junctionist
Senior Member
Ebay is becoming more and more popular.
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- Thread starter Jarrek
- Start date
Ebay is becoming more and more popular.
afransen
Senior Member
Aren't our corporate tax rates actually lower than the US average?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
eBay has actually become considerably less popular amongst people who made a good living by buying antiques and collectibles cheaply in Canada when our buck was worth 65 or 75 cents and then selling them in U.S. dollars to online collectors. Back in the late '90's there was talk of international regulation of online businesses ( specifically, taxation issues ) but nothing happened. Recently, however, the CCRA has stated that they will take concerted action to claim undeclared tax.
vicente
New Member
Not the marginal corporate tax rate, which greatly discourages companies from investing in new technology. Why invest when most of the money you might make will go to the CCRA and not toward expanding your company? As a result, our companies stay technologically behind and unproductive.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
More retailers cut prices
Wal-Mart cuts more products to U.S. levels, Indigo offers deep discount ... LCBO blames its suppliers
Nov 01, 2007 04:30 AM
Dana Flavelle
business reporter
Shopping in Canada just got a bit cheaper. Again.
Amid rising evidence Canadian consumers are spending their soaring dollars south of the border, two major Canadian retailers announced price cuts aimed at keeping more shoppers at home.
Wal-Mart Canada Corp. said it would cut prices on books, magazines, gift wrap and greeting cards in all its Canadian stores to U.S. levels, effective today.
Also yesterday, Indigo Books and Music Inc. introduced a new price promotion that gives customers an additional 10 per cent to 20 per cent off their favourite book in its Indigo, Chapters and Coles stores.
Both moves came as the Canadian dollar hovers around its modern-day high and postal warehouses across Canada fill up with goods ordered from U.S. retailers.
"With the strength of the loonie leading some Canadians to consider U.S. shopping alternatives, we're creating a more compelling case for customers to shop and save with Wal-Mart Canada," said president and chief executive officer Mario Pilozzi.
Indigo said it cut prices for the same reason.
"We're hearing a lot of movement toward online shopping (and) we thought it was important in light of the disparity in the price printed on the (book) jacket, that ... beyond the fact that we've already seen prices come down, we have prices today that are at, or better than, the U.S. prices," Indigo spokesperson Lisa Huie explained yesterday.
It is the second time since the loonie hit $1 (U.S.) in value on Sept. 20 that major Canadian retailers have announced price cuts. Earlier, Wal-Mart Canada said it was rolling back its prices on more items than ever before, while Zellers announced permanent price reductions on thousands of items.
The moves come in response to consumer anger over the gap between prices in Canada and the U.S.
While the loonie has gained 22.6 per cent against the U.S. greenback so far this year, consumers report prices are in some cases 50 per cent to 60 per cent higher for identical goods on this side of the border.
Canadians have found the price gap on printed material particularly annoying because books, magazines, gift wrap and greeting cards come with both the U.S. and Canadian price already printed on them. An Oprah magazine is priced at $4.50 (U.S.) but $5.75 (Canadian), for example.
Indigo said the prices printed on book jackets are set by publishers, not retailers, often six months before the book hits store shelves, when the loonie was lower in value.
"We buy and sell books in Canadian dollars," said Joel Silver, Indigo's chief merchant, "and as such do not profit in any way from a strengthened Canadian dollar."
Canadian retailers are responding to mounting evidence consumers are making more purchases in the U.S.
Canada Post confirmed yesterday the number of parcels coming into Canada from U.S. retailers is soaring. Deliveries of U.S. parcels in Canada jumped nearly 18 per cent in September, stretching postal warehouses in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa to the limit.
Canada Post has had to add more staff and overtime shifts to deal with the deluge, spokesperson François Legault said.
Another retailer that says its suppliers largely set its prices is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. After federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty urged Canada's retailers last week to cut prices, the LCBO said it wrote to its suppliers asking them to pass on any savings.
Most of its foreign suppliers charge the LCBO in Canadian dollars, spokesperson Chris Layton noted, so any benefit in the exchange rate remains with the importer.
In the few instances where the LCBO purchases product directly in U.S. dollars, it has begun lowering the price of those products, Layton added.
Indigo said book prices have been falling over time as the Canadian currency rose. A new book that retails for $30 today would have hit store shelves six months ago at $35, the company said.
The retailer also noted it has lowered the price of 25,000 items in the past four months by 5 per cent to 30 per cent.
Indigo also released its latest sales results for the quarter ending Sept. 29, which included the release of the latest book in the hugely popular Harry Potter series. Sales grew 14.8 per cent to $209.2 million, the company said, while net earnings swung to $3.3 million from a loss of $1 million a year earlier.
Wal-Mart cuts more products to U.S. levels, Indigo offers deep discount ... LCBO blames its suppliers
Nov 01, 2007 04:30 AM
Dana Flavelle
business reporter
Shopping in Canada just got a bit cheaper. Again.
Amid rising evidence Canadian consumers are spending their soaring dollars south of the border, two major Canadian retailers announced price cuts aimed at keeping more shoppers at home.
Wal-Mart Canada Corp. said it would cut prices on books, magazines, gift wrap and greeting cards in all its Canadian stores to U.S. levels, effective today.
Also yesterday, Indigo Books and Music Inc. introduced a new price promotion that gives customers an additional 10 per cent to 20 per cent off their favourite book in its Indigo, Chapters and Coles stores.
