Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Canadians dont get the whole internet shopping thing. They prefer to pay top dollar for just about everything. .

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

I think that these companies would fall foul of the Monopolies Commission in the UK - Rogers definitely would. They charge stupid prices for mobile phones and there is not much competition.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Yet people still choose to move here :rofl:
Crap banking, no competition for mobile phones, crap internet shopping, expensive food prices, outrageous car insurance, expensive booze with no competition, less than ideal education standards, expensive rents for housing, really outrageous air fare prices and etc etc etc
So one has to ask why are you coming here:confused:

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Why do some people get all defensive when people make valid observations about life in Canada.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

I guess the same reasons people in the UK would if Canadians went over there and started slagging of the UK.
Nobody is disputing that we have higher prices in Canada for SOME not all things. I guess if they lived in certain other countries where there is little or no high speed internet, no Amazon.Botswana, no cable TV etc etc then those would also be valid observations as well.
It is what it is so they better get used to it.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

We have this conversation on here all the time - it boils down to the fact that Canada is a large country and shipping costs are not subsidized by the govt. the way they are in the US (USPS receives huge assistance from the US Treasury)

So Canada Post charges much higher prices for shipping and also the service is slower. Because they're competing with Canada Post, DHL/Purolator and UPS are also slower and more expensive.

Plus - unlike the UK, you cannot avoid the taxes on products (stuff below £15 is exempt from VAT when imported for example from outside the EU, so Amazon has a warehouse on Jersey) or like the US, where you can avoid sales tax by buying out-of-State.

So when you buy on-line in Canada, you have to pay all the tax you would normally pay plus shipping, plus the shipping is expensive and slow.

So why buy on-line? Quicker and easier to go to the shops. Ergo internet shopping in Canada is pretty bad.

Frankly I think Canada's retail market is a level playing field, I always think it is crazy in the US where they provide massive competitive advantages to companies like Amazon at the cost of local retailers, or how it works in the UK where they have the exempt VAT limit (which basically allows Amazon to offer "free" shipping).

So I think it isn't accurate to say that it's worse - it's fair. This is how a retail market should look.

Also the moral of the story is don't think you're going to move to Canada and start a successful on-line business using Ebay or whatever. If you're going to do that you're going to have to open this thing called a "store".

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

That was the case but it has changed in the last few years.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Mmm, it is but one could argue it protected us against the recession to some extent. The one thing that really annoys me is the InterAC system which was basically thought up due to paranoia about the fees visa/mc charge.

Not true anymore.

Reasons explained above.

Sometimes, depends on what you're buying. Also where you buy it. And the govt. is trying to reform it by scrapping the wheat board for example.

Never quite get this comment, mine isn't much more expensive and given the weather I would expect it to be higher. But yes the market has too much interference from the govt. and let's face it in some provinces like BC and SK it is a state-run company.

Yes, but it does kill the yobbo culture, although the situation in Ontario is absurd with the Beer Store and LCBO.

Apparently Alberta has the best schools in the English-speaking world according to the speech Cameron gave in Ottawa. Not entirely sure I believe him - but they are way better than they are in the US.

Are they? Compared to London for example?

Well fuel prices are basically the same everywhere and it's a big country so they're going to be a bit higher. But taxes on the tickets are lower.

For the weather, obviously. :p

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Don't know why you're bothering to explain. All are completely true and worthy of comment apart from the rent and the education, which doesn't effect me.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

I guess cleaner air, more space, more sunlight and cheaper house (here at least).

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

I guess you are not living in Hamilton for the cleaner air, or the GTA for more space or Vancouver for cheaper housing ;)

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Just getting back to the point of the thread - internet shopping is obviously worse but the internet infrastructure itself is better than in the UK by a long distance. The UK recently basically gave up adopting IP v6 and their infrastructure is definitely more prone to failure imx. Average home bandwidth is higher as well here.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

The Jimmy Eat World CD I just bought retails for $16.99 in the local HMV store. Plus tax. Plus the cost to get there (although our buses are free right now:))

Amazon Canada $12.60 inclusive tax and shipping.

Amazon UK $17.58 inclusive
Amazon UK Marketplace $15.99 inclusive

Amazon USA $17.11 inclusive
Amazon USA Marketplace $14.47 inclusive.

Of course, I realise that naming the band enables people to have a dig at my purchase, thus discrediting the attempt at showing Amazon Canada can be the best deal. :rofl:

Better than local purchase and better than both Amazon UK & US.

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

Im wondering what the OP was trying to get and if they succeeded?

Re: Amazon.ca is pants!
 

No, I live in Canada's ocean playground. :-)