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Yes, we do pay about 50% more plus our taxes here in Ontario are 14%, that is 6% Goods and Services tax (was 7% until a few months ago) and 8% Ontario Provincial Tax (PST). SU also charges 10% shipping which is on top of the 114% thus on the items and the taxes. Makes it about 25.4% higher right there.
It is the same with CM and they are now going to be charging 7% extra for shipping.
The companies claim that the cost of doing business in Canada is much higher than in the US. The minimum wage in Ontario has just been increased to $8 Cdn. per hour. Payroll taxes are higher here as well. Someone pays for the medical plan we have.
Michael $1 stamps are $1.50 here, plus tax of course.
Yup we pay quite a bit more for things up here - ESPECIALLY on papercrafting supplies (the average is 50% more - so what you guys would pay $10 for we'd pay $15 (or more!!) for the same thing up here). That's why I've resorted to ordering a LOT of stuff online!!!!
Okay, now I'm confused. I thought with the exchange rate that $1.50 Canadian is about $1 American. Right?
No it's better than that. $1 US is worth $1.17 CDN.
We get totally screwed on scrapping/stamping supplies. I was just discussing this with some friends on here the other day. They were trying to talk me into getting a Cuttlebug (they're all enablers!!!:p) and I was telling them how much it is in Canada. At our local M's it's $109.:(
And we have no Joannes, no Archivers, no Hobby Lobby, no AC Moore....:(
Yup we pay quite a bit more for things up here - ESPECIALLY on papercrafting supplies (the average is 50% more - so what you guys would pay $10 for we'd pay $15 (or more!!) for the same thing up here). That's why I've resorted to ordering a LOT of stuff online!!!!
That is bad enough, but we here in the UK pay double what you do. We pay the same in pounds as you do dollars and there are nearly $2 to the �1. So you pay $20 for something, we pay �20, which is close to $40. :(
Obviously, SU is not availabe over here yet, but our papercrafting supplies are so expensive.
Yup us Canadians pay quite a bit more but UK and Australia, you guys pay through the nose! The US really has a monopoly on major companies that produce all the paper crafting supplies that we MUST have
PS: also what about your prperty taxes? car ins. medical..etc..just curious..Gail
We have 160 acres of forest land..our taxes are 325.00 a year.
my car ins. is 825.00 a year..medical ..all covered..
also my daughter..just started a job w/safeway..big chain grocery..@ 10.00 pr. hour in the deli...
__________________ Gail
When the world says give up, hope whispers, try one more time.
Our dollar is at 85 cents US so that means one US $ is about $1.17 or so Canadian. That means the 50% higher is out of line.
Then again, it is the same with all companies. That is why Canadians order so much on line from the US. Not only is the US postage cheaper, the real insult is that if we ship something from Canada to Canada, the postage is higher than it is to the US. Makes no sense really.
I can understand that in the UK and Australia it is higher. I do know, after having visited in the land of Oz that the minimum wage in Sydney, Australia 2 years ago was $17 per hour. At that time, the Australian dollar was about on par with the Canadian $. In other words, they make a lot more money than we do but prices are higher too.
I guess maybe free medical care could be balanced against higher stamp costs! I mean you can't have everything be free! We pay over $4000 a year in property taxes for our house! On less than a 1/3 of an acre...
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
We also pay property tax here. Not only for our house but also for our cottage about 90 miles north of Toronto. The cottage, while much smaller than the house and more the size of a cabin is higher in property tax than our house in Toronto.
Yes, it is on a lake and we can drive in about 8 or 9 months of the year (snowed in the rest of the time) but we do not have the same services there. Together, the house and cottage property taxes are about $6,000.00 per year.
As for our so called free medical care, there are long waits for just about anything and there are still some costs involved such as copayments for thing and the high rate of parking at hospitals and clinics.
As I stated earlier, we pay very high sales taxes too.
On January 10, 2007, the House of Representatives voted, 315–116, to raise the minimum wage. If the Senate approves the bill, the minimum wage will increase to $5.85 an hour 60 days after passage, then to $6.55 an hour one year later, and finally to $7.25 an hour a year after that.
1. Adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers).
Source: U.S. Department of Labor. Web: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/.
