# Amazon.com / Amazon.ca squeezing Canadian customers



## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

In another recent thread @colchar asks about alternative online sources for DVDs because "amazon.ca prices are stupid". Are they ever! 

I used to be a very frequent customer; prices were good and service is great. However the company has become greedy and increasingly willing to charge its Canadian customers *far* more than exchange-rate-adjusted prices for products that are listed on amazon.com for much less.

Used to be, we could compare prices and shipping/border costs on amazon.com vs. amazon.ca, do a little math, and order from whichever would be least expensive. Not much anymore - amazon.com now refuses to process Canadian orders for a great many products, insisting that orders be placed on amazon.ca where they cost more - often a lot more - than they do on amazon.com after exchange rate is calculated.

Some examples I just quickly looked up; I've seen even worse. Post your own when you see them.

*Pigtronix Infinity looper pedal*
Amazon.com US$449, Amazon.ca CDN$659, 47% more when the exchange rate is 25%.

*Intel i7 6850 CPU*
Amazon.com US$400, Amazon.ca CDN$630, 57% more when the exchange rate is 25%.

*Yamaha Tyros 5 arranger keyboard*
Amazon.com US$4,785, Amazon.ca CDN$6,799, 42% more when the exchange rate is 25%.

(I do understand that currency fluctuates and companies want a bit of a buffer to protect themselves against a collapse in the value of their inventory, but c'mon!)

Sometimes the price difference is insane, 300%, 400%, even more. Amazon has supported an explosion of third-party sellers on its web store, some of whom are outright shysters hoping to snag someone dumb enough to pay several times the value of a product. If they're successful amazon collects a much-fatter fee than if the products were priced honestly, so it apparently-happily permits the practice. However lately it's not just third parties but often Amazon.ca itself that is charging incredibly-high prices for goods.

*Amazon.ca has become a dangerous marketplace for the unwary.* Please post your own examples.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

There are really good deals on Amazon but there are tons of ripoffs too


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

To the biggest change in amazon is "the partners".
Compagnies that are not Amazon that sell stuff using the amazon platform.
Those outsiders are way out of the market sometime I don't understand how they do it.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Amazon is like any other open marketplace online or offline. There are a lot of vendors and you have to shop carefully. Overall I find Amazon a little pricy but if you pick the right vendor (usually fulfilled by Amazon) shipping is cheap and quick and pricing is reasonable. They also have stuff that is hard to track down elsewhere. It is usually available elsewhere, it's just hard to find. If I can find it anywhere else I usually buy elsewhere.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

These days I will only buy something that is "fullfilled by Amazon" in the least. 

The other thing I've noted lately is that if you choose free shipping they will often hold back picking the order until their estimated delivery date approaches. Used to be that anything from the Mississauga warehouse would be at my door in two days no matter what the shipping option was.


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

I've seen a Peavey Envoy Amp on Amazon dot CA for 1000.00. 

Did not buy, but did email him the link to a local vendor of Peavey that had the same amp for 400.00(ish) but special order.
I've found that the listings SOLD by amazon are priced fairly, The ones fufilled by amazon and sold by amazon stores a higher. 

SOLD by Amazon: Amazon it self sells the listed item. 

FULLFILLED By Amazon: THe owner of an Amazon Store has had his inventory shipped to an Amazon storage/shipping facility and when the order comes in from this private listing, It's auto-forwarded to the Facility and then packed and shipped from there- For a fee. 
I have a friend who's looking into this for his store. 

Traditional Amazon Store - The lister does all the work and shipping himself.

The traditional Amazon store I've found the most strange pricing. Most of the time I exclude them from my search, unless it's something that's only available in the used market.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

You have to watch out for the third party sellers. Most of the prices are out of whack. I will only purchase from them when it's sold/shipped via Amazon out of Mississauga. I was looking to get an NVIDEA Shield a while back. You could purchase it direct from NVIDEA for $199 USD. Amazon.ca had it on there from a few 3rd party sellers at $600 CDN. So you have to do your research before buying.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Yesterday, I was looking for some Gorgomyte available in Canada.

It seems you can't buy it direct anymore either, but it's sold at StewMac for @ $12 CD.
One listing in Amazon.ca had the stuff listed over $80! Huh, wtf?!?


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Fulltone OCD = $118 new in the US and $217 new in Canada.
Fulldrive 2 = $234 vs $118.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

I don't understand how many of these vendors calculate their pricing. I remember reading somewhere that an algorithm is used but that algorithm is seriously fucked up when DVDs of TV show seasons are listed at several hundred dollars.

I also don't get why prices fluctuate so much. I have a bunch of stuff saved in my cart that I will order eventually, and every time I log in I see price changes for most of them. Some are only a few cents, but others are changes of several dollars.

My most recent issue, which resulted in my thread, was trying to find copies of seasons of a particular TV show. On Amazon.ca they are sold by a third party and the prices are stupid. On Amazon.com they are sold by Amazon International and, even with the exchange rate, the prices are decent. On the page for each individual season it says that they ship to Canada but when checking out it says that they cannot ship to my address. I finally managed to get a reasonably competent person on the phone and they couldn't even get Amazon.com to ship them to Amazon Canada's offices. The issue has been escalated but I am not hopeful of a resolution and expect that they will simply change the listings to say that they do not ship to Canada.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

djmarcelca said:


> <snip> I've found that the listings SOLD by amazon are priced fairly, The ones fufilled by amazon and sold by amazon stores a higher.<snip>


While that used to usually be the case - it was usually the third-party sellers whose prices were high - I'm increasingly seeing it with "sold by and ships from Amazon.ca" items. Can't remember specifics at the moment, but several times in the past several months I've cursed them for their avarice and not ordered from them. I agree with most of the points here about third-party sellers often being more-rapacious, but it's definitely not just them anymore. Next time I bump into an Amazon-only one I'll post the two links here.

And there are still exceptions to what I'm whining about. I ordered an electric stapler from amazon.com, slightly cheaper all-in than it was on amazon.ca and one of the getting-rarer instances that amazon.com would *permit *me to order it in Canada. I ordered it three days ago, shipping was supposed to take 7-14 days but it will arrive (from Tampa FL) today.

Memories of the old Amazon; used to be able to do that often, but now amazon is making it difficult so they can squeeze us more.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

colchar said:


> I don't understand how many of these vendors calculate their pricing.<snip>


I don't know - just guessing - but I believe that they're "Hail Mary" listings, praying for someone too rushed or too dumb to investigate the value of the item they're buying. In the many cases in which the seller also fulfills (instead of having it shipped by Amazon) I'd bet the sellers don't even own the product they're selling.

For those inclined, selling products worth $100 to hapless buyers for $200-$300, then ordering them from somewhere (often a distributor that will drop-ship them for you) and delivering them seems like a pretty good and easy business. I hope they have trouble sleeping at night though.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

boyscout said:


> I don't know - just guessing - but I believe that they're "Hail Mary" listings, praying for someone too rushed or too dumb to investigate the value of the item they're buying. In the many cases in which the seller also fulfills (instead of having it shipped by Amazon) I'd bet the sellers don't even own the product they're selling.
> 
> For those inclined, selling products worth $100 to hapless buyers for $200-$300, then ordering them from somewhere (often a distributor that will drop-ship them for you) and delivering them seems like a pretty good and easy business. I hope they have trouble sleeping at night though.


Actually you are spot on. Many of them do just that. They will take your order and then order that item from another party and drop ship it to you. I found several of them doing that. Those are the ones that always have a 2-3 week shipping time. I order from Amazon and many times the item is delivered the next day from Mississauga. Beware of the 3rd party guys, they are all over Amazon.


