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From: sl@van-bc.UUCP
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: prices in Canada
Message-ID: <992@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 11-Jul-87 15:56:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: van-bc.992
Posted: Sat Jul 11 15:56:45 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jul-87 07:35:25 EDT
References: <133@bby-bc.UUCP> <828@looking.UUCP> <137@bby-bc.UUCP> <832@looking.UUCP> <1483@ncc.UUCP>
Reply-To: sl@van-bc.UUCP (Stuart Lynne)
Distribution: can
Organization: Public Access Network, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 52

In article <1483@ncc.UUCP> lyndon@ncc.UUCP (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes:
>In article <832@looking.UUCP>, brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes:

>US. Shipping something like a laser printer, plus doing
>the associated paper work, etc., will eat up that $200
>saving quite quickly.

>OR, you could have it fixed in Canada by someone who will
>charge you $160/hr + parts to do the job.

If it's name brand equipment it usually isn't to hard to get either an
extended warranty or service contract.

>out of my pocket. And anyone who wants to stay seriously
>competitive in this industry is flying to the US at *least*
>twice/year to attend product seminars and trade shows.
>And *then* there are the internals and troubleshooting courses
>put on by our supplier that I feel I must attend if I'm going
>to give the customer the support he deserves - those suckers
>run at about $3K (US) each, plus 5 nights of hotel bills, meals,
>plane tickets, etc. There is no damn way I can do this for US
>list price + exchange.

Why not? Are you saying that you can't buy from US distributors at the same
prices, import, and add on a markup similiar to a US dealer and make a
profit?

Please clarify. Are you saying you can't match US dealers or US mail order?

And wouldn't any american dealer have the same problem? They will also have
to fly about to seminars etc.

>The bottom line is: you gets whatcha pays for!

>If you don't need a product with backing from the vendor,
>buy mail order and save some bucks. If you DO need that
>support, be prepared to pay for it.

I'll agree with that. Personally I usually know a hell of a lot more about
the stuff I buy than any dealer in town. So I usually ask for and get prices
based on their cost plus a small markup. Or I go straight to the source.

What I find annoying is when I phone an american company only to be told
that because I'm in Canada I have to deal with a Toronto distributor. This
usually means:
		- higher phone costs
		- a three hour difference in time zones
		- a far lower level of competency


-- 
{ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!Stuart.Lynne Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532