That's nothing!!! I don't understand how people can live on min. wage. In my last job I took a $1 pay cut to GET OUT of the position that I was in. I could barely pay my bills and that was at $11 an hour. Which was more than my mom was making at a company that she has worked at for more than 25 years. Crazy.
Location: Saskatchewan, Land Of Living Skies Canada
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Canadian girls do you really think our medical is free??? Why do you think we pay so many taxes??? Yes, we don't have to pay when we go to the hospital but we have already paid for it. Don't kid yourself nothing is free in this country not even AIR MILES!
I also agree we do pay way more than U.S.
What really gets me is there postage. A lot of your companies have free shipping but not for us, we don't even have that in our own country. We actually pay more from east to west than from south to north, which in my mind is crazy.
Oh, I wish no one would talk taxes on here, cause it just drives me nuts. As farmers we pay $600.00-725.00 per quarter of land just for taxes. Most farmers have over 20 quarters of land in Saskatchewan.
Please don't say free medical because we have paid for it over and over again. When they say it costs 100,000.00 for different operations in U.S. - what do you really think it costs here? I'm only guessing the same, we just don't see the hidden taxes paying for it.
Kathy
I don't think of our health care as free. Universal, yes.
Universally awful and overstressed imho. While I am extremely grateful I had the benefit of the Canadian health care system and its low direct cost to me when I had a major health crisis, the difference between the health care opportunities in Canada and in Texas at least is vast! My first visit to my specialist down here, he discussed several options that would improve my quality of sight immensely. Back home the docs wouldn't even acknowledge the physical issues causing the problems, much less admit there were problems, or how to resolve them.
So now we pay over $400 USD per month for our health care plan, but at least I have fairly-priced crafting supplies available to me. ;)
Wow, the grass is always greener, right??? US property taxes are so different everywhere you go here. It depends on the state, the county, even the city or town. My parents live in a really small town in a small house and pay $4000 per year on taxes, including a school tax, whereas, we live in a bigger house near a city and pay only about $1500 a year. However, our car insurance is through the roof because we live in a more congested area. Health insurance is crazy expensive, so universal health care looks good to us down here, but the Canadians are right...they pay for it, and pay dearly at times!!
Universally awful and overstressed imho. While I am extremely grateful I had the benefit of the Canadian health care system and its low direct cost to me when I had a major health crisis, the difference between the health care opportunities in Canada and in Texas at least is vast! My first visit to my specialist down here, he discussed several options that would improve my quality of sight immensely. Back home the docs wouldn't even acknowledge the physical issues causing the problems, much less admit there were problems, or how to resolve them.
So now we pay over $400 USD per month for our health care plan, but at least I have fairly-priced crafting supplies available to me. ;)
Yes we might pay for it somewhere..hidden tax etc...buttt..if i have to have surgery i don have to mortage my house to do so..if my ins. were to run out..
i think yes it all balances out sumhow..i know a friend of mine..she is a fully qualified mechanic..for bout 10 yrs. now..she is making at least or around 70.00 an hour.
When i ended up in emergency 6 yrs. ago..due to pain in arm etc...my Doc kept me in the hospital 2 weeks bfore i went for angiogram then angioplasty for ablocked (90%) artery. I asked why cant i go home then n wait..he said if i send u home u will wait months to get in for angiogram..by keeping me in the hospital it was treated as an emergency and i was able to get in within those 2 weeks.
Our wages are good..our groceries are high..most comes from the States.
Our gas is high but u have gallons we have litres..so i think that evens out price-wise.
Hubby n i discuss this a lot..everytime i make my once a year weekend to Grand Forks..lol I come back n say..jeezz this is so cheap..and thats so cheap..but then he says well the wages are lower..so i dunno maybe it all evens out..u think??? lol..well not the stamping stuff lol..just that the States has soooo many nicer sites n stores than we do..that is one thing that is for sure..thx for listening..just my own opinion..no argument..loves ya Gail
__________________ Gail
When the world says give up, hope whispers, try one more time.
I don't think of our health care as free. Universal, yes. Free? Nuh-uh
If it were free, our taxes wouldn't be so incredibly high.
