Prices Apple Canada/US

nycdeshi · Oct 13, 2007

Now that the value of the American and Canadian dollar is the same - 1x1. Why the On-line Canadian Apple Store still have prices 8-10% higher then the same On-line US Apple Store? Will there be a readjustment in the prices ? and when? I don't feel like paying extra $$ just because I am in Canada

Regards

Kim

ivi7 · Oct 13, 2007

Usually the stores do not change the prices because of the variations in currency value. So I don't think Apple is going to update the store soon.

Eric Lewis · Oct 13, 2007

oh

well the next version of macbooks could be the same price as american..so thats how it could be done

flopticalcube · Oct 13, 2007

There are other threads on this issue that debate things in detail. Apple tend not to adjust their prices until a product is refreshed or updated. In general, when the do change prices it seems rather fair to me, at least for Canada vs US. People in Australia and Europe as well as elsewhere suffer far worse than we do.

GoodWatch · Oct 14, 2007

flopticalcube said:
There are other threads on this issue that debate things in detail. Apple tend not to adjust their prices until a product is refreshed or updated. In general, when the do change prices it seems rather fair to me, at least for Canada vs US. People in Australia and Europe as well as elsewhere suffer far worse than we do.

Yes, to give one example: the US$ 1199 entry level iMac costs 1199 Euro = US$ 1595. Ouch!

IJ Reilly · Oct 14, 2007

Oh lord, not again...

vanmacguy · Oct 14, 2007

Difference in hardware I can see.

The only one that bugs me is .Mac. $89 US $139 Cad.

That's a big difference for what is a service. There's no media, no manuals, nothing.

But I guess Apple knows I'll keep renewing it so why would they drop the price?

Cheers.

GoodWatch · Oct 14, 2007

IJ Reilly said:
Oh lord, not again...

I gather from your reaction this was discussed before? 100,000 times before perhaps?

Sorry for this.

IJ Reilly · Oct 14, 2007

GoodWatch said:
I gather from your reaction this was discussed before? 100,000 times before perhaps? Sorry for this.

To death and well into the afterlife.

Rodimus Prime · Oct 14, 2007

some how people can not understand the fact that the value of there currency has little effect on there day to day lives and the price of their good.

The people in Canada have to thank inflation as the reason everything cost more there. Problem is price have been going up for them.

Also I might like to point out that there are more taxes on goods sold in Cananda than in the us so that is also going to add a fair amount to it.

Some it up in the simplest form. Unless you are leaving the country for traveling or moving the value of ones home country currency relative to another's has almost no real effect on the price of goods in the home country.

flopticalcube · Oct 14, 2007

Rodimus Prime said:
some how people can not understand the fact that the value of there currency has little effect on there day to day lives and the price of their good.

The people in Canada have to thank inflation as the reason everything cost more there. Problem is price have been going up for them.

Actually, inflation here is lower than the US.

Also I might like to point out that there are more taxes on goods sold in Cananda than in the us so that is also going to add a fair amount to it.

All prices are quoted pre-tax.

Some it up in the simplest form. Unless you are leaving the country for traveling or moving the value of ones home country currency relative to another's has almost no real effect on the price of goods in the home country.

The US and Canadian markets are very similar in many respects so prices should be similar. Canada has a far lower population density and higher operating costs so some discrepancy can be accounted for. .Mac is not worth $89 never mind $139. Most of Apple's Canadian pricing is reasonable, considering the speed of the fall in the US dollar.

When will these threads end...

Rodimus Prime · Oct 14, 2007

flopticalcube said:
Actually, inflation here is lower than the US.

All prices are quoted pre-tax.

The US and Canadian markets are very similar in many respects so prices should be similar. Canada has a far lower population density and higher operating costs so some discrepancy can be accounted for. .Mac is not worth $89 never mind $139. Most of Apple's Canadian pricing is reasonable, considering the speed of the fall in the US dollar.

When will these threads end...

Again I repeat my prevous statement Canadian has inflation to think for there higher prices. The rate my be lower than the US is currently but at one point in time it was a lot great then in the US so the prices where higher. Now in the current state of the US I would not expect to see Canadian prices drop but more expect the US prices to start going up.

Also are those prices quote before or after the import tax that apple already has to pay for example is in UK they have the VAT tax.

flopticalcube · Oct 14, 2007

Rodimus Prime said:
Again I repeat my prevous statement Canadian has inflation to think for there higher prices. The rate my be lower than the US is currently but at one point in time it was a lot great then in the US so the prices where higher. Now in the current state of the US I would not expect to see Canadian prices drop but more expect the US prices to start going up.

Also are those prices quote before or after the import tax that apple already has to pay for example is in UK they have the VAT tax.

I see your point. Previous prices where high due to past inflation. I don't think inflation rates differed in the past too much to cause a great disparity in prices. I think Apple believed they could charge more in the Canadian market for the same product so they did. This is slowly being corrected.

Apple does not pay an import tax. VAT is Value Added Tax and is paid by the end consumer. Prices in the UK generally include it. In Canada the tax is called GST, again paid for by the end consumer. Prices in Canada generally exclude it.

GoodWatch · Oct 14, 2007

Rodimus Prime said:
Also are those prices quote before or after the import tax that apple already has to pay for example is in UK they have the VAT tax.

