US members keep an eye on the Canadian tool market

Rob Keeble

Member
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12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Well for those of you that dont look outside the US border, the Canadian dollar sank to a new low we aint seen in years today.

The thing you guys should take note of is that its now at a real discount for you to buy tools that are made in Canada like Lee Valley Veritas stuff.

I have not been watching the US LV site but given they manufacture in Canada and our market for their output has to be small by comparison to what foreign demand must be especially US demand, you guys should be seeing some real bargains for their tools that is if they using the exchange rate to their advantage. Its an exporters dream right now and add to that the price of steel is lowest in years I know i have client that has seen the price for scrap steel more than halve in last 12 months.

So keep an eye out. If something is listed at say $300 Canadian it should be costing you $200 US or less right now.

For ourselves i think we entering a baron tool buying period. All the imported stuff is going to be out of proportion to its value in my books. So i will be keeping my coin in my pocket for quiet some time sadly. Unfortunately wood will cost us more even if its local just like our beef we aint going to get a break just because we got a maple leaf in our hand.:rofl: Think about it would you sell a cow for less than you can get in US dollars to a local in Canadian dollars....nope so the cost of our food is going up and up while oil goes down and down and our looney follows it like looney tunes down a rabbit hole. :rofl: Its making me mad as a hatter :bang::mad:because of the financial impact on me due to where i came from having a similar hernia. Oh well i never thought i would be able to retire after moving here:thud:, so what the heck its only paper.
 
Well Chuck i noticed that when i looked up a block plane on LV two sites the one for Canadians and the other for US.

This is plain gouging in my view and they forgetting there is always the ways and means committee so we can always engineer a work around if the difference makes sense.

Example a LV block plane right now is $169 to a Canadian ie if i walk in the store and buy one. ;) Its a NAFTA item since it was made in Canada which means no border duties. That should mean at todays exchange rate you guys get to buy it at around $118 exc shipping not $155 US which is the current US price on their site.

Of course what is being factored in now i think about it is that if i were to go buy it for shipping to a US friend then i pay 13% provincial tax. So that would make it 190.97 now if we do the same math to us dollar and i am using .7 then we still should be at $133.67 US

So they still gouging you by todays exchange rate.

If we going to see any economic advantage from this exchange rate and oil looney then they have to drop their prices to go for volume. I mean the US population is 330 million versus our 30 million. Someones asleep at the wheel in my view. Their factory in Ottawa could be running 2 shifts right now and creating some more jobs.
 
Things that are made in Canada with foreign materials may not go down as much as things that are made wholly in Canada. Things that are purchased by the sellers from outside of Canada and resold will go up, in Canadian dollars. And Chuck, if you are paying for those pepper mill inserts in Canadian dollars, the price has gone down for you. The next LV catalog will tell us a lot.
 
Things that are made in Canada with foreign materials may not go down as much as things that are made wholly in Canada. Things that are purchased by the sellers from outside of Canada and resold will go up, in Canadian dollars. And Chuck, if you are paying for those pepper mill inserts in Canadian dollars, the price has gone down for you. The next LV catalog will tell us a lot.

Maybe not... his prices are listed in USD... the products themselves are Danish, so he's importing them, then re-exporting... only saving might be in a lesser postage rate, but even at his current prices and with the last shipping charge I paid, he's still about $3 to $5 less per unit than the same product bought in US from US catalog. Plus he has a deal, buy 9 and he ships 10, so reduces the per item cost a little more.
 
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