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## Boogieman (Apr 6, 2009)

allthumbs56 said:


> These days I will only buy something that is "fullfilled by Amazon" in the least.
> 
> The other thing I've noted lately is that if you choose free shipping they will often hold back picking the order until their estimated delivery date approaches. Used to be that anything from the Mississauga warehouse would be at my door in two days no matter what the shipping option was.


Got ripped off by some third party US vendor via Amazon.ca. $6 shipping fee for a $20 item that I nhad ever received. The seller claimed that the package was returned due to "non-deliverable address". Now, that was news to me, as it was the same address that was on my Amazon.ca account. Asked them to send me a photo of the shipping label, nothing but lame excuses. Took it up to Amazon.ca, just more of the "we care about our customers" BS. I had only lost the shipping fees, so I did not want to waste more time pursuing it. From then on, it has been "fulfilled by Amazon.ca" only.

Since the beginning of this year, I noticed they had switched from Canada Post/UPS to a company called Intelcom for delivery. None of my orders had been delivered on time with those guys. The worst I have had with them so far, was a 5-day delay from Amazon's expected delivery date. That was 12+5 days on the Free Shipping option. However, I have seen quite of few unhappy Amazon.ca customers complaining about Intelcom delivery issues on Reddit. Quite a few of them had way worse experience than mine.

I am going to sign up on the Canada Post FlexDelivery service and see if it would help. I would much rather pick up the package at a CP outlet than wondering when it will show up at my door.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Every once in a while I'll end up on amazon.com by accident and find the deal of a lifetime, only to realize it doesn't ship to Canada. Then you look up the same item on amazon.ca and it's a stupid amount more money. Depressing.

Other than a tuner and mics, I don't think I've made any music instrument purchases on Amazon.ca The prices are for the most part are either higher or the same as local stores are selling for - in which case I'll buy from the local store. But... Long as you are aware of your prices and where the item is coming from, Amazon works great. I ordered an RV type BBQ late last Monday night, and it was on my door step by Wednesday noon. That's impressive.

I've certainly seen the "third party" sellers on Amazon like what @GuitarsCanada mentioned in the post above. You can see the same guitar sold by Axe Music on amazon for $999.00 listed by another seller on Amazon for $2500.00. It's crazy. I think the name of the high seller on music stuff is something like "Urban Inspirations".


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Boogieman said:


> Got ripped off by some third party US vendor via Amazon.ca. $6 shipping fee for a $20 item that I nhad ever received. The seller claimed that the package was returned due to "non-deliverable address". Now, that was news to me, as it was the same address that was on my Amazon.ca account. Asked them to send me a photo of the shipping label, nothing but lame excuses. Took it up to Amazon.ca, just more of the "we care about our customers" BS. I had only lost the shipping fees, so I did not want to waste more time pursuing it. From then on, it has been "fulfilled by Amazon.ca" only.
> 
> Since the beginning of this year, I noticed they had switched from Canada Post/UPS to a company called Intelcom for delivery. None of my orders had been delivered on time with those guys. The worst I have had with them so far, was a 5-day delay from Amazon's expected delivery date. That was 12+5 days on the Free Shipping option. However, I have seen quite of few unhappy Amazon.ca customers complaining about Intelcom delivery issues on Reddit. Quite a few of them had way worse experience than mine.
> 
> I am going to sign up on the Canada Post FlexDelivery service and see if it would help. I would much rather pick up the package at a CP outlet than wondering when it will show up at my door.


I just ordered some tuners and they are being shipped from Mississauga by CP, fortunately.


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## Business (Jul 30, 2013)

Online shopping isn't any different than buying groceries 
No supermarket will have the best prices on every item... would be way too easy
You just need to shop around


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Business said:


> Online shopping isn't any different than buying groceries
> No supermarket will have the best prices on every item... would be way too easy
> You just need to shop around


Today we ordered our groceries online, it was easy and a huge timesaver. Picked them up on the way home, took 5 minutes for a list an arm length long.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I never buy from Amazon.ca until I check out Amazon.com first. Then I usually buy from Amazon.com.


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2017)

Buy direct from www.aliexpress.com .


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## Lord-Humongous (Jun 5, 2014)

Since Amazon became a vendor marketplace, I don't buy from them. You never know if you are buying an item from China, the USA, or next door. Ebay is still better for these kind of things since you can search it for 'Canada only'. If you must buy Chinese garbage, AliExpress is the best. Though with AliExpress Chinese stuff, half doesn't show up, the other half is unusable garbage in my experience.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Before you buy anything that uses electricity check it out on Shopbot Canada | Compare prices, find your product. first. It'll give you an idea of prices in Canada. Amazon.ca is usually cheapest. Often cheaper than "Low price specialty sellers". But ya the third party sellers can be out of touch with reality. Buyer beware. Amazon.com has always been disproportionately cheaper. I write it off to the "Canadians will pay more" sales strategy.

Amazon Prime is still my go to. I buy a lot of gizmos though.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Steadfastly said:


> I never buy from Amazon.ca until I check out Amazon.com first. Then I usually buy from Amazon.com.


Then you don't "usually" buy these days, because if you did you'd know that it is becoming more difficult seemingly by the month. More and more often, the amazon.com site tells you that the product you want cannot be shipped to your Canadian address. I'm still a fairly frequent customer who almost always compares the .CA price to the .COM price. I'd guess I'm seeing "won't ship to you" more than half the time now on a broad range of products from from music gear to computer parts to toilets and many other product types.

I have a hunch - just a hunch - that the worsening situation is not just due to Amazon greed. I'd bet that Canadian distributors and large retailers have also had some influence with government officials to get protection from Amazon's threat to them. No legislation or regulation arising from it AFAIK, but a few meetings with Amazon by government trade bureaucrats making veiled threats to clamp down on Amazon's activities could make Amazon change as it has been changing. Higher profits for Amazon while earning good relations with regulators, and less disruption of the often-well-padded Canadian marketplace, means that everyone wins.

Except us customers.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

boyscout said:


> Then you don't "usually" buy these days, because if you did you'd know that it is becoming more difficult seemingly by the month. More and more often, the amazon.com site tells you that the product you want cannot be shipped to your Canadian address. I'm still a fairly frequent customer who almost always compares the .CA price to the .COM price. I'd guess I'm seeing "won't ship to you" more than half the time now on a broad range of products from from music gear to computer parts to toilets and many other product types.


You can toggle on "ship to Canada". Might save you some time.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

boyscout said:


> Then you don't "usually" buy these days, because if you did you'd know that it is becoming more difficult seemingly by the month. More and more often, the amazon.com site tells you that the product you want cannot be shipped to your Canadian address. I'm still a fairly frequent customer who almost always compares the .CA price to the .COM price. I'd guess I'm seeing "won't ship to you" more than half the time now on a broad range of products from from music gear to computer parts to toilets and many other product types.
> 
> I have a hunch - just a hunch - that the worsening situation is not just due to Amazon greed. I'd bet that Canadian distributors and large retailers have also had some influence with government officials to get protection from Amazon's threat to them. No legislation or regulation arising from it AFAIK, but a few meetings with Amazon by government trade bureaucrats making veiled threats to clamp down on Amazon's activities could make Amazon change as it has been changing. Higher profits for Amazon while earning good relations with regulators, and less disruption of the often-well-padded Canadian marketplace, means that everyone wins.
> 
> Except us customers.



