Canadian Buyers/Dealers and Exchange 1 1

[Iceman399]

1.  Anyone who thought the CDN dollar was gonna stay at parity in 2010-2014 was lying to themselves.

2. If you've been buying comics from the states you pay taxes...that's nothing new.  It's no different than buying from the LCS across town.  If the ebay book was $1000 CDN from a USA seller..that same $1000 CDN book from the LCS is gonna have tax.

3. Yes, your buying power from when the dollar was at parity would have gone down...due to the "appreciation" of 30% but guess what....so did your collection!  

I wish we could have our cake and eat it too but unfortunately, that isn't possible.

[Iceman399]

Yes shipping sucks...but that again has always been the issue in Canada especially when you are dealing with less population and infrastructure than the USA.  It's not just shipping from the USA that sucks.  I can ship a package from my small town in Ontario to California for less than I can ship a package to Nova Scotia or Alberta.

[Junkdrawer]

If you want to get ahead of the situation you need to come to the states, buy some big dollar books and bring them back. Obviously lie about the price you paid. 

[shane1956]

Outside getting into a  debate about Healthcare and income tax the reality is that it's getting harder and harder to fill my personal collection from sellers/dealers inside Canada. More often that not the high grade books I'm after end up being from the U.S. and cost 30-33 % more. 

I can say that if I ever do cash them out and the buyer is from Canada, those original costs are certainly going to be passed on to my fellow Canadians. Their won't be any "home town" discount from this guy when it comes time. I'll be selling in U.S dollars and adding in  the projected cost of duty and taxes which would otherwise have to be paid to get them here. 

 

[Quicksilver Signs]

9 hours ago, Shawnismaximus said:

What does that cost if you don't mind me asking? I live about an hour away from the Alberta/Montana border.

The place I use charges 5 bucks a package 

[Quicksilver Signs]

5 hours ago, Junkdrawer said:

If you want to get ahead of the situation you need to come to the states, buy some big dollar books and bring them back. Obviously lie about the price you paid. 

I asked a guy who goes to Chicago every year what he tells the customs guys when he’s coming home. He said he changes the price stickers on the books and hopes they don’t have a guide

[lizards2]

19 minutes ago, shane1956 said:

Outside getting into a  debate about Healthcare and income tax the reality is that it's getting harder and harder to fill my personal collection from sellers/dealers inside Canada. More often that not the high grade books I'm after end up being from the U.S. and cost 30-33 % more. 

I can say that if I ever do cash them out and the buyer is from Canada, those original costs are certainly going to be passed on to my fellow Canadians. Their won't be any "home town" discount from this guy when it comes time. I'll be selling in U.S dollars and adding in  the projected cost of duty and taxes which would otherwise have to be paid to get them here. 

 

If they're not available in Canada, how can you claim they cost 30-33% more?

[shane1956]

You get my point and I don't plan on getting into a colorful debate about semantics. .My point is a Canadian buyer forced to buy the same book in the U.S because they can not find a copy in Canada ends up paying 30-33 % more than the same U.S buyer when factoring in exchange. So to answer your colorful question, my comment  relates to 30-33% more relative to whom. My answer is the U.S. buyer. I'm aware of the fact that Canadian sellers selling in Canadian $ probably mark up the exchange difference. 

The two comments in the first paragraph were not meant to be linked together . Perhaps I should have been more specific :

1)It's getting harder and harder to fill my personal collection from sellers/dealers inside Canada.

2)More often that not the high grade books I'm after end up being from the U.S. and cost 30-33 % more. (Insert 30-33% more compared to the same U.S buyer who currently makes the identical salary and pays in U.S currency compared to a Canadian buyer who pays in Canadian currency) NOT 30-33% more than the same book should it be available in Canada. 

Each of the two comments are independent of each other. I'll be more specific next time. 

 

 

 

[lizards2]

1 hour ago, shane1956 said:

You get my point and I don't plan on getting into a colorful debate about semantics. .My point is a Canadian buyer forced to buy the same book in the U.S because they can not find a copy in Canada ends up paying 30-33 % more than the same U.S buyer when factoring in exchange. So to answer your colorful question, my comment  relates to 30-33% more relative to whom. My answer is the U.S. buyer. 

 

 

 

Sorry - but if I converted my USD to Canadian dollars, and paid the same US seller, I would pay exactly what you do.  Your dollar is worth .71 what 1 USD is worth.  The cost is the same.

[Guardian Comics]

13 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Sorry - but if I converted my USD to Canadian dollars, and paid the same US seller, I would pay exactly what you do.  Your dollar is worth .71 what 1 USD is worth.  The cost is the same.

Average household median income in Canada is 72k, in the US it’s 52k, adjust it to reflect the exchange rate and bam it’s actually easier for the average CDN to collect comic books than it is an American.

[thirdgreenham]

On 2018-03-26 at 7:36 PM, shane1956 said:

Hello everyone, I recently purchased of a Marvel Key for $4700 U.S + $100 shipping off Ebay. After the Canadian exchange it came out to approximately $6400 Canadian. It's likely going to be bit more if  taxes and duty get added to the mix during shipping. This got me thinking, how are the big Canadian dealers dealing with this? It's getting harder and harder to justify the added cost of getting these books to Canada with the sad state of our Canadian dollar. 

