Subject:
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Re: Hey TrainHeads ! The SuperChief is on Lego's site! (item 10020)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
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Date:
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Thu, 21 Feb 2002 18:09:39 GMT
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Viewed:
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628 times
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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> But what I think you're getting at is that some companies price things in
> Canada in a way to hit the target market they are aiming for rather than as
> a straight translation.
> OK. I agree with you.
Another way to see it is that Canadian companies price retail items to match
the Canadian market, because they do business in Canada, and all the numbers
work out that way-because they pay Canadian taxes, buy from Canadian
suppliers, and have to work with Canadian distributors and retailers--in
Canadian dollars. American companies probably don't realize this because
they are just shipping a product to Canada, thinking we're the 51st state :)
> But for other things, the price is skewed the other way, whether it be for
> tax reasons or whatever. Price cigs or gas in Canada. Much of the time they
> are much much higher. But the government of Canada makes it hard for
> Canadians to exploit those differentials when they exist in the other direction.
Actually, yes, it's for taxation. And for very good reason-unlike America,
where the quality of your healthcare is directly proportional to how much
money you have, Canadians pay for universal healthcare. We don't want to
pay for people dying of lung cancer or watch our young people seduced by Joe
Camel, so we deliberately tax cigarettes to death up here in Canada and use
the money to fund antismoking programs. Gas taxes are (well supposed to be)
used for infrastructure spending. So, it makes sense to make sure Canadians
can't import (well, nothing short of smuggling across native reserves)
cigarettes or gas up here without paying back to Canadian society somehow.
> So you Canadians are kind of getting a raw deal. But it's a bigger issue
> than just LEGO I think. However, feel free to try to convince LEGO to change
> their pricing to hit that value oriented bargain shopper. The problem is,
> for a limited edition item, why should they? (what is their motivation to do
> so?)
There isn't one at all, other than to lose Canadian sales opportunities. I
know Allen Bedford doesn't like it, nor do I, but for every two of us,
there's a Ben Medinets out buying god knows how much :) So apart from
whine, which is what Canadians are very good at (Figure skating, broadband
Internet), there's not a lot that's going to change Lego. At least we're
whining in a Canadian newsgroup :)
As for whether or not it's a larger issue, yes, I agree, it's bigger than
just Lego. But Canadians will just go to Canadian vendors for other things.
I'd much rather buy from Indigo/Chapters than from Amazon, for example.
Calum
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