Wait for it....



Steadfastly said:


> However, for those that live close to the border and can go and pick it up at the shipping depot, it'a a very good deal.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

davetcan said:


> You can toggle on "ship to Canada". Might save you some time.



But as my recent experience shows, items that are listed as being available to ship to Canada do not always ship to Canada.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

colchar said:


> But as my recent experience shows, items that are listed as being available to ship to Canada do not always ship to Canada.


LOL, yes that is bizarre. I haven't run into that yet.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

vadsy said:


> Wait for it....


When I wrote my reply to Steadfastly's message #19 in this thread, and upon checking it again to ensure that he hadn't edited his message since I replied, Steadfastly *does not say what your post #25 quotes him as saying.* Not in that message or any other in this thread.

What are you up to and what are you trying to say?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

boyscout said:


> Then you don't "usually" buy these days, because if you did you'd know that it is becoming more difficult seemingly by the month. More and more often, the amazon.com site tells you that the product you want cannot be shipped to your Canadian address. I'm still a fairly frequent customer who almost always compares the .CA price to the .COM price. I'd guess I'm seeing "won't ship to you" more than half the time now on a broad range of products from from music gear to computer parts to toilets and many other product types.
> 
> I have a hunch - just a hunch - that the worsening situation is not just due to Amazon greed. I'd bet that Canadian distributors and large retailers have also had some influence with government officials to get protection from Amazon's threat to them. No legislation or regulation arising from it AFAIK, but a few meetings with Amazon by government trade bureaucrats making veiled threats to clamp down on Amazon's activities could make Amazon change as it has been changing. Higher profits for Amazon while earning good relations with regulators, and less disruption of the often-well-padded Canadian marketplace, means that everyone wins.
> 
> Except us customers.


I was thinking of this very thing when I posted. That truly is happening and I usually slip over to eBay and deal there. I hate getting fleeced.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

boyscout said:


> When I wrote my reply to Steadfastly's message #19 in this thread, and upon checking it again to ensure that he hadn't edited his message since I replied, Steadfastly *does not say what your post #25 quotes him as saying.* Not in that message or any other in this thread.
> 
> What are you up to and what are you trying to say?


Click on the arrow in the quote header and it will take you to the quote. Apologies if you knew that and were looking for further clarification.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Here's an example. The following two Amazon links offer a type of hitch used for towing large trailers with a pickup truck.

*Amazon.COM*
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...eese+titan+30870&rh=i:aps,k:reese+titan+30870

Offered on .COM for US$952.90 through a third-party seller. The third-party seller's price is competitive with other sellers in the U.S. *However* *Amazon.COM will not sell this to me because I'm in Canada*. In the past, it would sell me nearly anything.

*Amazon.CA*
REESE Titan 30870 Fifth Wheel 20000 lb Load Capacity with Round Tube Slider, Hitches - Amazon Canada

The same hitch offered by Amazon.CA itself ("Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca." - not sold by a third party) for CDN$1,545.42. *That's a 62% price increase when US$ exchange at this moment is 26%.* If the price was strictly tied to exchange rates it would be CDN$1,201, or $344 less than it is.

If we are reasonable and allow Amazon a buffer to cover currency exchange gyrations (let's give it 32% - which is above the recent average exchange rate) then the price should be CDN$1,257 but it's +$288 or nearly 23% more than that; extra profit for Amazon.

Amazon can claim with some justification that higher costs in Canada make higher prices necessary here. Nearly all of those costs can be related to government taxation, regulation, and protection of high-priced Canadian suppliers. However if they could make a case that it costs 23% more to cover those costs then we'd be in real trouble here. They cannot.

*Amazon is getting greedy and squeezing Canadian customers.*


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Our marketplace is a tenth of the U.S marketplace. We require documentation in both official languages, specific certifications unique to Canada (ie: CSA), environmental "disposal" fees (bless you Kathleen), and probably some more fees for brokerage, duty and excise. It just costs more money to sell stuff here beyond exchange rates.

Thank our overlords.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

boyscout said:


> (I do understand that currency fluctuates and companies want a bit of a buffer to protect themselves against a collapse in the value of their inventory, but c'mon!)


Some companies need a buffer, sure, but Amazon doesn't; they have the ability to do live conversion on prices. Both Musician's Fiend and Sweetwater do it, as well as many other websites (for music gear or otherwise) that aren't one of the oldest online retail powerhouses with a dedicated internal (vs outsourced) IT department.

No buffer is required for currency fluctuation, but what they are buffering for is shipping to the Canadian warehouse sites (from the US ones vs direct from suppliers, because that makes biz sense) and associated (additional) storage/inventory costs here. It would likely be cheaper to ship from existing US warehouses (it might not be cheaper to ship to CAN warehouses direct from suppliers due to volume), but some idiot thought that customers wouldn't mind paying that much extra just so that the shipping is quicker and (appear to be) lower in cost (and so they could do the free shipping thing; totally not feasible when crossing boarders).

Even then, I think it is exorbitant, but that's the reasoning behind it.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Steadfastly said:


> I never buy from Amazon.ca until I check out Amazon.com first. Then I usually buy from Amazon.com.


I drive to a store and have it right now. No waiting a couple of days to months. No worrying about someone stealing it off the porch. No problem if there is something wrong with it and it has to be returned and, I am supporting local merchants and the money stays here. Plus, when I walk into the store I know they have exactly what I want.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Business said:


> Online shopping isn't any different than buying groceries
> No supermarket will have the best prices on every item... would be way too easy
> You just need to shop around


Drive to a bunch of stores to save a couple of bucks?


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

Amazon.com sells that hitch for $1095.91.


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## Business (Jul 30, 2013)

Electraglide said:


> Drive to a bunch of stores to save a couple of bucks?


Yup


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Hammerhands said:


> Amazon.com sells that hitch for $1095.91.


I just clicked on the .COM link I originally posted in my message above and, even though the text of the link still said it was a link to Amazon.COM *the link automatically redirected to the Amazon.CA page for that product!* That's a new one for me, and it's another way that Amazon is working to avoid selling to Canadians at U.S. prices.

I have replaced that link with a new copy/paste of the URL to the Amazon.COM search results page by which I found the product in the first place. It shows that product with their price of US$952.90, exactly as I reported.

A search for "Reese Titan 30870" produces no other listing for that product with any other price, just the one I wrote about. Where did you get your information?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Electraglide said:


> I drive to a store and have it right now. No waiting a couple of days to months. No worrying about someone stealing it off the porch. No problem if there is something wrong with it and it has to be returned and, I am supporting local merchants and the money stays here. Plus, when I walk into the store I know they have exactly what I want.


Yes, each to his own. I have the same service delivered to my door and usually for less but some people like the hands on thing and if that is the way you like it, that's what those stores cater to.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

$950.88 Sold by AutoTruckToys

Way below that...
Other sellers on Amazon
$952.90 Sold by Rex & Sons RV
$1095.59 Sold by Amazon.com


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Business said:


> Yup


Around here that means burning more gas than would be saved in buying stuff. Not to mention the amount of time you spend running around. That time is well spent shopping with the grand daughters.


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## Business (Jul 30, 2013)

Electraglide said:


> Around here that means burning more gas than would be saved in buying stuff. Not to mention the amount of time you spend running around. That time is well spent shopping with the grand daughters.


