UR welcome ... I had only read the first page and hadn't realised it had gone off-topic! in a hurry to sell I will decline offers. The thing is I don't set the "market price", so if people are daft enough to pay close to the new price, that isn't my problem, and I am not going to ask a lower price just so that the buyer gets a discount to the new price.

I sold a lightly used two year old baby seat for exactly the same price I paid for it, and if the buyer can't work out that she could have gone on line and bought a new seat for the same price, which happened to be about 75% of the local brick & mortar store price, then that really isn't my problem!

Thanks for getting it back on topic.



Reminder..

Title of topic:

"Why is second hand stuff here so expensive"

I enjoy reading all these battles of the (milk) bottles, cheese choices, rusty cars and people bending over backwards to manipulate numbers to prove their points. When comparing countries and prices one has to keep in mind some important factors: transportation costs (the UK would fit into Southern Ontario with room left over for Denmark, Belgium, Iceland, etc.); farm products are subsidised obscenely in the UK, USA and EU, more so than in Canada; there are huge price differences across Canada from rural to urban, from East Coast to Ontario to West coast to the Far North; payroll, government local taxes in all these countries vary significantly and make true coast of living comparisons almost impossible; social services are costly and direct and indirect charges vary immensely. The bottom line: all the writers appear to be living in Canada so overall it must be as great a place to live as most Canadians think it is!

we just can't afford to go back home having spent all our money on car insurance and cheese.

You'd be surprised how many people on here are only in Canada for employment opportunities that offer higher salaries, while wishing they were still in England and as such happily criticizing every aspect of Canadian life.

I saw an ad on Facebook for Birki sandals, second hand for $80. Hoping to get the price downI pointed out you could get new on Amazon for the same price. No go, someone else paid the asking price.

QED!

Also those who used to be married to a Canadian, but now are stuck as they can't afford to move.....

Not to mention the cheese insurance.

I don't think that's fair. Who do you think is in Canada purely for money and wishing they were still in the UK?

I can't think of one forum member. I can however, think of numerous forum members who would love to return to the UK but can't because of other reasons such as being married to a Canadian that doesn't want to leave, having adult children or grandchildren that they don't want to leave behind, or who can't afford it.

If you're seeking a bit more diversity, you could always try Calgary too. There's a world of difference between Red Deer and Calgary, certainly less tedium.

Thats what I thought I know its not going to be easy, but my husband been offered a job 3x his wages here in uk and with the way the uk going its not getting any better. We are terrified but excited too and its going to be hard first few months im sure.... but we want to give it a go, new life, new culture and new ways. So thanks

And thanks to everybody else that has taken the time to respond to you presumably. Orly may have encouraged you, but others such as bats have also shared their experiences, which is invaluable.

So I'm sure you meant to thank them too right?

FWIW, I think Orly's statement that those who aren't happy in Canada didn't do their homework and are 'clinically insane' is insulting and misleading. Most who aren't happy did a huge amount of research and visited many times, but until you live in Canada you've no idea how homesickness will affect you, or how you'll cope in an unfamiliar environment. Everybody is different, and Canada isn't for everyone, but just because somebody doesn't like it, they're not 'insane'. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

+1

That is so true, and everyone's situation is different. The one phrase I often hear on BE and in lyn's post is that the UK is going down the plughole ... it may be for some but for millions of others it isn't. Great to move on, try out a different culture and mindset, but there's no need to assume that negative circumstances in your own situation apply to everyone in the country.

I don't know how orly copes with living in a country where same-sex couples are routinely seen holding hands in public. It doesn't seem like a country for him.

"only in Canada for employment opportunities that offer higher salaries"

is close to being true for me. Were I not in Canada I don't think I could earn enough to pay the alimony. I didn't come just for the money but also for the bilingualism and, of course, I then had family ties here. After the children grew up and emigrated there was a phase when I was sorely tempted to move on, financial constraints prevented that.

I don't dislike Canada, but I can see lots of reasons not to live here. I don't think it's especially cheap and, as noted repeatedly, it's not well suited to lovers of cheese and wine.