Ridiculous price differences between Amazon US and Canada - Blu-ray Forum

sonician · 10-22-2010, 02:50 PM

Most recent example I found was last night. Was looking at the Josef von Sternberg Collection from Criterion.

Amazon US has it for $58.99
http://www.amazon.com/Classics-Stern...7758668&sr=8-4

Amazon Canada has it for $98.99
http://www.amazon.ca/Three-Silent-Cl...7758301&sr=8-3

Anyone else have ridiculous examples like this?

Jimbo976 · 10-22-2010, 03:00 PM

Yep as usual we're getting ripped off. The solution is to just buy directly from amazon.com or some other US retailers. I think the majority of my huge Blu-ray collection is from Amazon.com.

wolfbane5 · 10-22-2010, 03:05 PM

The Pacific

Amazon.com $56.99

Amazon.ca $87.49

Hatter · 10-22-2010, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo976

Yep as usual we're getting ripped off. The solution is to just buy directly from amazon.com or some other US retailers. I think the majority of my huge Blu-ray collection is from Amazon.com.

South Park blu-ray season sets have a big difference.

South Park season 12:

.com - $30.49
.ca - $48.99

South Park season 13:

.com - $31.49
.ca - $46.19

Add to that US pays no tax and we pay GST + PST (HST instead in certain provinces though the overall tax is essentially equal) and there's a $20+ difference. $30 is reasonable for fourteen 22 minute episodes. $50+ is ridiculous.

Most new releases however seemfiarly close and free shipping going down to $25 has been a welcome change. They're getting better slowly. What I really wish is if we could get constant big sales like .com does. Everytime I go to this site I see plenty of great titles heavily discounted strewn across the top of this site.

chaingunsofdoom · 10-22-2010, 04:40 PM

Another case: Spartacus (HBO) in the US was $34.99 and is around C$60 here.

Other more viable options rather than getting nicked by Amazon.com's "Import Fees/Tax" are places like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. where they are usually pretty close to Amazon's price (and often have a %-off coupon for anyone to use).

Hatter · 10-22-2010, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaingunsofdoom

Another case: Spartacus (HBO) in the US was $34.99 and is around C$60 here.

Other more viable options rather than getting nicked by Amazon.com's "Import Fees/Tax" are places like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. where they are usually pretty close to Amazon's price (and often have a %-off coupon for anyone to use).

Or mainly use amazon marketplace. Moviemars.com seems good too. Good prices, lwo ship from the USA.

Rhylliam · 10-23-2010, 06:48 AM

Yes but amazon.com does not reflect common US prices. They are way cheaper than any store over there. Amazon.ca is just basically a regular business here who never seems to get any ridiculous deals like .com does. Especially not on Criterion titles.

HDMe · 10-23-2010, 07:59 PM

Whenever this kind of discussion comes up... I always am reminded of magazines and some weirdness between Canada and the US.

Pricing isn't always the only strange thing.

For a while one of the better printers was in Canada... so a lot of US magazines were printed in Canada, then shipped to the US for distribution. BUT then when those same magazines were shipped back into Canada, they cost more to Canadians... which was weird, since they had them to start with, shipped them to the US, then back again... adding some of that cost!

Another oddity... was some of the "adult" magazines that were printed in Canada BUT were not allowed to be sold in the place where they were printed... so they were making stuff that it was illegal to buy!

crs · 10-23-2010, 09:02 PM

I think this is down to the USD currency being so low... the USD and CAD is almost equal right now. It's not many years since the USD was much higher (atleast 30% more than now) and then the prices were a lot more levelled. You'd think the current exchange rates would reflect more in the prices, though.

Rhylliam · 10-23-2010, 10:15 PM

It has nothing to do with the US currency IMO. Our blu-ray prices are pretty much on-par with US prices, except for some new releases. The ONLY real exception is amazon.com, which always manages to post much lower prices than even US stores etc, not just CDN ones.

ryoohki · 10-25-2010, 09:26 AM

It's not really store fault. It's Studio MSRP.

For example, Southpark, MSRP is 49.99$US/69.99$CAD

those are fixed by the studios..