First I get what I need from Costco
Then there are 3 supermarkets 5 min or less from my place 
I can assure you I'm saving substantial money


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Business said:


> First I get what I need from Costco
> Then there are 3 supermarkets 5 min or less from my place
> I can assure you I'm saving substantial money


Here it's the one Co-op and wallyworld. For what we get costco isn't worth it. Never has been, even when I was a member. The closest "supermarket" is about 5 blocks from here and is more like a big corner store,,,,,expensive and doesn't carry much of what we buy. Must be nice having things that close. Last time we did the driving around thing we didn't save anything and spent a lot on gas. We very seldom use coupons either.


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2017)

I'm crawling distance from the important stuff.
Beer and booze shops.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

And they still want $15 shipping!

Killex 1L Concentrate (12, 12x14x18): Amazon.ca: Patio, Lawn & Garden


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Business said:


> First I get what I need from Costco
> Then there are 3 supermarkets 5 min or less from my place
> I can assure you I'm saving substantial money


I get what I need from Costco too. Our one grocery store in town burned down a couple of months ago. Now the nearest one is 15 miles away. Costco is about 45 minutes away but I need to go there at least once every two weeks for work so I get what I can while I am there.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

For a portable air pump for inflating tires...

Amazon.com charges US$243.99 (CDN$318.50 after exchange) but refuses to ship to Canada.

Amazon.ca charges CDN$428.14, a whopping 33% overcharge AFTER exchange is applied!

Amazon puts the screws to Canadian customers again.

Amazon.com: VIAIR 45053 Silver Automatic Portable Compressor Kit (450P-RV), 1 Pack: Automotive

http://www.amazon.ca/45053-450P-RV-...pID=41UiLMRS4YL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Price differences between Canada and the US are not simply a matter of the exchange rate.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2018)

Scamazon.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I haven't read the rest of this thread, but I bought a coffee maker on Amazon about two months ago for $19. I looked the other week and Amazon had jacked it up to $45.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Maybe I'm in the minority but I can't complain about Amazon, sure some of their prices are crazy... but is it that hard to do a quick search to compare prices? I picked up a brand new Line6 DT50 combo for under $500 last year, it was over $2000 +tax at the time at Long & McQuade. I just check the prices like I do everywhere else.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Morkolo said:


> Maybe I'm in the minority but I can't complain about Amazon, sure some of their prices are crazy... but is it that hard to do a quick search to compare prices? I picked up a brand new Line6 DT50 combo for under $500 last year, it was over $2000 +tax at the time at Long & McQuade. I just check the prices like I do everywhere else.


I limit my searches to Amazon only, which is a search option. The prices I find are generally cheaper or comparable to other places I check. I have Prime though, so the free shipping plus the fact that items generally arrive the next day for me make it worth it.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Amazon (as being discussed here) is a marketplace with 3 distinct product classifications/programs:
- sold by Amazon (sold and shipped by Amazon)
- fulfilled by Amazon (sold by 3rd party, shipped by Amazon)
- marketplace (sold and shipped by 3rd party)

When you say “Amazon is screwing us”, which of above programs do you mean? Because Amazon only controls the price in the first case above.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

jdto said:


> Price differences between Camada and the US are not simply a matter of the exchange rate.


a) Goods often ARE priced close to the exchange rate difference, even on Amazon.ca, and on the fairly-wide-ranging array of goods I buy it's not common to see premiums of 30%-40%-50% over the exchange-converted U.S. price. Such premiums do appear on Amazon.ca with frustrating frequency though.

b) The example I posted is one in which *Amazon itself is the seller on both sides of the border*, not a third-party seller. Third-party sellers frequently charge VERY high premiums (I've seen them over 200%!) on Amazon but I don't usually report those here. I would prefer that Amazon didn't enable those hucksters, and happily earn so much more from its share of their sales, but it's buyer beware there.

c) I understand that a distributor may have an exclusive contract with the manufacturer for sales in Canada, and might be wholly-responsible for the rich premium being charged for the product. The product is over-priced, and I'm drawing attention to it.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

LexxM3 said:


> Amazon (as being discussed here) is a marketplace with 3 distinct product classifications/programs:
> - sold by Amazon (sold and shipped by Amazon)
> - fulfilled by Amazon (sold by 3rd party, shipped by Amazon)
> - marketplace (sold and shipped by 3rd party)
> ...


On both sides of the border/company, this product is sold and shipped by Amazon. Those are generally the only ones I complain about here; see previous note just published.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2018)

How do I only see items supplied and shipped by Amazon.ca?


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

"Canadians will pay more" - As much as we hate to admit it we prove it over and over again, followed by a "Thank-you".


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Player99 said:


> How do I only see items supplied and shipped by Amazon.ca?


Once you narrow a search down to department, an option to sort by seller comes up in the filters in the left sidebar. Down near the bottom. You can select Amazon.ca from there.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

boyscout said:


> a) Goods often ARE priced close to the exchange rate difference, even on Amazon.ca, and on the fairly-wide-ranging array of goods I buy it's not common to see premiums of 30%-40%-50% over the exchange-converted U.S. price. Such premiums do appear on Amazon.ca with frustrating frequency though.
> 
> b) The example I posted is one in which *Amazon itself is the seller on both sides of the border*, not a third-party seller. Third-party sellers frequently charge VERY high premiums (I've seen them over 200%!) on Amazon but I don't usually report those here. I would prefer that Amazon didn't enable those hucksters, and happily earn so much more from its share of their sales, but it's buyer beware there.
> 
> c) I understand that a distributor may have an exclusive contract with the manufacturer for sales in Canada, and might be wholly-responsible for the rich premium being charged for the product. The product is over-priced, and I'm drawing attention to it.


None of your points have anything to do with what I said, but they are all good points, nonetheless.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

torndownunit said:


> Once you narrow a search down to department, an option to sort by seller comes up in the filters in the left sidebar. Down near the bottom. You can select Amazon.ca from there.


Thanks, but I think you've missed the point. The seller on both sides of the border for most of the products complained-about in this thread *IS* Amazon itself.

Amazon.COM sells a product at a fair price in the U.S. but *will not ship the product to Canada*. There are many products they WILL ship here, but some they will not because...

Amazon.CA sells the same product but its price is 30%-40%-50% higher than the Amazon.COM price, *after exchange*. Canadians are being gouged 30%-40%-50% more than the U.S. price. Again, AFTER exchange has been applied.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Comparing the price between Canada and the US based purely on exchange rate is a futile exercise. Many products are regulated differently in Canada than in the US. Amazon may not be able to sell it across the border, but may have to either source it here, or import items that meet Canadian standards and regulations and pay duties, transportation and other costs to sell here. If they have to purchase and import a quantity for the Canadian market, the cost per unit is likely higher than in the US, due to many different factors, most especially the volume. That’s where I’d need to see more details than the exchange rate and .com vs. .ca before I called it a scam by the company. Not that I don’t think they are above gouging, but it would be good to look beyond it at the reasons the prices are so much higher.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

boyscout said:


> Thanks, but I think you've missed the point. The seller on both sides of the border for most of the products complained-about in this thread *IS* Amazon itself.
> 
> Amazon.COM sells a product at a fair price in the U.S. but *will not ship the product to Canada*. There are many products they WILL ship here, but some they will not because...
> 
> Amazon.CA sells the same product but its price is 30%-40%-50% higher than the Amazon.COM price, *after exchange*. Canadians are being gouged 30%-40%-50% more than the U.S. price. Again, AFTER exchange has been applied.


And I answered that for my shopping I have no issues. If a product was less with shipping included elsewhere I'd simply buy it elsewhere. Generally, it's not though. That's why it's called shopping.