Both moves came as the Canadian dollar hovers around its modern-day high and postal warehouses across Canada fill up with goods ordered from U.S. retailers.
"With the strength of the loonie leading some Canadians to consider U.S. shopping alternatives, we're creating a more compelling case for customers to shop and save with Wal-Mart Canada," said president and chief executive officer Mario Pilozzi.
Indigo said it cut prices for the same reason.
"We're hearing a lot of movement toward online shopping (and) we thought it was important in light of the disparity in the price printed on the (book) jacket, that ... beyond the fact that we've already seen prices come down, we have prices today that are at, or better than, the U.S. prices," Indigo spokesperson Lisa Huie explained yesterday.
It is the second time since the loonie hit $1 (U.S.) in value on Sept. 20 that major Canadian retailers have announced price cuts. Earlier, Wal-Mart Canada said it was rolling back its prices on more items than ever before, while Zellers announced permanent price reductions on thousands of items.
The moves come in response to consumer anger over the gap between prices in Canada and the U.S.
While the loonie has gained 22.6 per cent against the U.S. greenback so far this year, consumers report prices are in some cases 50 per cent to 60 per cent higher for identical goods on this side of the border.
Canadians have found the price gap on printed material particularly annoying because books, magazines, gift wrap and greeting cards come with both the U.S. and Canadian price already printed on them. An Oprah magazine is priced at $4.50 (U.S.) but $5.75 (Canadian), for example.
Indigo said the prices printed on book jackets are set by publishers, not retailers, often six months before the book hits store shelves, when the loonie was lower in value.
"We buy and sell books in Canadian dollars," said Joel Silver, Indigo's chief merchant, "and as such do not profit in any way from a strengthened Canadian dollar."
Canadian retailers are responding to mounting evidence consumers are making more purchases in the U.S.
Canada Post confirmed yesterday the number of parcels coming into Canada from U.S. retailers is soaring. Deliveries of U.S. parcels in Canada jumped nearly 18 per cent in September, stretching postal warehouses in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa to the limit.
Canada Post has had to add more staff and overtime shifts to deal with the deluge, spokesperson François Legault said.
Another retailer that says its suppliers largely set its prices is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. After federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty urged Canada's retailers last week to cut prices, the LCBO said it wrote to its suppliers asking them to pass on any savings.
Most of its foreign suppliers charge the LCBO in Canadian dollars, spokesperson Chris Layton noted, so any benefit in the exchange rate remains with the importer.
In the few instances where the LCBO purchases product directly in U.S. dollars, it has begun lowering the price of those products, Layton added.
Indigo said book prices have been falling over time as the Canadian currency rose. A new book that retails for $30 today would have hit store shelves six months ago at $35, the company said.
The retailer also noted it has lowered the price of 25,000 items in the past four months by 5 per cent to 30 per cent.
Indigo also released its latest sales results for the quarter ending Sept. 29, which included the release of the latest book in the hugely popular Harry Potter series. Sales grew 14.8 per cent to $209.2 million, the company said, while net earnings swung to $3.3 million from a loss of $1 million a year earlier.
khris
Senior Member
If it's not the retailer selling the book who's making the money, then who is it? The publisher?
299 bloor call control.
Senior Member
....and it continues -- $1.07
GregWTravels
Active Member
I saw Margret Atwood driving around in a Ferrari. I think we know where the money is going.
ganjavih
Senior Member
$1.07... what a perfect day to be flying to San Diego.
TrickyRicky
Senior Member
I don't mean to be a downer on the collective consumer euphoria over the dollar but I keep getting this itchy feeling that we are heading into a perfect storm of economic uncertainty. If the loonie remains high it is going to really start structurally impacting our economy 6 months out just at the same time as we might start seeing a decline in the real estate market, construction activity, commodity prices and corporate profits all at the same time. I guess what I mean is that Canadian consumers are getting a nice uplifting Christmas present but the economic story of next year both in the US and here might be dominated by the big R word.
On a completely unrelated side note I was looking at a wall chart on economic data and I noticed an interesting trend. Since 1950 the US has never been in recession when there has been a Democratic President in office, save once (thanks Jimmy Carter). So if you reckon that Hilary is next in line it's almost a given the US will slip into recession at some point in the next few years. The chart told me so.
On a completely unrelated side note I was looking at a wall chart on economic data and I noticed an interesting trend. Since 1950 the US has never been in recession when there has been a Democratic President in office, save once (thanks Jimmy Carter). So if you reckon that Hilary is next in line it's almost a given the US will slip into recession at some point in the next few years. The chart told me so.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
But Hillary is a Democrat.
Roy G Biv
Senior Member
Kind of.
ShonTron
Moderator
I'm buying a few books here in Baltimore that I held off on (and avoid putting money in Reisman's pockets). I now remind myself that with the credit card exchange rate, it's more like $1.04 or so, but it adds up. That's one sector where the bargains are really noticeable. I'm not in the market for any big-ticket items either.
ShonTron
Moderator
I think the US is already sliding into recession, thanks to several factors - the huge foreclosure rate, really prominent in Florida and Rust Belt regions, but also in California, Colorado and elsewhere that are doing relatively well. Consumer confidence is slipping. Michigan, Ohio and several other states are becoming economic basketcases. So it's on Bush 43's watch. Clinton 42 took office at the deep point of the early 1990s recession.
khris
Senior Member
So when are prices going to go up in the US?