A long standing pet peeve of mine has been the unwillingness of Canadian booksellers to acknowledge the fact that the Canadian dollar is no longer worth 30 – 40% less than its U.S. counterpart. Even though the two currencies have been around par since March 2010, booksellers north of the border have been pulling a Deaf, Dumb, & Blind act similar to this.
I was therefore most pleasantly surprised, when I went to order Mark Steyn’s latest book, to discover this:
Canadian Price:
American Price:
I too had a similar beef with Canadian book sellers.
A new book “A Dance with Dragons”(if you don’t know you’d better ask somebody) was recently released and I decided to wait until I was in the USA to purchase the book. Happily, I found out that the cover price in the USA was only $3 less than that of the Canadian retailers. After adding the 30% off for a best seller’s new release, the book was less than if I purchased it in the USA so I called the wife and told her to purchase the book in Canada. I’d prefer to purchase books in Canada IF I feel I’m not getting ripped-off.
Kudos to Canadian book sellers.
All of that said, the book company Boarders declared bankrupcy a month ago, citing electronic readers as the main reason, and is closing all shops; so, book parity might be short-lived.
I’d buy a book reader; but, I fear nobody would know how smart I am as they’d have no idea what, or how big the book I am reading is.
Mr Steyn is a bargain at any price.
I was always under the impression that the biggest reason for the disparity between the price of items purchased in the US vs Canada was not the exchange rate – but the “hidden costs of doing cross-border business.”
In cross-border trade, we have to pay more for union people, more for bureaucrats, plus tack on a little for the social programs, etc. And since most of those people are on our side of the border, they get paid in Canadian dollars – hence the inflated price on the Canadian side regardless of the exchange rate.
That’s not to say that the exchange rate shouldn’t/doesn’t have any effect…just that it’s not the big one.
“I’d buy a book reader; but, I fear nobody would know how smart I am as they’d have no idea what, or how big the book I am reading is.”
But at least they couldn’t tell that you’re holding it upside down …
Are you always this nasty Alex or is it just on this site?
Regarding book prices, the stark differences in cross border pricing are not exactly unexpected. Canada is simply a much smaller, much less competitive retail environment than the US. That’s it. Taxes and duties play a role, sure, but not a significant one.
…although the lower price on amazon.ca for After America is a pleasant surprise.
“Are you always this nasty Alex or is it just on this site?”
Definitely this site. It seems to bring out the best in people.
My books, too:
http://www.amazon.ca/Travels-David-Thompson-1784-1797-Mississippi/dp/1462017797/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314147630&sr=8-1
maybe the car dealers can be next ?
I’ve lost track of how many people are going to the US to buy a car…even with the duty they save a huge chunk of change.
I always buy from Amazon.com. There is more choice and I get better pricing usually and that includes the shipping. I also do other shopping on Amazon.com … they have everything.
Steyn’s new book is great.
Its because of the disparity in prices that I finally switched to electronic books. Now its too late for them to coax me back into the bookstores. Hope they made enough from gouging us to retire on because the end is near for them.
We saw this book at indigo in cross iron mills mall and it was $32.99 canadian and my wife freaked she said why is it that no matter what it is when our dollar is par we have to pay the same price ..she went off in line and people kindof looked agreeingly (my wife is the shyest quietist women i have ever met). Most canadians are oblivious to this fact of how badly we are gouged and taxed , my freind say’s finland is way higher taxes but everything there is free and very nice and well maintained i always add ….for now!!! lol.
Any way My wife loves reading and this really turned her inside out and i was so proudo f her for speaking liek that alot of the folks in line were sympathetic and kinda nodded ..one of those self loathing “what kinya do ?” nod’s …Fu#kin useless.
@ALEX
That was actually funny. LOL upside down . He got you there INDIANA HOMEZ
Sadly, they were quick to re-act to our complaints. What used to say $6.99 US / $8.99 Canada now says $6.99 US / $8.99 Foreign.
I kid you not.
Amazon is the only way to buy books and music – they haven’t the costly overhead or Lib-left censorship hang ups that has institutionalized at Chapters and Indigo (most libertarian, individual liberty oriented, conservative or firearms books are not available at chapters because the corporate censors feel they are too socially destructive) Amazon selection, pricing and service are far superior.
Any title you want at a good price delivered fast and seamlessly (my shameless Amazon plug)
@sabre0
Wow, if they’re not going to be any more specific than that, you could buy them out with a single 100 trillion Zimbabwe bill.