The post you are quoting is an answer to a question someone posted. It's not a comment on someone else's shopping experiences.

I don't know what the deal is with people on this forum feeling everything has to be a confrontation. It's ridiculous.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

jdto said:


> Comparing the price between Canada and the US based purely on exchange rate is a futile exercise. Many products are regulated differently in Canada than in the US. Amazon may not be able to sell it across the border, but may have to either source it here, or import items that meet Canadian standards and regulations and pay duties, transportation and other costs to sell here. If they have to purchase and import a quantity for the Canadian market, the cost per unit is likely higher than in the US, due to many different factors, most especially the volume. That’s where I’d need to see more details than the exchange rate and .com vs. .ca before I called it a scam by the company. Not that I don’t think they are above gouging, but it would be good to look beyond it at the reasons the prices are so much higher.


All good points - some of us have railed against some of those things for years. However those selling a WHOLE lot of products deal with these things and DON'T price at such a steep premium over the U.S. prices. Including many on Amazon.ca.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

torndownunit said:


> The post you are quoting is an answer to a question someone posted. It's not a comment on someone else's shopping experiences.


Some of us include a quotation when we're responding to another's post. When that's not done it seems as though the post is intended to respond to the topic of the thread.



torndownunit said:


> I don't know what the deal is with people on this forum feeling everything has to be a confrontation. It's ridiculous.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

As I had read this post, I searched on both amazon .ca and .com three instructional DVDs I had spotted on eBay. I found almost the same price on the two amazons which were significantly lower than on eBay, even with a great deal on one of them. Talked with some guys this morning and they do not find any problem either. So my experience is not bad.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I hear this guy's possibly the next Gibson CEO. 










Pretty soon, Henry'll be singing "So how'dja like me now ........ "


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I've used Amazon 5x to get things I could not get anywhere else. No problems or excessive charges. One item took 7 weeks but it was for a $12 part and the shipping was $4 and came from somewhere in Asia.


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## Guest (Aug 10, 2018)

I looked up something yesterday. $51 CAD .ca, $35 CAD .com. $16 difference in Canada after USD price adjustments.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Here's another one, heavy-duty sealing tape for repairing roof damage.

Amazon.com charges US$54.75 / CDN$71.94. Amazon.ca charges $112.79, a *57% premium* over the U.S. price. Both sold by Amazon, not third-party sellers.

Amazon.com *will* ship this product to Canada so even with higher shipping costs I can avoid the rapacious Amazon.ca price, but often it won't ship products here to push Canadian customers to the higher price.

Amazon.com: EternaBond RSW-4-50 RoofSeal Sealant Tape, White - 4" x 50': Automotive

EternaBond RSW-4-50 White Roof Seal, Sealants - Amazon Canada


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

High/Deaf said:


> I hear this guy's possibly the next Gibson CEO.
> 
> View attachment 221208
> 
> ...


not sure if serious.
Bezos makes more in a day sitting at the beach than Gibsons entire value. I cant see why he'd waste his time.
if they did acquire Gibson, he'd hand it off to some flunky to do whatever he wants with it.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Diablo said:


> not sure if serious.
> Bezos makes more in a day sitting at the beach than Gibsons entire value. I cant see why he'd waste his time.
> if they did acquire Gibson, he'd hand it off to some flunky to do whatever he wants with it.


I wasn't, but ...........

If he took it over, he would fill the guitars with a bunch of AA batteries. And then try and get them to play themselves while we hang on to them, screwing around on our phones. Maybe that's where Gibson needs to be taken?


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

High/Deaf said:


> I wasn't, but ...........
> 
> If he took it over, he would fill the guitars with a bunch of AA batteries. And then try and get them to play themselves while we hang on to them, screwing around on our phones. Maybe that's where Gibson needs to be taken?


I hope not.
Id rather see the brand die with some degree of its dignity intact.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Diablo said:


> I hope not. Id rather see the brand die with some degree of its dignity intact.


Only if its existing guitars become *incredibly* valuable as a result. Otherwise I hope another Henry J. comes along.

Gibson has done some STUNNINGLY stupid things over the past five years. Henry and Berryman still held the reins but I have a hunch that Henry's son may be more responsible than the titled executives for the staggeringly-stupid moves. The company headed sharply south on many fronts right around the time that the son was reported to be moving up in the company.

However Henry and his pals deserve big credit for saving Gibson from Norlin and turning it from a commodity company back into a guitar company again. They had huge doses of good luck to help them along, especially as guitars re-dominated popular music again in the '70s and early 80's, but they made smart moves too (such as Custom Shop).

In 2014 though Gibson plummeted; they fucked up quality, features, pricing, dealer relationships and more. Then they decided their brand was a more important asset than their product, and went on a shopping spree buying various B- and C-level companies that nobody else wanted in markets they'd never been in before and knew nothing about. It was really easy to predict death at that point.

Henry J. brought a lot to Gibson. His replacement could be a deep-pocketed person like Jeff Bezos, but if that person doesn't play and isn't an enthusiast then Gibson may be no better off than with any conglomerate, and Gibson will fade into another "Norlin" period. But if someone who gets the product (Joe Bonamassa has made noises) takes over Gibson may rise again.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Going back to the original discussion, I buy almost exclusively at amazon.ca I have found prices are even cheaper than if I buy it here locally. I order it now and I can get it tomorrow morning. I have seen that price difference between .com and .ca Sometimes waiting when it goes on sale is good if that is an option. Or like yesterday I was going to buy a dishwasher utensil rack and put it on my cart last night. It was $39 + $10 shipping. The one they had with free shipping was much more expensive. I didn't buy it last night and waited this afternoon. Surprisingly, there was one for $46 including shipping and that's what I got. Their prices fluctuate from day to day.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Here's another example of the ways that Amazon overcharges Canadian customers. 

*Both of these products are sold by Amazon, not third parties.*

A small fitting costs US$3.84 (CDN$4.98) on Amazon.com. The same product costs CDN$12.53 on Amazon.ca, 252% more! *Nearly triple the cost on the same the fitting it sells to U.S. customers.*

Amazon.com: Camco Blow Out Plug With Brass Quick Connect-Aids In Removal of Water From Water Lines (36143): Automotive

Camco 36143 RV Blow Out Plug with Brass Quick Connect, Freshwater Systems - Amazon Canada


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

boyscout said:


> Here's another one, heavy-duty sealing tape for repairing roof damage.
> 
> Amazon.com charges US$54.75 / CDN$71.94. Amazon.ca charges $112.79, a *57% premium* over the U.S. price. Both sold by Amazon, not third-party sellers.
> 
> ...


Which is likely exactly what the manufacturer is telling Amazon to do. There are a bunch of issues behind pricing of products that have nothing to do with Amazon which you choose to ignore. If you want the accurate picture, ask the manufacturer why their prices are set like that on Amazon. There are manufactures and companies who simply don't give a shit about the Canadian market, and it's Amazon that takes the heat as the final step in the chain.

I am not some Amazon fan boy by any means, it's just that so many issues are being overlooked when simply blaming Amazon for a price difference on an item. In another thread another poster did a very detailed post on the reasons we see price differences in Canada, but I don't know where to find it.

Edit: Just to pass on my general shopping experience:

usually start on Amazon.ca. If an item seems over-priced, my next step is to check if the manufacturer sells direct. In maybe 75% of the cases they do, but buying from them directly with costs shipping included is actually MORE then the price on Amazon (due to Amazon always having free shipping). Especially if it's an item that doesn't have any real Canadian distribution, which is a scenario I run into a lot. The next step is to see if I can beat the price at any other online retailers, but if I have hit a dead end with the first 2 options that is pretty unlikely. 

