# DVD players in Canada: why so expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774 "2001-05-08T15:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jdl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jdl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/1 "2001-05-08T15:25:21Z")
Why are DVD players so much more expensive in Canada than in the US (taking into account the exchange rate)? Examples: Pioneer DV-343 DVD Player Buy in USA: $180-US ($270-C) Buy in Canada: $224-US ($350-C) Toshiba SD2700 Buy in USA: $200-US ($300-C) Buy in Canada: $224-US ($350-C) What’s the story?!? ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/2 "2001-05-08T21:54:39Z")
WAG … higher import taxes in Canada? Tinker ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/3 "2001-05-08T22:14:14Z")
Not much help, but with the exception of my dining or hotel experiences pretty much anywhere in Ontario, _everything_ costs more in Canada than in the USA. Exchage rate considered. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/4 "2001-05-08T22:24:41Z")
_everything_ costs more in Canada. I think it’s mainly higher taxes. I remember my shock when I first went there and discovered that a mid sized box of cereal there costs about what a mid sized car costs in the US. The only thing worth buying in Canada is toilets. You can make a handsome profit smuggling Canadian toilets into the US where they are illegal ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/5 "2001-05-08T22:47:37Z")
The additional cost is primarily for the CCC or Canadian Content Chip required by law to be contained in all DVD players sold in Canada. Similar to US “V” chips in that it responds to an encoded signal in the DVD disc output, although in this case instead of containing encoding for levels of violence it encodes whether the DVD has Canadian content. The CC chip’s internal clock runs in three month or quarterly cycles. If there is insufficient Canadian content over the course of the three month period the DVD player will refuse to play anthing that is not Canadian content until the beginning of the next quarter or until an acceptable non-Canadian and Candian content ratio is re-established. O’ Canada! ---
**Author:** ![MrDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@MrDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDeath)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/6 "2001-05-08T23:43:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*The additional cost is primarily for the CCC or Canadian Content Chip required by law to be contained in all DVD players sold in Canada. > \*\* Very funny **astro**. I’d credit it to duty costs, but there’s no duty on electronics crossing the US-Canada border any more, thanks to NAFTA. Just sales taxes (ranging from 7-15 per cent by province). The quoted difference is quite a bit more than 15 per cent. My guess is, lack of competition. If those were _my_ choices, you bet I’d buy from the US dealer and go through the hassle of customs. But I know people who’d just go to Future Shop and get gouged; I used to be one of them. And **sailor** : Not everything costs more in Canada. Right now, for a change, the price of gasoline is pretty much the same either side of the border (75 Canadian cents per litre translates to about $1.80 U.S. per U.S. gallon). Most electronic goods don’t cost a lot more if you shop around. Books tend to be cheaper and always have been. I’d come up with more examples but I lack motivation. ---
**Author:** ![Dandmb50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@Dandmb50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandmb50)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/7 "2001-05-09T01:04:31Z")
I have a sister who lives in Michigan and I visit about once a year and find that everyday things you buy in the US are more expensive than in Canada. For instance let’s say deodorant is almost twice the price we pay in Canada taking into consideration the exchange rate. Also I noticed something as sinple as soda (pop) Coca Cola costs about $8.00 US which would be $12 Canadian and we can buy a 24 case for $7 in Toronto. It seems that everyday things people buy in the US the really gouge you although I find electronics and clothes/shoes and much cheaper in the US… ---
**Author:** ![jdl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jdl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/8 "2001-05-09T13:56:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrDeath \* > > I’d credit it to duty costs, but there’s no duty on electronics crossing the US-Canada border any more, thanks to NAFTA. Just sales taxes (ranging from 7-15 per cent by province). The quoted difference is quite a bit more than 15 per cent. > \*\* The quotes I provides on those DVD players are _before_ tax prices. So the (preliminary) higher price in Canada isn’t the result of higher sales tax. Also, I was looking at buying a DVD player from another guy in Canada off eBay. He says he is charging the GST and PST. If this is a personal transaction of used goods, why should this be taxed again? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/9 "2001-05-09T14:08:08Z")
I’m not sure the OP provides enough of a data sample to demonstrate that DVD players ARE more expensive. Two examples means very little, and I’m sure I could pick and choose prices that showed the opposite. I know for a fact that there’s plenty of electronic products you can get cheaper here, depending on the whims of the market at any given time. ---