Well, not only the taxes, but also the $44 a month per person for Alberta Health Care. Which most people forget about since employers tend to pay for it, but not all do, and each Canadian does have to pay for it, unless you're really broke (like my boyfriend :rolleyes. Plus $62 a month Blue Cross to pay for what isn't covered by Alberta Health Care. Plus whatever else you need to pay for what isn't covered by Blue Cross.
__________________ -Shelby- I can, I will, I DO. -Verna C. Powers Okay, I haven't yet, but I still can, right??
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Wow, I would love to have your guys' property taxes. I live in West Linn OR and our bill was $9900 last year. It's one of the most taxed cities in the state!
My MIL lives in Canada (my husband is a Canadian) and I was telling her our woes of our schools (trying to decide between private and public) what our property taxes are and what a private school would cost (about 8-10K) and she was completely shocked! Her taxes were less than 2K last year. She thought about moving here for part of the year, but then she found out how expensive it was and how INFLATED our housing market is and then the taxes. She now just visits instead!
Wow, I would love to have your guys' property taxes. I live in West Linn OR and our bill was $9900 last year. It's one of the most taxed cities in the state!
My MIL lives in Canada (my husband is a Canadian) and I was telling her our woes of our schools (trying to decide between private and public) what our property taxes are and what a private school would cost (about 8-10K) and she was completely shocked! Her taxes were less than 2K last year. She thought about moving here for part of the year, but then she found out how expensive it was and how INFLATED our housing market is and then the taxes. She now just visits instead!
Independant Christian schools here in the gret white north are as expensive, if not more. Our high school is about 13K per year (that's for both my kids). The private schools are even more. They run 10+K per student per year. I don't know how anyone can afford a regular private school unless they are loaded.
__________________ I got a Nikon camera. I love to take photographs, so momma don't take my kodachrome away."
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getting back to the original question, the price difference between US and Canada in SU catalog, is in no way equal to just the difference in the Canadian to US dollar, the company hoses us good.
I am glad to hear that CM 7% is more than just my rep, I was wondering.
Universal medical care for some things not all things, and only Albertans pay Alberta Health Care not all Canadians pay it.
Property taxes here go both to the school board and to the town for the cost of running the town.
General Sales Tax - GST is 6% on all goods but food. Here in alberta we do not have the provincial tax extra.
and the difference between a gallon of gas compared to the equal amount in litres we get hosed with that too. AND AND AND it is our gas that is sold to us for more, than it is exported to the states.
Wow, I would love to have your guys' property taxes. I live in West Linn OR and our bill was $9900 last year. It's one of the most taxed cities in the state!
My MIL lives in Canada (my husband is a Canadian) and I was telling her our woes of our schools (trying to decide between private and public) what our property taxes are and what a private school would cost (about 8-10K) and she was completely shocked! Her taxes were less than 2K last year. She thought about moving here for part of the year, but then she found out how expensive it was and how INFLATED our housing market is and then the taxes. She now just visits instead!
Okay $9900 is just CRAZY for propertay taxes! I don't know how anyone would be able to afford that!
California Minimum wage is currently $7.50 going to $8.00 in Jan 2008. Property taxes are 1.25% of the sales price of the home so if you bought a home for $300,000 and it is currently worth $800,000 you only pay $3,750.00 versus $10,000.00. And it all depends on your county, some have other taxes attached. I live near the Oregon border and the ONLY shopping close by is Oregon,(what a break, no sales tax, but also not much shopping, NO MICHAELS!). Now Oregon has huge property taxes, but pay no state sales tax, which in some parts of California are up to 9% of everything you buy! I had a visitor from Kansas who was appalled by how expensive everything was here, she said they use to get mad at our salaries (works for the same company) but now she nows why we make more, because we pay more for everything. Everything balances I think.
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Our property taxes in the UK are small about $2500 but it does depend on the size of your house. So I live in an average sized house and pay an average amount of property tax, but we pay 17.5% sales tax on everything except children's clothes and food and my husband pays 40% income tax because he earns over $50,000 a year.
We also pay 4 times what Americans or Canadians do for gas, most of which is tax and we also pay high tax on things that are considered bad for your health like cigarettes and alcohol.