If it's a Canadian made and distributed product, I generally find the Amazon costs to be about the same in most cases, but Amazon's shipping (especially if you have a Prime account) usually will save a slight bit of money. Not to mention, their shipping has actually arrived same day for me before (I guess because of the large distro center not far from me.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

torndownunit said:


> Which is likely exactly what the manufacturer is telling Amazon to do. There are a bunch of issues behind pricing of products that have nothing to do with Amazon which you choose to ignore. If you want the accurate picture, ask the manufacturer why their prices are set like that on Amazon. There are manufactures and companies who simply don't give a shit about the Canadian market, and it's Amazon that takes the heat as the final step in the chain. I am not some Amazon fan boy by any means, it's just that so many issues are being overlooked when simply blaming Amazon for a price difference on an item. In another thread another poster did a very detailed post on the reasons we see price differences in Canada, but I don't know where to find it.


I'm fully aware of the points you raise and have acknowledged them in this thread and elsewhere myself. The thread already includes discussion of these issues. There's truly no need for you to pounce each time I post one of these examples of the sometimes-huge price differences between US and Canada Amazons. Someone said here a while ago:

_I don't know what the deal is with people on this forum feeling everything has to be a confrontation. It's ridiculous._

Amazon is absolutely NOT helplessly without influence over any of the "many" (there are actually only a handful) of issues leading to its sometimes-shocking price differences. You've made your point, and don't have to leap to Amazon's defense with every post about the differences; one wonders why you do.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

boyscout said:


> I'm fully aware of the points you raise and have acknowledged them in this thread and elsewhere myself. The thread already includes discussion of these issues. There's truly no need for you to pounce each time I post one of these examples of the sometimes-huge price differences between US and Canada Amazons. Someone said here a while ago:
> 
> _I don't know what the deal is with people on this forum feeling everything has to be a confrontation. It's ridiculous._
> 
> Amazon is absolutely NOT helplessly without influence over any of the "many" (there are actually only a handful) of issues leading to its sometimes-shocking price differences. You've made your point, and don't have to leap to Amazon's defense with every post about the differences; one wonders why you do.


Pounce? You are seriously that ridiculous? You are posting this same stuff in multiple threads. This is a DISCUSSION forum. If you keep posting these posts, then I and others are free to keep replying to point out other sides of the issues. Every one of your posts and replies on this issue is angry and confrontational. You seriously don't see that when you are making these posts and accusations? If you don't want these replies on a DISCUSSION forum, then don't make the posts. Or just grow up. Accusing someone of being a shill because they are simply discussing an issue is childish to the extreme. And of course, to you it's other people on the forum who are the issue.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

torndownunit said:


> Pounce? You are seriously that ridiculous? You are posting this same stuff in multiple threads. This is a DISCUSSION forum. If you keep posting these posts, then I and others are free to keep replying to point out other sides of the issues. Every one of your posts and replies on this issue is angry and confrontational. You seriously don't see that when you are making these posts and accusations? If you don't want these replies on a DISCUSSION forum, then don't make the posts. Or just grow up. Accusing someone of being a shill because they are simply discussing an issue is childish to the extreme. And of course, to you it's other people on the forum who are the issue.


Kindly prove your claim that "_You are posting this same stuff in multiple threads_" using quotations from me.

I started this thread for this purpose, and return to it when I find new examples of price-gouging. It obviously makes you angry and confrontational when I do.

Post what you like but I'm not likely the only one thinkin' "pot calling kettle black" here. Marijuana will soon be legal, help yourself.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

If you buy the one at amazon.ca for $113.00 that is supplied by a third party seller Northern Shipments. If you check out the one being sold directly by amazon.ca, it is $99.67 with free shipping (prime member). The one at amazon.com is $50.95 plus $18.75 for shipping and that one is on sale, that would be $69.70 USD.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> I wasn't, but ...........
> 
> If he took it over, he would fill the guitars with a bunch of AA batteries. And then try and get them to play themselves while we hang on to them, screwing around on our phones. Maybe that's where Gibson needs to be taken?



Henry was already heading in that direction.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

colchar said:


> Henry was already heading in that direction.


Henry's problem was he was heading in too many different directions. His custom shop was still making exceptional instruments, but getting into consumer audio wasn't timed well. Then there was this ....... 










Yikes!


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Thought I’d add some direct experience to this old thread. My company just released its first product and we’re selling on Amazon.com using Fulfilled by Amazon (allows Prime) and on our own website using Shopify to both US and Canada. Note that we are NOT selling on Amazon.ca (complicated Amazon ad efficiency issue). Our list price in USD is $169 and it is currently on an “intro sale” for $129.

A month of Amazon.com sales goes by. And note that we are the manufacturer and the sole source of this completely original and world first and only product.

Suddenly, today, our product pops up on Amazon.ca by a Marketplace seller in Hamilton, ON for ... wait for it ... $369.65 CAD. I don’t know what their scam is yet, but I suspect that, if they manage to scam someone in Canada, they will try to fulfill the order by buying from us directly as a fake consumer and then re-ship to the poor sucker for the ludicrous price.

And there is nothing we can do right now to stop it. We just have to be sceptical of all Hamilton buyers now. And in the meantime, this scumbag is making our brand look like we’re ripping off Canadians.

THAT is how that works. These scumbags are why we can’t have nice things.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

LexxM3 said:


> this scumbag is making our brand look like we’re ripping off Canadians.
> 
> THAT is how that works. These scumbags are why we can’t have nice things.


Sounds like you need to sell on Amazon.ca and undercut him.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

BSTheTech said:


> Sounds like you need to sell on Amazon.ca and undercut him.


We only learned about this today, so still thinking. But I do believe that is likely one of the top options, thank you.

To amplify that further, Amazon has this thing called “having the Buy Box” — when you have that attribute, you are the seller where the customer can add your product to cart directly. Amongst other criteria, the main driver for the Buy Box is whether you have the lowest price, so in fact your suggestion seems very likely to work very well. But there are logistics problems, particularly if we want Prime in Canada as well. And splitting of advertising budget issues, but maybe we can skip that.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

LexxM3 said:


> Suddenly, today, our product pops up on Amazon.ca by a Marketplace seller in Hamilton, ON for ... wait for it ... $369.65 CAD. I don’t know what their scam is yet, but I suspect that, if they manage to scam someone in Canada, they will try to fulfill the order by buying from us directly as a fake consumer and then re-ship to the poor sucker for the ludicrous price.
> 
> And there is nothing we can do right now to stop it. We just have to be sceptical of all Hamilton buyers now. And in the meantime, this scumbag is making our brand look like we’re ripping off Canadians.
> 
> THAT is how that works. These scumbags are why we can’t have nice things.


Yeah, some of the third-party sellers are a scourge. Somewhere back in this thread we've mused about why Amazon is happy to let them operate as some of them do; why it doesn't monitor them and have policies that would work against the worst of them. They don't do Amazon's image any favors.

However, third-party sellers are not always in play when Amazon.ca prices are much higher than Amazon.com prices.

There are instances in which Amazon itself is the seller on both sides of the border, yet prices are wildly different. A number of instances are noted earlier in this thread.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

LexxM3 said:


> Thought I’d add some direct experience to this old thread. My company just released its first product and we’re selling on Amazon.com using Fulfilled by Amazon (allows Prime) and on our own website using Shopify to both US and Canada. Note that we are NOT selling on Amazon.ca (complicated Amazon ad efficiency issue). Our list price in USD is $169 and it is currently on an “intro sale” for $129.
> 
> A month of Amazon.com sales goes by. And note that we are the manufacturer and the sole source of this completely original and world first and only product.
> 
> ...