I went and forked out $40 for the signed Steyn book delivered to my house, worth every dime and would have paid more if need be. My kobo doesn’t stop me from buying hardcover books.
If they put that new book smell in electronic books I might get interested.
http://www.abebooks.com/ is a great source for used and also some new books.
If you buy it from his web site he will sign it for you.
Almost all of the books that I buy are from Amazon.com as the prices are far better than at Amazon.ca. I do frequent used book stores which are the only place one can find medical books from the early 1900’s.
Despite the size of paper books, I’m sticking with them as it’s possible to read them during the day without electricity. Ebook readers are a great idea but useless in a SHTF scenario. Once I was talking with a former patient from Bosnia who told me he would never have purely digital pictures as he lived for a year and a half in Sarajevo with no power and thus only paper books and photos were available. While my wife hates it, I print out lots of stuff off the internet for precisely this reason; if I don’t use it I’ve got a lifetime supply of kindling for my wood stove.
I just checked; After America is also $16 Cdn on the chapters/indigo site.
Maybe Steyn complained that his books weren’t selling enough in his former homeland?
I have a better deal for you. I ordered the Mark Steyn book online at BookDepository.com for $17.81 hardcover edition. It is a UK site with free shipping worldwide and no tax. I’ve dealt with them a few times with no problems at all and I’ve yet to see Amazon beat them price wise.
“Ebook readers are a great idea but useless in a SHTF scenario”
Nonsense. The e-ink based ones use so little power that you can charge them with a portable solar panel if you needed to. Even the LCD readers and/or tablets can be recharged using minimal power. In a “SHTF scenario”, my Android tabled has a collection of 6,000 books which I can throw in a backpack (or even a cargo-pocket) and take with me – I’d love to see you lugging your physical library around during an evacuation.
It’s not just books, it’s everything. Why is it that I can buy a pair of Aesics running shoes in the US for $49.00 when the identical pair at the Running Room (or ANY other Canadian retailer) is $139.00?
Even your friendly neighbourhood Walmart has “special Canadian pricing” of IDENTICAL goods sold in their US stores. Needed a few items for the RV while in Washington State in July. (Sewer hose, RV toilet paper, etc.) These items were all HALF PRICE of my Edmonton area Walmart.
Trollex, SHTF means no 3G phone connection, no Internet. Your e-reader is deadweight you will trade for a chocolate bar. Silly Trollex.
The main reason for the difference in price of books between the US and Canada is TAX. Many best sellers are printed in the US -and- Canada to get around the duty, yet another Special Deal enacted to protect Friends of Liberals here in the Demented Dominion. Canadian print runs are necessarily smaller than the mega-huge-@ss runs they do in the States, and so per-unit costs are much higher.
Incidentally, the reason so many books go out of print so fast is US tax law. A change in the law back in the 1990’s shifted unsold book inventory from the cost side of the balance sheet to the assets side. Result, publishers carry zero inventory. Books which don’t sell-out get blown out to remainder stores and never re-published.
That my friends is the REAL reason all publishers are so happy to digitize books and sell them at half price. Taxes. As usual.
“Trollex, SHTF means no 3G phone connection, no Internet. Your e-reader is deadweight you will trade for a chocolate bar. Silly Trollex.”
I know you’re the kind of guy who can barely do up his velcro shoes before leaving the house, but even you should be able to understand what the phrase “my Android tabled has a collection of 6,000 books” means.
No, I understood what you wrote Trollex. Its just that I doubt you paid for a collection of 6,000 e-books. Trolls not being known for veracity, y’unnerstand.
I suppose its possible you begged, borrowed and stole 6,000 e-books, got them off Google etc. In which case…
…you’re still going to trade that dead weight for a chocolate bar when you finally get out of Mum’s basement and find out how far a mile is when you walk it. Silly Trollex.
You really are the most boring troll I’ve ever seen.
I bought the book off Amazon.ca on August 15th for $20.06.
Damn those $4.06!
Thank you Trollex. High praise indeed. Say hi to your mum for me, she’s calling you to go upstairs for lunch.
If you buy “After America” by Steyn, from Amazon – Kindle store as I did (electronic e- book version) it costs $9.99 canadian dollars.
If Irene hits NYC on Sunday night then after america could come to fruition by monday.
I won’t shop in Canada for books anymore. Only Book Warehouse (mostly always discounted) or buy used.