Why are prices higher in Canada than the US?

[kevinp]

I read an article a few years ago about the price of things in the USA (I think the article was mostly talking about cell phones and how Europe is way ahead of us in technology). It was talking about DVDs in China and how most things are pirated over there. One line said "only in America are we dumb enough to pay $20 - $30 for a movie." The same article mentioned that Microsoft Office Pro sells for $27 in China, where here it's around $750.

Maybe Canadians are just dumb enough to pay more for ebooks.

[holymadness]

Canadians pay more than Americans for almost every product. It is a shopper's paradise south of the border.

Reasons include economy of scale and historically low currency valuations.

[Rizla]

Why do dogs lick their balls? Because they can.

[jbcohen]

I had a pal once who lived in Toronto and another in detroit. They had an interesting arrangement. The detroit man shipped things to the toronto man things that he could get cheaper in detroit and the detroit man got health insuance in Canada via the toronto pal. One got cheaper heath care insurance and the other got cheaper things from Detrot. In cash value it came out to the same amount.

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I had a pal once who lived in Toronto and another in detroit. They had an interesting arrangement. The detroit man shipped things to the toronto man things that he could get cheaper in detroit and the detroit man got health insuance in Canada via the toronto pal. One got cheaper heath care insurance and the other got cheaper things from Detrot. In cash value it came out to the same amount.

Buh? Are you talking about prescription drugs when you say health care? Cause I have no idea how it'd work otherwise, unless the Toronto guy let the Detroit guy use his health card... Or is there perhaps some kind of commercial health insurance available to Canadians that can be used south of the border, and the Detroit guy somehow managed to buy it through his Toronto friend...

I realize you may not know the details, I'm just thinking "out loud" really.

Originally Posted by kevinp

Maybe Canadians are just dumb enough to pay more for ebooks.

Well, the market will charge what consumers are willing to bear. I'm usually okay with that, though I do find the rise in prices of second hand goods annoying. (I was able to buy a large box of used books for $5 about 15 years ago. These days, getting two used books for that price can be challenging.)