So is the culprit that is allowing this to happen Amazon or Shopify. It looks like Amazon but I want to be sure. I know someone that works for Shopify that I can contact if they are in any way culpable.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Guitar101 said:


> So is the culprit that is allowing this to happen Amazon or Shopify. It looks like Amazon but I want to be sure. I know someone that works for Shopify that I can contact if they are in any way culpable.


The core culprit is the fake reseller scumbag, but Amazon is extremely complicit both for providing little to no control to the actual brand owner, but more importantly for not clearly showing consumers that the scammers have nothing to do with the product they are “selling” ie unauthorized or grey market listing. We weren’t even flagged by Amazon, we noticed completely accidentally (they certainly have the capability to flag as the fake scumbag is literally using our listing and adding it to his seller inventory with no setup work needed).

I only mentioned Shopify to name-drop the world’s best INDEPENDENT e-comm platform, that also happens to be Canadian. They have nothing to do with this issue, I only mentioned them in the context of trying to figure out how the scammer could actually fulfil a sale if one ever happens. Shopify is not perfect, but in aggregate, they are an order of magnitude better than the next closest alternative (WooCommerce). Their imperfections right now mostly come from the fact that they cater to (or started by catering to) Mom & Pop basement operations, so there are weird/unexpected lacks and process glitches when you use this at a more professional scale, but still, they are by far the best in the world.

P.S. I suppose in fairness, Amazon does state the following on the scammer listing in the small print: “Note: This item is only available from third-party sellers (see all offers).” But how does a consumer correctly equate “third-party seller” with “unauthorized and likely to scam you”?


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Here is a bit more on this. Amazon doesn’t just allow this fake (unauthorized) listing thing to happen, they actively encourage it. Below are a sequence of screens in the Amazon Seller app that I can use right now to add our product listing in Amazon.ca to my test fake Canada store based on our real Amazon.com listing. I can get the job done within about 3 minutes worth of time. NorthGATE is the scammer (I am not showing details of our product intentionally to remain semi-anonymous).


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

It gets better, this is a couple of other scammers on Amazon.com.mx










Considering our product does not currently have regulatory approval for sale in Mexico and we will never ship to Mexico until that is in place (not currently a priority relative to other geographies), I wonder how they intend to fulfill any orders? That doesn’t make any sense, I am clearly missing something with respect to this set of scams ...


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Those prices are in pesos, right?


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

jdto said:


> Those prices are in pesos, right?


I don’t know, they are shown with $ signs in the native listing in Spanish (my picture is a Google translate). What’s the symbol for peso?


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Those prices are in pesos, right?


LexxM3 said:


> I don’t know, they are shown with $ signs in the native listing in Spanish (my picture is a Google translate). What’s the symbol for peso?


They use the dollar sign. I'd imagine their listings would be pesos on Mexican Amazon


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

jdto said:


> Those prices are in pesos, right?
> 
> They use the dollar sign. I'd imagine their listings would be pesos on Mexican Amazon


Good to know. That is still well over 2x our list/MSRP price.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

LexxM3 said:


> Good to know. That is still well over 2x our list/MSRP price.


Yeah, it does seem pretty high. I know that in Mexico, as well as many other Latin American countries, there are people who import products that aren't readily available or distributed. These might be those type of businesses (I couldn't say for sure). Scammers? Well, buying it from Amazon.com in the US and then getting it either shipped, or bringing it across yourself to ship down there, I could see a hefty mark-up in price. They would be scammers if they ended up not delivering, but if they do deliver and they are the only avenue for delivery of the product, then it's not exactly a scam. That said, if they are staying in business and starting to sell any volume, maybe it shows you guys a market opportunity.


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## Beach Bob (Sep 12, 2009)

I've pretty much given up buying on Amazon.ca; way too many junk listings. I can understand them wanting to have a critical mass of merchants and products, but they really need to "curate" their own site much better. I have no idea what Amazon charges for a vendor to list a product, but obviously its not enough to filter out the sham vendors and bad players. Basically Amazon.ca has become a eCommerce site for Chinese knock offs and any attempt to find "brand name" product gets lost in the flood of junk that somehow magically matches your keywords.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Beach Bob said:


> I've pretty much given up buying on Amazon.ca; way too many junk listings. I can understand them wanting to have a critical mass of merchants and products, but they really need to "curate" their own site much better. I have no idea what Amazon charges for a vendor to list a product, but obviously its not enough to filter out the sham vendors and bad players. Basically Amazon.ca has become a eCommerce site for Chinese knock offs and any attempt to find "brand name" product gets lost in the flood of junk that somehow magically matches your keywords.


@jtdo THIS. I am calling them scumbags (ok maybe scammers is a little grey here) because just as per @Beach Bob here, they are damaging our brand by charging gouging prices. Also, the .mx listings are scams — the product cannot be legally imported into Mexico today.

@Beach Bob, your solution as a consumer is to only buy Prime and (harder) pay attention to the listing details and shop around.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

I mainly shop Prime and buy on Amazon fairly regularly and have had great experiences. 

@LexxM3 understood and too bad they are doing that. Is there a process for reporting them? I imagine it is quite challenging to get any sort of response from Amazon on this.


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## Beach Bob (Sep 12, 2009)

@LexxM3 I've got to ask... you're aware that people are grey listing your product in Canada at outrageous prices... so why don't you list it yourself at MSRP and knock the bastards out?


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Beach Bob said:


> @LexxM3 I've got to ask... you're aware that people are grey listing your product in Canada at outrageous prices... so why don't you list it yourself at MSRP and knock the bastards out?


See a couple post above. We only learned of this yesterday and we’re looking at how to mitigate. Doing our own listing is at the top of that list, but in real time, there might be a very significant Amazon-created logistical problem in doing so.

Working on it, great observation, thanks.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

sulphur said:


> Yesterday, I was looking for some Gorgomyte available in Canada.
> 
> It seems you can't buy it direct anymore either, but it's sold at StewMac for @ $12 CD.
> One listing in Amazon.ca had the stuff listed over $80! Huh, wtf?!?


Is that the stuff they used to send that prehistoric monster that was ravaging London England, back to the depths?


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Beach Bob said:


> @LexxM3 I've got to ask... you're aware that people are grey listing your product in Canada at outrageous prices... so why don't you list it yourself at MSRP and knock the bastards out?


As an update, we set up a “competing” selling account on Amazon.ca, with reasonable prices and ... the “scammer” disappeared — my guess is the algorithm has no emotion about it, if the competing price has no chance of making them money, the algorithm just removes the “scammy” listing. So it can be done (!) and .ca is fixed for now and we have another sales channel live. Nice.

However, the .com.mx site still has the two “scammers”. We can’t yet legally ship the product to Mexico, so we’re not going to setup a .com.mx shop to combat them. I almost want an order on their listing so that I can figure out how they intend to fulfil those orders; very curious, but not 7500 peso curious.


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## Beach Bob (Sep 12, 2009)

Sadly, in this day and age, it is on you to protect your brand. Glad that something as simple as a decent listing dropped the jerks out. 