Wdm81 · 10-25-2010, 12:52 PM

I blame Free Trade or something like that

Everything is much cheaper in the US then it is up here, we have a higher minimum wage but we pay more for stuff and are taxed on everything so in the end the extra pay doesn't matter

10-22-2010, 02:50 PM	#1
sonician Member Member since:Oct 2010 Location:Halifax, Canada Blu-ray collection:109	Ridiculous price differences between Amazon US and Canada Most recent example I found was last night. Was looking at the Josef von Sternberg Collection from Criterion. Amazon US has it for $58.99 http://www.amazon.com/Classics-Stern...7758668&sr=8-4 Amazon Canada has it for $98.99 http://www.amazon.ca/Three-Silent-Cl...7758301&sr=8-3 Anyone else have ridiculous examples like this?

10-23-2010, 09:02 PM	#9
crs Power Member Member since:Apr 2010 Trading Score:15	I think this is down to the USD currency being so low... the USD and CAD is almost equal right now. It's not many years since the USD was much higher (atleast 30% more than now) and then the prices were a lot more levelled. You'd think the current exchange rates would reflect more in the prices, though. Last edited by crs; 10-23-2010 at 09:05 PM.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

10-22-2010, 03:00 PM	#2
Jimbo976 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Canada Home Theater Gallery:3 Blu-ray collection:209 Blu-ray reviews: 1 Trading Score:1	Yep as usual we're getting ripped off. The solution is to just buy directly from amazon.com or some other US retailers. I think the majority of my huge Blu-ray collection is from Amazon.com.

10-22-2010, 03:05 PM	#3
wolfbane5 Active Member Top contributor Member since:Dec 2009 Location:Vancouver, B.C. Blu-ray collection:113 Trading Score:20	The Pacific Amazon.com $56.99 Amazon.ca $87.49

10-22-2010, 04:40 PM	#5
chaingunsofdoom Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Nov 2009 Location:Calgary 4K collection:443 Blu-ray collection:2997 DVD collection:59 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:125	Another case: Spartacus (HBO) in the US was $34.99 and is around C$60 here. Other more viable options rather than getting nicked by Amazon.com's "Import Fees/Tax" are places like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. where they are usually pretty close to Amazon's price (and often have a %-off coupon for anyone to use).

10-23-2010, 06:48 AM	#7
Rhylliam Contributor Top contributor Member since:Oct 2008 Location:Calgary, Alberta Home Theater Gallery:16 4K collection:1502 Blu-ray collection:9014 DVD collection:9472 Blu-ray reviews: 49 Trading Score:109	Yes but amazon.com does not reflect common US prices. They are way cheaper than any store over there. Amazon.ca is just basically a regular business here who never seems to get any ridiculous deals like .com does. Especially not on Criterion titles.

10-23-2010, 07:59 PM	#8
HDMe Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Jan 2010 Location:North Augusta, SC	Whenever this kind of discussion comes up... I always am reminded of magazines and some weirdness between Canada and the US. Pricing isn't always the only strange thing. For a while one of the better printers was in Canada... so a lot of US magazines were printed in Canada, then shipped to the US for distribution. BUT then when those same magazines were shipped back into Canada, they cost more to Canadians... which was weird, since they had them to start with, shipped them to the US, then back again... adding some of that cost! Another oddity... was some of the "adult" magazines that were printed in Canada BUT were not allowed to be sold in the place where they were printed... so they were making stuff that it was illegal to buy!

10-23-2010, 10:15 PM	#10
Rhylliam Contributor Top contributor Member since:Oct 2008 Location:Calgary, Alberta Home Theater Gallery:16 4K collection:1502 Blu-ray collection:9014 DVD collection:9472 Blu-ray reviews: 49 Trading Score:109	It has nothing to do with the US currency IMO. Our blu-ray prices are pretty much on-par with US prices, except for some new releases. The ONLY real exception is amazon.com, which always manages to post much lower prices than even US stores etc, not just CDN ones.

10-25-2010, 09:26 AM	#11
ryoohki Blu-ray Samurai Member since:May 2007 Home Theater Gallery:6 Blu-ray collection:6 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:5	It's not really store fault. It's Studio MSRP. For example, Southpark, MSRP is 49.99$US/69.99$CAD those are fixed by the studios..

10-25-2010, 12:52 PM	#12
Wdm81 Special Member Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Canada 4K collection:5 Blu-ray collection:864 DVD collection:85 Blu-ray reviews: 6	I blame Free Trade or something like that Everything is much cheaper in the US then it is up here, we have a higher minimum wage but we pay more for stuff and are taxed on everything so in the end the extra pay doesn't matter

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals