posted May 20, 2003 07:52 PM            

I worked it out the other day and I found for about the last year DC has pegged the Canadian dollar at 60c US (given their prices on all their books--comics and archives). For the last two years the Canadian dollar has been around 70c. It may have dipped as low as 65c a few times. But mainly it's been between 67 and 70 cents for the last year.

Within the last month, with the Canadian economy continuing to outperform most of the leading nations including the U.S., the Canadian dollar has gone up and up. A couple weeks ago, economists were predicting that by the end of the year the dollar would be at 75c US. But it's already around 74c now. It's very likely that it will go up to 75c by the end of this month!

Doing the math, if the Canadian dollar levels off at 75c, then Canadian consumers like me will be spending about $10 US on the coverprice for archives over what the average American consumer spends. In other words, in real dollars the archives priced at $50.00 US in the U.S.A are priced at $60.00 US in Canada, when you work out the exchange rate on the listed Canadian price.

But there's no added cost in distributing to Canada vs the U.S. The same distributor--Diamond--ships the comics and books all over the continent.

So really Canadians are subsidizing the American comics market.

And we're starting to realize this. A lot of Canadian comics buyers live very close to the border. And I imagine there were some this long weekend (the Victoria Day long weekend) who went over the border instead of shopping at local comic shops.

This could put Canadian shops in a terrible position. They don't actually enjoy any extra profit from the fixed prices that DC sets, and yet their consumers will likely want some reduction--or else they'll just cross-border shop. So the direct sales guys will probably have to shave their mark-ups to satisfy the customers, or else lose customers. But if books don't give the dealers a healthy profit then they're not worth stocking. This puts the Canadian direct sales shops in a bind.

posted May 20, 2003 08:52 PM            

I gather that our dollars were relatively on par back then, but that would be a casual assumption. Afterall, our economies were not entirely linked, and subject to the tides of change just as they are today.

I'm sure during the Vietnam War the American economy was much more volatile than the Canadian.

But the downward slide of the Canadian dollar was probably allowed by the recent governments in the last decade because they saw an advantage in a weaker dollar and therefore made no efforts to support the loonie against the greenback.

Unlike any other country except Mexico, Canada is cheek to cheek with the U.S. Prices (allowing for exchange rates) have to stay competetive or else a lot of business will be lost to those south of the border.

posted May 21, 2003 03:30 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by NecessaryImpurity:
The US border patrol looks at me funny when I tell them I was born in Winnipeg.

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That's because people from Winnipeg will do anything to get OUT of Winnipeg!

posted May 21, 2003 03:41 AM            

There isn't much about that trip I remember, other than the comic books. They made quiet an impression.

posted May 21, 2003 05:55 PM            

The last time I flew down to the U.S. my baggage was searched and I was asked all kinds of probing questions, but coming back-- by bus --I was asked a few random questions and never once had to open my bags (this was all pre-9/11).

posted May 21, 2003 06:03 PM            

Anyway, it was getting back into the States that was dicey for me.

If there's going to be an issue at the border, I'd imagine the current "Orange Alert" has more to do with it than anything else. But again, that's probably only for getting to the States, not into Canada.

posted May 21, 2003 06:45 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by India Ink:
So I wonder if I take a bus to Bellingham, and I load up with books, will I be forced to declare my ill-gotten gains once I go back over the border?

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Last time I crossed the border (admittedly it was in '80 or '81), books were specifically exempt from any tarriff.

posted May 22, 2003 02:40 AM               

Damn.

(climbing up onto soapbox)
Oh hell. Why bother.
(climbing down...)