Not being an etailer... how much does Amazon charge for listing? There is so much trash listed, I have to assume that "not enough" is a valid answer... and oddly enough, a higher listing fee may be in the best interests of legitimate distributors & manufacturers


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Beach Bob said:


> Sadly, in this day and age, it is on you to protect your brand. Glad that something as simple as a decent listing dropped the jerks out.
> 
> Not being an etailer... how much does Amazon charge for listing? There is so much trash listed, I have to assume that "not enough" is a valid answer... and oddly enough, a higher listing fee may be in the best interests of legitimate distributors & manufacturers


There are multiple services and modes, but in the context of Amazon Marketplace, seller-fulfilled, it is $40 Professional Account monthly, then in our (currently electronics) category 8% commission on everything (item and shipping cost if any), plus 2.9% payment/sales tax processing fee. If you sell less than 40 items per month, you don’t strictly need the $40/mo Professional account.


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## Beach Bob (Sep 12, 2009)

LexxM3 said:


> There are multiple services and modes, but in the context of Amazon Marketplace, seller-fulfilled, it is $40 Professional Account monthly, then in our (currently electronics) category 8% commission on everything (item and shipping cost if any), plus 2.9% payment/sales tax processing fee. If you sell less than 40 items per month, you don’t strictly need the $40/mo Professional account.


Interesting in that there is no listing fee... explains all the outrageously priced junk listings....


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Beach Bob said:


> Interesting in that there is no listing fee... explains all the outrageously priced junk listings....


Yes, actually a really good point. It real does seem that Amazon itself is somewhere between negligent and complicit in this.


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## Beach Bob (Sep 12, 2009)

LexxM3 said:


> Yes, actually a really good point. It real does seem that Amazon itself is somewhere between negligent and complicit in this.


I'm going to go with complicit. All they care about is about listing volume and getting a cut of the sale. If they charged a listing fee, all the junk listings are gone. I suspect sales would remain the same though, as I bet 75% or more of listings never actually generate a sale. 

I know that I personally buy very little from Amazon anymore due to the overpriced listings, the obvious knock offs, the poor results on keyword searches, etc...


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Sometimes Amazon is just fucked. I was checking for something tonight which was available at Costco for $99 (currently sold out) and everywhere else for $119. One of the listings on Amazon was for over $700. How the hell do they expect to sell any at that price????????


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

colchar said:


> Sometimes Amazon is just fucked. I was checking for something tonight which was available at Costco for $99 (currently sold out) and everywhere else for $119. One of the listings on Amazon was for over $700. How the hell do they expect to sell any at that price????????


Probably a listing error. My friend found a book he wrote listed for $1000 or something crazy online once.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Budda said:


> Probably a listing error. My friend found a book he wrote listed for $1000 or something crazy online once.



No, there are some units in the $50 range (but from a very unreliable seller, according to reviews) and then they go up from there with the $700+ one being the last one listed.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Are there any tricks to finding out where an item is shipping from? I'm sure not going to contact each seller to ask.
Are you just supposed to guess from the ETA?


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## Doug B (Jun 19, 2017)

Example:

https://www.amazon.ca/Guitar-Electr...id=1545677992&sr=1-17&keywords=fender+guitars

Now look on the right hand side of the screen where it says:"Usually ships within 2 to 3 days. "
Right under that it says : "Ships from and sold by Cosmo Music "
Which as we know is in Ontario. If you click on the words Cosmo Music, you get another blurb about the company.

Now this doesn't always work because sometimes the seller has to go to the factory to get more stock-and they often don't tell you that! *#*rolleyes:

Hope this helps some.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Story about this today. Walmart is doing it now too. Apparently this has become a common practice for offshore 3rd party sellers to use established NA retail sites. Works fine until you get stiffed and the retailer points the finger at China.


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## Doug B (Jun 19, 2017)

And then we the customers are just SOL..


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

i used to collect kung fu movies and sword films. the stuff i was looking for was rather obscure. most were crappy films really, but i was filling out my library of a particular actor or director. sometimes i would find stuff that i know there might be only a handful of people in the entire world who even wanted it, they had many copies, and yet the price was listed at hundreds and hundreds of dollars. i had even contacted the sellers thinking the price was a mistake. they assured me it was not. often times i found the movie through used dvd stores, gas stations and flea markets for less than $20. the way i see it, let them keep their $800 copy of "raging pheonix". i was patient, and eventually found it for about $6


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

jb welder said:


> Are there any tricks to finding out where an item is shipping from? I'm sure not going to contact each seller to ask.
> Are you just supposed to guess from the ETA?


I don’t think there is a way to tell and I don’t think @Doug B approach is even slightly reliable.

Case in point my stories above (earlier in this thread) and note that the guys in Mexico selling our product will NEVER be able to legally deliver on their sales — our product does not have EMC/RF regulatory approval in Mexico and cannot be legally imported into Mexico. Yet those two listings are “based in Mexico”.

This is why I label these fake/3rd party sellers as scammers above.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

I ordered bass strings about 9pm last night, they got here about 2:30pm today. A bass string L&M doesn’t carry, at a price that isn’t beat this side of the border, and cheaper than anywhere factoring in duty exchange and shipping. OK, a buck or two of my Prime membership went to getting them to me. Still, I’ll take the good and ignore the bad, thanks.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Some things I don't mind waiting on and don't care where they come from.
But I deal with a fair bit of electronic components that are no longer in production. I know the only legit ones are old stock, and where they are not located. There are also substandard or 'fakes' of obsolete components that are currently being manufactured. I know where most of those do come from. Seems to me amazon used to show where an item shipped from. Now they must feel this is detrimental to their profits.
At least with ebay I can see where they ship from.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Amazon is fucked.

I checked it today to see what their price was on the wet dog food that I feed Riley, and the price was $130.81 per can! At a normal pet food store that same can retails for $3.49 or less.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Amazon was trying to sell me some Celestion 10" speakers they had on sale the other day, model Ten-30 for $60.00. Sounded like a good deal but I checked Next Gen before I got too excited (doesn't take much to get old guys excited) and quickly discovered the NG price was only $46 for the same speaker. Hmmmm


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2019)

Amazon is really good about returns/complaints/defective products. Have a problem with an order? Here's your money back.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)




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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Player99 said:


> Amazon is really good about returns/complaints/defective products. Have a problem with an order? Here's your money back.


This is true. I bought an iPad case for my wife 2 weeks ago, I made the mistake, he almost instantly credited me back, I did email him pics. Said here’s the link to the right one, don’t want the other one back, no problem.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Amazon has a range of things for which it works really well. You also have to make sure you look st the pricing and make sure you’re not paying some importer for their work.


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2019)

Amazon doesn't care about returns, it back charges the vendors. The vendors care, but having access to the global Amazon market makes it worth the risk.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

A couple of years ago I ordered a few things that were priced very low. I thought the prices were too good to be true so I took a chance. The stuff never did come and Amazon refunded all my money.


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Been spending a fair bit of time on Amazon again lately, seen more examples of Canadians getting gouged.

This instance is a third-party-seller issue rather than Amazon directly, but wow!

The third-party seller on Amazon.com sells these special driver bits for *US$9.99*.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2SC6C...colid=XF662JX5XHXD&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

The best-known third-party seller on Amazon.ca, Northern Shipments, sells the same product for *CDN$40.98*!! Like a lot of these cross-border flippers, Northern Shipments has currently received negative reviews from 8% of its customers... over 2,000 people. You'd think that charging a *300%+ premium* on the product they could afford to provide good service.

Be careful, it's a jungle on Amazon.ca.

I can buy this particular product from .COM and save almost CDN$20. Often .COM won't ship less-expensive products to Canada and forces purchase at higher prices from .CA.


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