

Remember, these are not large multinationals that can hedge currency bets. These are small stores where the hit of an unexpected downturn in the Canadian dollar can really hit them hard.

To the person above me who says an invoice can be done up at the time a person sells - yes, Automaton could charge you at the exact time of the pre-order, the full amount in Canadian dollars, convert that to US and be guaranteed that they will pay their supplier and make their US dollar profit margin. But Automaton, like some stores, does not charge you for the pre-order unless it comes in stock.

So which would you rather have, pay in US dollars, or pay up front on pre-order items?

[mcfmullen]

Originally Posted by Pgianos

Still never been.hit from.customs buying Lots from.overseas.... worth the risk

Not worth the risk. One hit is 50$. I'd rather pay the minimal discrepancy 50 times over in a year than get hit once by duties.

[Nguyennh]

Originally Posted by mcfmullen

Not worth the risk. One hit is 50$. I'd rather pay the minimal discrepancy 50 times over in a year than get hit once by duties.

it really depends. the lowest ive been hit with is 30 and the most ive been hit with is 60.

And i prefer to take the risk all the time now and i used to shop with automaton as well.

I gave up when our dollar dropped to .80 on the dollar and realized it was only .97ish on the dollar in Japanese Yen.

Sometimes even with conversion from yen and a tax hit, it was still cheaper then paying USD + tax + shipping from A3U or automaton

[Slayback]

Originally Posted by Einstein

You know an invoice can be done up the moment an item sells and be converted directly to CND dollars then right?

Not sure how "an invoice can be done up the moment an item sells and be converted directly to CND dollars" protects a company if the Canadian dollar drops. if you have X USD to pay for inventory - and it is converted to CAD funds when you sell the item - and the CAD $ goes down; you still have to purchase in USD$ funds for your next wave of inventory. so now you have less cad funds to convert to USD.

[Einstein]

Originally Posted by Slayback

Not sure how "an invoice can be done up the moment an item sells and be converted directly to CND dollars" protects a company if the Canadian dollar drops. if you have X USD to pay for inventory - and it is converted to CAD funds when you sell the item - and the CAD $ goes down; you still have to purchase in USD$ funds for your next wave of inventory. so now you have less cad funds to convert to USD.

Let me clarify what I meant.

For example, let's say I have an online store. You place an order for a TF that is priced at say 100 USD. We are both in Canada.

You add the item to the cart and check out. At the time of check out when you are paying, you have the option to select payment in USD or CND.

You decide to pay in CND so as not to incur any conversion fees from your bank or credit card.

It's all just coding and deciding which currencies for payment you will accept. I'm not talking about the dollar fluxuating in the months between a preorder and payment. Again when payment comes around the store simply converts that 100 USD to CND and sends you the invoice, at which time you pay. The store isn't out any money and I've allowed my fellow Canadian's to pay in their own currency.

That was what I meant, does that help understanding of my point? I tried to be as clear as I could.