**Author:** ![jdl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jdl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/10 "2001-05-09T19:15:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*I’m not sure the OP provides enough of a data sample to demonstrate that DVD players ARE more expensive. Two examples means very little, and I’m sure I could pick and choose prices that showed the opposite. > > I know for a fact that there’s plenty of electronic products you can get cheaper here, depending on the whims of the market at any given time. \*\* It’s true that two examples don’t mean that all or most are more expensive in Canada. But, then, why are those two brands more expensive? I mean, is there a shipping fee across the border I don’t know about? I thought free trade dealt with US-made electronics. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/11 "2001-05-09T20:32:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jdl \* > \*\*It’s true that two examples don’t mean that all or most are more expensive in Canada. But, then, why are those two brands more expensive? I mean, is there a shipping fee across the border I don’t know about? I thought free trade dealt with US-made electronics. \*\* I think that **RickJay** ’s point was that your sample of prices is hardly indicative of what those models are available for in Canada. For instance, it only took me about 45 seconds to find a price of $329.99 for the Pioneer DV-343 DVD player that you identified (at FutureShop.ca). At today’s exchange rate, that’s $214.39 USD. [BestBuy.com](http://BestBuy.com) sells the same model for $249.50 USD, while [800.com](http://800.com) has it for $199.95 USD. In other words, a single quote is hardly indicative of what you _can_ get the item for. FWIW, my experience with Canadian vs. U.S. prices is that it’s almost a toss up. For the places I can speak of (upstate NY, NYC, eastern PA, Boston and rural MA, Florida and Michigan), some things are definitely cheaper in the U.S. (such as milk, for instance), but a lot are not. As recently as February, for example, bread in a grocery store outside of Boston was about 50% more than we in Canada pay for comparable brands. Manhatten is perhaps an extreme example, but a meal there on a Sunday afternoon at T.G.I. Fridays cost about 60% more than a similar meal (at another TGIF) in Toronto the week before, despite having one fewer person in the party (four instead of five). [sub]Okay, please don’t ask how I managed to eat at TGIF two weeks in a row. Honestly, I’ve eaten at TGIF perhaps six times in my **entire** life.[/sub] As always, and I think this is important to understand in any discussion like this, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![MrDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@MrDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDeath)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/12 "2001-05-10T04:48:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cerowyn \* > **some things are definitely cheaper in the U.S. (such as milk, for instance), but a lot are not.** Milk is always more expensive in Canada because the supply is handled by provincial marketing boards that keep the prices artificially high. I remember my shock 13 years ago when I went from Ontario to Ohio and found that milk in a vending machine was 30 cents, when the same size container cost $1.00 in Waterloo (call it 75 cents at the exchange rate of the time). One thing that’s been cheaper in Canada for 35+ years and counting: Cuban cigars. I know, no fair 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/13 "2001-05-10T12:25:48Z")
> [@](#): > > he quotes I provides on those DVD players are _before_ tax prices. doesn’t canada have a value added tax (vat tax). If so that’s probally the reason. As I understand it a vat tax is a tax on the increase of value of a product due to manufacturing. (i.e. (as I undersatnd it) you take 2 pieces of plastic, net worth $0.02 Ca, glue them together and get a toothbrush holder, net worth $5.00 Ca - a VAT tax is added to the $4.98 Ca - then you pay tax when you but it also) ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/14 "2001-05-10T12:33:14Z")
Blame Canada!!! ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/15 "2001-05-10T16:12:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by k2dave \* > **doesn’t canada have a value added tax (vat tax).** No, Canada does not have a VAT. We have a federal sales tax (Goods and Services Tax, or GST), and most provinces have provincial sales taxes (PST). Some provinces have worked with the federal government to create a single harmonized sales tax (HST). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-players-in-canada-why-so-expensive/64774/16 "2001-05-10T19:06:38Z")
The GST is a value-added tax, it it not, just under another name? I seem to remember seeing an Aislin cartoon before the GST was introdiced, showing the Finance Minister trying to control a Frankenstein’s-monster with ‘VAT’ across its forehead…