Are there any magic tricks that I haven't been told about? In order for the fellow Canadians to get these keys we basically have to commit to the fact that we will be overpaying. Thoughts?

 

Hi there,  

You’re not overpaying, you’re just converting the price into CAD and see a larger number. 

If you lived in Indonesia, the number would be considerably higher.  

Now, you may have overpayed if the seller was asking too much in USD, and you might have spent more than you wanted to on shipping, but both of those options are your choice. 

You could look for Canadian sellers, as thehumantorch suggested.  

If I remember correctly, go to eBay.ca, click advanced search, type whatever you’re looking for in the search bar (eg. CGC), scroll down, look at left side check boxes for location- Canada only, and check that. Then hit search. You may find some cool books and hopefully something you’ll want. 

@Black_Adam was kind enough to bring up my name. I do sell on eBay (free North America shipping) and I do have sales threads on these boards. Now I may not have exactly what you’re looking for when you look through my inventory, but the point is, don’t ignore Canadian sellers.  

Hopefully, you don’t get dinged on duties and taxes, but you probably will with that declared value. 

Good luck! 

-Andy

[greggy]

Stop crying you cheap Canucks.

[Patriot6]

3 hours ago, shane1956 said:

colorful

If you're asking for a Canadian opinion, it's colourful. 

[shane1956]

Hey Andrew , I'll be in London for a week the end August for work. I'll be sure to stop in. For anyone looking to buy some great books and deal with a class A seller Forrest City coins is an essential stop if you are in and around London Ontario. 

[Quicksilver Signs]

11 hours ago, lizards2 said:

Sorry - but if I converted my USD to Canadian dollars, and paid the same US seller, I would pay exactly what you do.  Your dollar is worth .71 what 1 USD is worth.  The cost is the same.

The US seller is not making any more money whether the buyer is domestic or Canadian. If the buyer is from Canada he’s paying more now than 2010’s parity. He’s not paying more US dollars but more CDN, which is the money we use everyday, therefore more. I find it odd that this point is being argued 

[Fan Boy]

With all the talk about how much more Canadian comic book collectors/buyers have to pay for the books from the States. The reality fact is that there are higher numbers of comics in the U.S. to find and buy. That we can’t avoid nor ignore. It just is. 

As lizards2 point out,  yes it do seems look the same in cost. An American pay .71 for their U.S. dollar. But the .71 cents is from OUR view (Canadians), it is the American 71 cents to our Canadian dollar. For us, it might seem a lot to pay in getting the comics we want.

Today’s exchange rate is U.S. $1.00 = CAD $1.29 on our side. For the U.S. side it is CAD $1.00 = U.S. $0.77.

Now, if an American want to get the Canadian dollar, just exchange .77 U.S. cents to get the loonie.

If a Canadian want to get th U.S. dollar bill, just exchange Canadian $1.29 for the greenbuck.

 

Being a collector myself. It is bit harder for me to fill up my collection by buying books from the States. However, I look at that by time factor. For example, I brought a key book from the States three years ago. Still have it. I paid $2,200 U.S. at that time.  Three years later, I looked up in GPA and in guide. It ranges from $2,800 to 3,200 depending in market if I sell it. To a Canadian myself, that is not bad. 

So... yes Greggy, I am not crying!   I just have to man up. 

[thirdgreenham]

8 minutes ago, Quicksilver Signs said:

The US seller is not making any more money whether the buyer is domestic or Canadian. If the buyer is from Canada he’s paying more now than 2010’s parity. He’s not paying more US dollars but more CDN, which is the money we use everyday, therefore more. I find it odd that this point is being argued 

The point that he’s paying more now than when the USD/CAD were at parity is not being argued. That’s obvious.  It’s also obvious that we’re paying more now than we could have paid way back in 1970. 

 

What lizards2 is saying, is that the cost is the same, no matter what currency you’re paying in, and this is assuming that no time has passed and the currency exchange rates remain the same. 

[Quicksilver Signs]

1 hour ago, thirdgreenham said:

The point that he’s paying more now than when the USD/CAD were at parity is not being argued. That’s obvious.  It’s also obvious that we’re paying more now than we could have paid way back in 1970. 

 

What lizards2 is saying, is that the cost is the same, no matter what currency you’re paying in, and this is assuming that no time has passed and the currency exchange rates remain the same. 

With the weak CDN dollar it’s a better time to sell your books than buy for us Canadians

[Artboy99]

21 hours ago, Junkdrawer said:

If you want to get ahead of the situation you need to come to the states, buy some big dollar books and bring them back. Obviously lie about the price you paid. 

Careful. That is illegal and you might run into border agents that will require you provide proof of the expense.

I once was forced to drive to the local airport to provide proof of the purchase I had made because the seller shipped it with lower declared value ( even though I asked him to declare full value).

 

[Artboy99]

Currency exchange is what is being discussed and $1000 USD is still $1,000 USD next week or next month.

The Canadian currency exchange value changes multiple times a day but in the end whatever value you had to pay for currency exchange is still = to $1,000 USD.

Where it can get tricky is if the currency exchange fluctuates from the moment you agree to purchase to the moment the cash transaction occurs. Example: I agree to buy a $1,000 USD book. At the time of the agreement the exchange is 1.25. Then when paypal actually takes my money and transfers it to the seller the exchange is now 1.35. Then during the shipping process when the book hits the border the exchange is 1.45 and that value is now what you have to pay for import taxes.