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Can anybody explain why Harbeth retail prices are so much lower in Canada? When you convert the Canadian dollars retail prices in to US$, the difference on some models is shocking! Assuming that the export price from Harbeth to the distributor is the same per model in UK Pounds, and given that;
(1) Canadian market is 10% the size of the U.S. market. The Canadian distributor is not buying more volume from Harbeth than the U.S. distributor.
(2) Customs duty on loudspeakers into Canada is higher at 6.5% vs 4.9% into the USA.
(3) The US$ is stronger against the UK Pound than the Canadian dollar.
(4) There is no preferential customs tariff on imports into Canada from the UK because Canada is a British commonwealth country.
Some examples, all Cherry for simplification;
HL Compact 7ES-3
U.S. Retail: US$3,795.00
CDN Retail: C$4,599.00
C$4,599.00 = US$3,538.00 at today's exchange rate.
Canadian retail price is 7% lower than US$ retail in US$.
Monitor 30.1
U.S. Retail: US$5,695.00
CDN Retail: C$5,299.00
C$5,299.00 = US$4,077.00 at today's exchange rate.
Canadian retail price is 28.4% lower than US$ retail in US$.
Super HL5plus
U.S. Retail: US$6,695.00
CDN Retail: C$6,299.00
C$6,299.00 = US$4,846.00 at today's exchange rate.
Canadian retail price is 27.6% lower than US$ retail in US$.
Monitor 40.1
U.S. Retail: US$12,895.00
CDN Retail: C$14,999.00
C$14,999.00 = US$11,540.00 at today's exchange rate.
Canadian retail price is 10.5% lower than US$ retail in US$.
No axe to grind with anybody here, just curious from an economic perspective.
Follow Ups:
Add back Canadian provincial and federal tax to the price - in British Columbia that is 12% (probably more in Ontario).
Plus you're not factoring in customer negotiation where in Canada they may not move off of the list price nearly as much - while in the US you may be able to talk the dealers down a good 10% more than you can at a Canadian dealer.
The issue is Suggested List Price in the two countries, and how much cheaper a U.S. side buyer can purchase a Harbeth product in Canada using US$ in contrast to how much he has to spend for the same item in the U.S. It has nothing to do with applicable sales taxes. If I buy a Harbeth speaker from a Canadian dealer and export it home to the U.S., I don't pay any taxes in Canada. I don't understand why Harbeth is not addressing this market inequality, and I also don't understand why the U.S. importer isn't pressing Harbeth so to do. If the retail price in Germany and France was equivalent to the U.S. price and the retail price in the Netherlands was equivalent to the Canadian price, I'm betting there would be intervention from Harbeth. Obviously if nobody on the U.S. side cares about the situation, then it is moot.
Seems like a lot of whining over nothing lol.Where are you every time a Canadian has to pay more for a USA product despite exchange rate?
Gypsy tears.
There are a lot of reasons already suggested as possible reasons for the price discrepancy.
Not to mention that internationals generally like Canadians better.
Infamous sockpuppet
Edits: 08/24/15
This is a rather curious post: 99% of the time, customers seek lower prices, not higher.
In fact, with regards to Harbeth Canada, it is a case of the importer/distributor making less money than they might in order to encourage sales and expand the dealer network so that they can offer the illustrious brand o the widest Canadian audience.
Harbeth Audio UK Ltd
Rather, price is determined by what a market will bear. So long as folks in the U.S. are willing to pay what the retailers ask, the price will stay the same.
By it's very nature, Canada is a far smaller market than the U.S. It's not at all surprising that with Canada's overall smaller buying power, prices would also be lower for such a specialized, elective purchase. While nice loudspeakers are pleasant to have, people don't need them. Accordingly, in a smaller market demand will be lower and as a result price will be lower too.
JE
Not that cheap. The Model that matters is only 7% cheaper.
Cheers
Bill
In particular, I remember Mission products were priced better in Canada than in the USA. I don't know if it still holds true now, but would be interesting to check out some of the other British made USA/CAN pricing.
Perhaps the duty charges are levied differently?
Cheers!
Jonesy
"I know just enough to get into trouble. But not enough to get out of it."
Planet of Sound has one tenth the overhead of Fidelis.
I don't think Fidelis has more overhead it's mostly b/c so few are sold and they want to make more $$$. Not a new concept.
Fidelis exhibits, or co exhibits at virtually every hifi show. They support dealers with periodical visits. They pre pay for every production run.
I have never seen Planet Of Sound exhibit anywhere.
Planet Of Sound have exhibited Harbeth loudspeakers at TAVES.
Because the pricing was set before the recent currency exchange change (over the last 6 moths)
E
T
Bingo!
-----
"A fool and his money are soon parted." --- Thomas Tusser
In the Southern US, Harbeths rot at a much quicker pace than in Calgary.
Or the other answer to price differences, "cause they can".
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