Also, for each car we pay $500 tax, $150 for a certificate to say that our car is roadworthy and we pay about $700 car insurance which is compulsory.
It's only when I start writing things down that I realise how much we pay over here.:rolleyes:
I can understand that in the UK and Australia it is higher. I do know, after having visited in the land of Oz that the minimum wage in Sydney, Australia 2 years ago was $17 per hour. At that time, the Australian dollar was about on par with the Canadian $. In other words, they make a lot more money than we do but prices are higher too.[/QUOTE]
I guess "downunder" in OZ we have got used to our prices being soooo high, although some years ago they were much much worse when our $ was around 50c to your US $$$ - arghhhhhhhh, now it is around .80c. A good guide is buying SU stamps - expect to pay about double your US prices here. And it doesn't change tooo much whether we buy the stamps from SU Aust or from the US postage brings the price up anyway. Buying other stuff like ums from the states can save a money though, I normally always make sure when I order stuff from the US that I put in a reasonable order so the I am not wasting the price of the postage. In a way I can understand our prices being higher as we do need to get most things from US first and then sent down here - so of course we need to pay for freight of some sort. However, if Canadian prices are dear not sure why as postage should be quiet such a killer being you are next door neighbours.
I wonder if some of the price difference between Can & Us SU! stuff is customs? I know my brother ordered some special biking stuff from the US and got hit with some kind of customs import duty bill/tax that was a really high percentage of the cost of the item. Could it be that stamps are a high import tax item & SU! pays the tax, but then charges the customers for it by higher prices in the catalogue?
Could it be that stamps are a high import tax item & SU! pays the tax, but then charges the customers for it by higher prices in the catalogue?
Nopers. Wood and rubber products like crafting stamps made in the US and in Canada cross the Canada/US border without any duties. I shudder to think how much more the Canadian SU prices would be without NAFTA.
getting back to the original question, the price difference between US and Canada in SU catalog, is in no way equal to just the difference in the Canadian to US dollar, the company hoses us good.
I am glad to hear that CM 7% is more than just my rep, I was wondering.
Universal medical care for some things not all things, and only Albertans pay Alberta Health Care not all Canadians pay it.
Property taxes here go both to the school board and to the town for the cost of running the town.
General Sales Tax - GST is 6% on all goods but food. Here in alberta we do not have the provincial tax extra.
and the difference between a gallon of gas compared to the equal amount in litres we get hosed with that too. AND AND AND it is our gas that is sold to us for more, than it is exported to the states.
I'm a transplanted BC'er and we had to pay for health care as well, Ontarians didn't have to pay but when I lived there, there was talk of changing that ... I've lived in too many places ... Basically, in most provinces you pay a monthly fee based on a sliding income scale.
Regarding SU prices in Canada vs US, the cost apparently is higher due to to difference in doing business here as opposed to the US (don't know if I believe it, but I don't own nor run a corporation!). Post is more expensive, different tax laws, they need corporate headquarters (in Calgary, of all places--> highest property tax in all of AB, as far as I've been told), and yada yada ...
Honestly, if you look at all prices of each thing in Canada, SU is still competetive. And, I really don't care too much, I still love the product!!
p.s. our property taxes in a small town are close to $3000 and that's in town for a normal lot... absolutely nuts ... and the roads are absolute crap. they plow (during snow season) once every few months. at least in the US, the interstate highways I've been on are well maintained.
I live in Canada and my daughter lives in Edinburgh. While visiting she took me to a craft store. Some things are very expensive. I was inquiring about scalloped punches. They did not have any in stock so she checked her catalogue, found them and called her supplier in the US. That was on Thursday, I ordered 2" & 3" oval & circle punches and they were in her store on Saturday morning. My total bill was �37. that would be approx. $80-85
dollars CDN. for four punches and that included tax and shipping. I thought that was really good considering you can't even find them in Canada or the US. This was not a big chain store just a little tiny craft store. Can't wait to get home now and play with them.
Even as a demo with my 20% discount it would be cheaper for my friend living in Kansas to buy stamps as a NONdemo and ship me the product!! That's what gets me....
I used to think US prices were high
Visiting UK
