When I pick up a game it costs $70 or more. Xbox live is $60 per year... and we don't even get any movies and whatever else americans get on the marketplace. Why is that when the canadian and american dollar are almost the same now? it's $10 cheaper in usa???
because the loonie and the greenback have only been on parity for less than a week and prices don't change that quickly. Look at book prices, they are considerably lower on american prices than Canadian prices, to the point that Canadian consumer groups are investigating the length of time it is taking for publishers to change prices.
you can buy your stuff from online sellers though often times checking on amazon.com will be cheaper than amazon.ca but you might get charged for border services or something
I got a year of XBl off eBay for $40 so it seemed like more of a deal to me since it was $20 cheaper. To get new games cheaper I'd recommend buying games within the first couple of days from beatbuy, they end up being under $65 with taxes most the time. Buying from EB is a bad idea if price is a worry though, they're always more expensive than anything else
It's like that with everything though. The x360 premium in the US is $350.00 in Canada its $399.99 ($50 more) yet the canadian dollar is about equal to the US dollar right now. The Wii is $249.99 in the US and $279.99 in Canada. Don't even ask about the PS3 cause it's over a $100 difference.
Then games, a $10 difference is still a lot, and some comapnies will try and sell you that they have to include a freight cost to get them up here... but that just isnt so. A freight cost of $50/skid load should add maybe $0.50 or $1.00 max per game.
Price updates are too slow, and we never benifit from it. But hey, at least we have free Health Care. ;)
If you are a Canadian gamer, Ebay is probably the way to go. Not only do you get the daily exchange rate (which is really favorable right now), but shipping is often similar to what US buyers pay. Plus you get the "discount" of buying through an auction. You'll save a lot of money just by the discount and you will be able to take advantage of the exchange rate.
I think the higher cost might also have to do with the cost of doing buisness in Canada. Your talking about two different countries so its probably not fair to compare prices that way.
Canadians might play their employees more and that cost is probably handed over to the consumer. I'm just guessing here, but I wouldn't be surprised if its more complicated that just a currency change.
Also, only small currency changes occurr everyday, almost always less than one cent, so stores should have had plenty of time to change the prices as the loonie slowly catched up to the dollar.
I think the higher cost might also have to do with the cost of doing buisness in Canada. Your talking about two different countries so its probably not fair to compare prices that way.
Canadians might play their employees more and that cost is probably handed over to the consumer. I'm just guessing here, but I wouldn't be surprised if its more complicated that just a currency change.
Also, only small currency changes occurr everyday, almost always less than one cent, so stores should have had plenty of time to change the prices as the loonie slowly catched up to the dollar.
HappyProzak
Not necessarily...if the pricing scheme for Canada was established last year, when the Canadian dollar wasn't as strong as the American dollar.
Hey, in my country games are 90 bucks and they get here like a week late... If I import them I only have to pay 63 bucks (59.99 + some shipping and handling) and the wait is just 2-3 days, I suggest you do the same.
Lol! you think thats bad?!?! try living in the UK - xbox games are about $80, as is xbox live subscription. premium console is $500 and elite is $600 (i think thats about the same actually)
so before you complain about how much it is in the US's nearest neighour, think about the rest of the world!
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