Actually, it's the customer who forks out for all duties and taxes, not Apple. But I must eat some humble pie here. After doing some calculations, I must admit that it is the 19% VAT and 6% import duties that make up for the difference in price. Assuming that iMacs are indeed made in China and shipped to Europe. The robbing is done by my government

nycdeshi · Oct 15, 2007

I thank you all for your kind posts. I am sorry if I did not find this topic in other threads, in fact I did not research enough.
I am glad to see that the forums are able to inform people within days about any subject related to Apple issues.
On a side note I would like to say that it is quite sad to see that prices are so different in Europe, Canada or USA ( even though they might solve the USA/CAN issue soon )
However in countries like Brazil in South America Apple computer prices are as high as the moon. Half of the problem is due to import taxes, and the other half is the actual value of the US dollar (2 - 2.5$ x 1$ US). That makes the price of any Apple product 3 to 4 times more expensive then in USA.
Very few people in South America have $ 5000,00 bucks to spend on Apple computers. It is easy to understand why Windows has taken 95% of the Brazilian market. The other 4% might belong to Lynux ( open source ) and 1% to Apple.

rhys105 · Oct 16, 2007

You should compare those prices to the GBP equivalent - then you will be glad you live in north america.

:apple:

Djspice · Oct 16, 2007

Remember, too, that prices will fluctuate with currency changes but this takes time. Orders for production are placed months in advance and currencies can fluctuate heavily between when the product is ordered and when it is actually received. I work for an industrial hardware importer and we have to deal with this all of the time. Sometimes, if one of our competitors has ordered the exact same product from the exact same Taiwanese vendor, but done it a month earlier or later than we have, they can be dollars cheaper per unit because of currency changes.

That, and every industry is different. I've noticed some books on the shelves already with one price. But you can't reasonably expect publishers to reprint all of their catalogue because of a temporary currency change.

I say, wait for the next product release and we'll see if Apple gives us a price break.

naftalim · Oct 18, 2007

Amazon in Canada and USA

Today, I took a look at Amazon, as they have some good prices for Leopard. I saw that .Mac 5 lists for $74.99. On the Amazon Canada site, it lists for $129 (Remember that the Canadian Dollar is now worth more than the US Dollar) Naturally, I decided to save myself the significant $54.01 and proceeded to enter my order at Amazon USA. Lo and behold, when I selected my shipping address in Canada, the system told me that they could not ship there.

So, here in Canada, we have to pay over 40% more for the same software?

No, it has nothing to do with inflation. It has to do with the fact that we Canadians are sheep and so they take advantage of that.

queshy · Oct 18, 2007

Isn't leopard the same price on the US site? I was pretty happy when I paid only 116 or something with the edu discount. Though I got taxes like crazy...that's canada for you!!

Praxis6942 · Oct 20, 2007

vanmacguy said:
Difference in hardware I can see.

The only one that bugs me is .Mac. $89 US $139 Cad.

That's a big difference for what is a service. There's no media, no manuals, nothing.

But I guess Apple knows I'll keep renewing it so why would they drop the price?

Cheers.

I have exchanged a number of emails with .Mac Support/billing support regarding this particular difference in price. I have repeatedly been told that "While currency conversion is certainly one factor used in determining product pricing, this is not the sole basis for the differing costs for .Mac in various countries" and "As the previous agent mentioned, the cost of .Mac is unfortunately not based on currency conversion" but I have not been given those reasons. I am still waiting for another reply and am hoping that someday I may be able to report what they are.

flopticalcube · Oct 20, 2007

You can buy .mac on eBay with none of the shipping restrictions of Amazon. As more people choose to buy over the border prices here will come down.

Sun Baked · Oct 20, 2007

IJ Reilly said:
Oh lord, not again...

But could you imagine the fun of setting the price based on the currency exchange rate, be nice to walk into the store -- see one price on the wall -- and get charged something else when you get to the register.

Be worse if the dollar was heading in the "other" direction.

Of course people complain about the gas prices, and they are reacting rather quick to price swings on Wallstreet. Stability is sometimes nice, when it is in your favor, not so much when it isn't.

---

People love price drops, but choke when Apple raises prices.

GoodWatch · Oct 20, 2007

Sun Baked said:
But could you imagine the fun of setting the price based on the currency exchange rate, be nice to walk into the store -- see one price on the wall -- and get charged something else when you get to the register.

Be worse if the dollar was heading in the "other" direction.

Of course people complain about the gas prices, and they are reacting rather quick to price swings on Wallstreet. Stability is sometimes nice, when it is in your favor, not so much when it isn't.

---

People love price drops, but choke when Apple raises prices.

I wonder how the Americas would react if it were the other way around; based on Euro prices. Then you would have to cough up $179! An outrage! But it is a small investment compared to the price of the other OS.

Sun Baked · Oct 20, 2007

GoodWatch said:
I wonder how the Americas would react if it were the other way around; based on Euro prices. Then you would have to cough up $179! An outrage! But it is a small investment compared to the price of the other OS.

It has been the other way, which led to a lot of gray market Macs, cars, items, etc. coming into the US.

Right now it is the gray market being sourced in the US.

IJ Reilly · Oct 20, 2007

Sun Baked said:
People love price drops, but choke when Apple raises prices.

Precisely. You can't have it both ways.

GoodWatch said:
I wonder how the Americas would react if it were the other way around; based on Euro prices. Then you would have to cough up $179! An outrage! But it is a small investment compared to the price of the other OS.

This wouldn't happen because the prices of goods are set in the market where they are sold. We spend US dollars over here, not Euros.

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