Canada v.s. U.S. pricing
 

Why are U.S. prices on electronics generally cheaper than Canada? Give your thoughts.

more producer's right there.

Heh.. no... the producers are mostly in China.

There are a few big reasons... but I'll let people give their opinions first before chiming in.

Lets try and keep this civil though...

- The US has approx. 10 times the market size and much more $$$ in general, bigger market -- more buying power....

- Canada places restrictions (duties) duties on some products.

- Also, distributors pay shipping, brokerage and GST on the "purchasing" amount on top of exchange.

- Finally, the Canadian Distributor also has to incur the costs of their own warranty service...

who does canada have.... kaption and ultimate...
who do the states have?
dd, chronic, american bass. 3 is more then 2:P

U.s Bad/cnd Good

actually canadian prices and american prices are almost the same. Internet prices are cheap. Go to a local shop in the US and see, they aren't cheap.

I think one of the biggest reasons is due to market size. The states sells for whatever reasons (larger population, duty free, etc). Almost all electronics (especially computer equipment and car audio) are cheaper in the US than Canada. As far as buying online...

...there is a trade off to both. Not saying either is better, but they both have their advantages and disadvantages. You will definitely get better customer service and warranty support locally (*in most cases*), but you will save money buying online (*however lacking in the support department*).

For me personally, I buy online and take more chances since I'm in college and short on cash, and my local shops don't carry a lot of the stuff I buy (ex/ cdt or fi audio), or are outrageous in their prices (ex/ my pg xenon 5.25 comp set was under 150 new on ebay, shipped, taxes, duties, etc, and my local shop wanted 400 plus tax for the set off the sound board with no warranty).

My buddy is the car audio manager over at visions in town, and is a great guy to deal with from what I've seen and heard, but some of the other shops in town have outrageous prices, and wouldn't even bother to ask if I wanted a hand with anything, which lead me to buy the majority of my stuff online. Long story short, once I'm out of school and actually have some real cheddar, I plan on supporting my buddy and other shops that offer good customer service and solid warranty.

...Bottom line is that customers must decide what is more important to them (price vs. support) and local venders need to provide the additional services that make it worthwhile for the consumer to invest a little extra.

:cAnada:

I'll agree with arguement about market size, but that's not all of it.

Canada has import duties, varies for different stuff and depends mostly on where its coming from.

Goods made in US, thoretically are free of import duties, under the NAFTA.
But you get hit with brokerage charges and have to pay canadian and provincial sales tax. Dealers have to buy through distributors, who buy through importers who also need to make a profit.

China, japan, tiawan etc. all have high duties, just as they do in the U.S. Buying power gives U.S. better prices. Importers & distributors make better money than retail stores. Internet sales are cheaper because of low overhead & high volume. Internet retailers only make a few points margin, but it doesn't cost them anything to sell you something they don't even have to have. Usually when they say 'in-stock', it means its in stock at somebody elses' warehouse.

The exception is european stuff. Cheaper here in Canada than the U.S.
Blaupunkt is a good example. UK stuff is cheaper here than in the U.S.

I went to my local audio shop, I try to buy local, for an antenna filter. (I had a post up about am radio noise).
He doesn't stock them. He looked it up on the internet, and told me Crutchfield stocks them. They don't ship to canada, so I made my first e-bay purchase(CarXTC?). It was a pain signing up, and shipping will cost as much as the 7.99 filter, then i'll pay customs and taxes, and someday i'll get the item.

buying online is hard tho, brokers fees, custom fees, fees are up the ying yang. The easiest think i find is to. Buy something online from the states and have it sent to faimily or a friend out their using the cheepest shipping. Then have that person send it back to you. This way u can cut some of the costs as well no extra fees only cuz it a gift from some....lolol. any one agree?

Last time i went to the states and bought one of my amps. I istalled it in the parking lot then crossed back.... anything to declare.....NOPE!:thumbsup:

You have a lot to learn....

DD subs are made in the US.. but their amps are made in China or Korea
Chronic is basically Atomic.. which is owned by SJA, which is made in China
American Bass buys all of their sub parts from SJA also, which is China.. their amps come from Korea.

So... you were saying? :eyes:

"Last time i went to the states and bought one of my amps. I istalled it in the parking lot then crossed back.... anything to declare.....NOPE!"

I like that idea, I was riding back on my motorcycle from the states a few years ago, and at the border back to Canada they asked me if I had any meat or produce I was bringing back. Yeah, I have a half a beef on the back seat of my crotch rocket...WTF?

Damn bikers always stealin fresh produce and whatnot...

If I buy locally, what kind of services and/or support should I expect?

The day that you try and sneak back into Canada with something that has not been declared and the customs officers get suspicous and impound your car is the day that you might think twice about doing what you said you did.

^^ so true

fry`s!
 

when i was in vegas i stopped in fry`s electronics. their prices were very reasonalble and they had a least three asiles of amps speakers and decks.

i have never seen anything like that in canada, sorry to say

yea unfortunatly the US has a lot more money floating around and they can afford to do that :thumbsdow

EXACTLY, not worth the risk. I always try to buy local, and if it's not
available or whacky price, then I hit eBay but search Canada first, if not
available then US last due to shipping, duty, taxes etc etc.

I agree, although I think you are slightly off on your penalty.
I dont believe they impound you for improperly declared goods unless you cant afford, or otherwise refuse to pay the duty.

Either way, not a good situation to be in, as Im sure they make some sort of notation of your name.

I prefer to have items sent to friends in the states, then forwarded on to me.

Actually he is pretty bang on. They do impound vehicles all the time because of this.

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I would say its cheaper in the US because it comes from China, goes to the US and then comes to Canada...this means that we are paying all of these taxes and duties and shipping charges twice to get the product here and all of these things are subject to mark-up by the end of the stream, plus there is an extra middle man known as the Canadian distrivutor who has to make money...if we were importing things directly from China instead of buying Chinese products through the US we would save alot of money...those that are doing that though just raise their prices to match the 90% of brands that don't

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and about eh border impounding your car they don't do that...they wil confiscate the merchandise though. I know this cause when I brought my Hifonics Cyclops amps over I actually declared them for the price I paid but when they pulled me over to pay they called hifonics who said each amp was worth 5 grand and I paid nowhere near that for a pair so they started verbally abusing me and put me in the little room and interogated me etc. it was scary but at the end of it I left with my amps

sorry bro but I work in customs and the only reason why the would impound his vehicle is if he had drugs in it. audio equipment...they would confiscate it if the cus didn't have the money to pay the taxes and duties if applicable. They don't confiscate vehicles for minor infractions like that.

Well you can tell me that all you want but I have seen it first hand a vehicle get impounded and sold at auction do to a set of tires and booze believe it or not. I believe they make they own rules and nothing is set in stone. I think it all depends on the agents and there mood. So yes I believe some have gotten away with the equipment seized and a slap on the wrist. But it wouldn't be me.