what goes up?
 

So the Canadian dollar has again hit parity with the US dollar. Sounds like a good time to start shopping for gear overseas to me.

What are your thoughts on the possible effects to airsoft pricing or will there be any effects as canadian prices are usually artifically inflated. Or do you think retailers will see this as an opportunity to get large group orders rolling. Or will we start seeing them stockpiling.


Lets keep it civil though and stay on topic.

Too bad Paypal never follows suit.

ain't that the truth...

For me, this is the time to hit up my US and overseas suppliers. Finally catch a bit of a break!

It's a simple formula really... when I save, my customers save.

Cheers!

I wish dude, pay pal almost never updates those if our $ is above or getting close to beating the US $.

But they have no objections going the opposite way. :rolleyes:

Then don't use Paypal!
Use a credit card directly. Yes it might not be as "safe", but it shouldn't really be "unsafe" either.

I'm on the phone with KWA right now. Too bad I only need $40 worth of parts. Still though every little bit helps.

+1. Use common sense and check that the site is reputable, secure and there is a clear means of contact.

You just answered your own question. ;) Canadian prices have been traditionally artificially inflated, because such businesses want a lot of your money. Parity gives them more money, not you.

The guys that bring in Prohibited Devices charge a gun-running-risk premium that ranges from quite reasonable to downright insulting, thankfully not too much of the latter as of late. The guys that bring in cansoft charge... Well, whatever they charge, they're getting better return on their investment than other businesses.

In between the above are the legal opaque airsoft guns, with quite dismal margins compared to the above two, for whom parity is more a relief than a boon.

Yep I'm stocking up as well.. Too bad some of the items I want are out of stock everywhere ><

Paypal is crooked as a witches nose when it comes to currency conversion.

HOWEVER, here's what you can do. If your not comfortable with using a credit card online or with overseas retailers. use credit card gift cards. they can be purchased for any denomination and they will currency convert (at the rate posted on that cards provider.. ie visa or mastercard which is usually 100% accurate as to what it is).

It allows you to basically use cash to pay for your transaction but the retailer will think its a credit card, because it is.

Personally I think paypal should be bitch slapped. why the hell do they no advertise their currency conversion rate BEFORE you do the conversion. that would be like ordering from a menu with no prices. Who knows how much that glass of wine just cost you. It leaves buyers with an uneasy feeling.


Just my opinion.

Yes, I share your opinion. However "gear" and legal parts from overseas this can be a great time. But retailers have and will gouge because they can and that is their prerogative. Seriously 200-300% markup? That's insane. But what can you do.

Inversely, the high dollar could mean that canadian retailers feel the pinch of being cut out of the gear market and could result in lower prices in other area's but thats probably not true either.

We will see.


I would like to point out that there are quiet a few awesome retailers (such as Mach1) that are charging completely NORMAL retail markups. 50-75% is amazing and frankly I have nothing but respect for these guys.

Oh yes, good time to shop overseas for just about anything other than guns.

With the way things are, this parity might last a while, too.

The only Canadian guys I buy gear & parts from on any sort of a regular basis are One Shot Tactical and Airsoft Parts Canada (and a bit of Dave's Tactical). When I've done the math in the past their pricing has always been more than fair.

As an aside, most big importers will have their currency rate locked in at the bank, and will have paid for the stuff they're selling months ago. If the dollar stays at parity for six months then you may see some more movement downward on prices.

Last I heard economists are predicting that we will be at parity or above by a couple cents for quite a while

Agreed, they paid for their inventory months ago and I understand that. I would be referring to a custom order house (ala Karma Airsoft) using this opportunity to place large orders at reduced prices in an effort to take advantage of the dollar and generate higher profits by using volume.

You might want to reevaluate what your saying about how international commerce works. We are not talking about "big importers" or banks. We are talking about consumers shopping overseas or in the US.

And currency analysts are expecting this parity to be around for a while, infact they expect it to top around 110 (forecast for the next 3 months.. depending on who you read).

Simple math. If I sell 3 times more units at half the cost(this is oversimplified). Am I losing money or making money? Thats what custom order houses have to ask themselves. Its alot of work, but if done right and done by motivated people it can be quiet profitable.

I work for an importer so I know how the math stacks up.

It's true that consumers vote with their wallets often and order from outside Canada all the time, I do it myself on eBay all the time or direct from Redwolf or whoever.

The catch comes in when it is something like an AEG that you won't be able to import on your own, or something that requires installation that you cannot do yourself. If you walk into a stereo store with something you ordered in and and ask to have it plugged in you are doomed.

Most of the hardware I buy I get used from folks who are flip flopping on what they want to carry, hopefully they will pass the savings onto me!

+1!

Paypal really screwed people a lot over the years but you can't use alternative systems because Paypal has a monopoly on online payment processing systems. Google Checkout I thought was going to come in and kick some ass but it seems pretty stagnant and I haven't heard much about it after the few digg and slashdot articles a few years ago.

Also +1 for the Prepaid Visa/MC Giftcards. Only problem is that it isn't tied to an address so bad things *may* happen (ie. you try buying gas or something but they need a postal code/zip code) but for the most part they're only odd cases (read up about them on consumerist.com). You can get them form pretty much any major bank (I know BMO, and RBC has them and possibly HSBC), as well as "Van City Credit Union" does them too so there's lots of options. I think it costs something like $8 to "open" a card/account and then you load it up with cash and they charge like $2 or something each month (I don't know how they get away with this with the new "gift card" laws but I haven't looked into them for a while so maybe they waive that charge these days)

Credit Cards have bad conversion rates, too (arguably worse than PayPal sometimes): they'll average the monthly conversion rate to calculate yours. So if you buy something at the start of the month and then the CND tanks the rest of the month, you get hit with awful conversion.

PayPal moves slowly and have a built-in conversion fee (as do credit cards) but at least you know the exact conversion you're getting the day of your purchase.

Paypal is entrenched in the minds of many online shoppers.

For all it's warts (which I see from both ends), it is a system that provides a comfort level to those who are tentative in purchasing online. Buyer protection, dispute resolution, international acceptance and general convenience will ensure that it remains the go-to payment method for many consumers.

That only applies to interest accumulating credit cards (you are correct though). Prepaid cards are not subject to averaged conversion rates because the conversion is calculated at the time of the transaction.

I know mastercard uses the conversion listing services of XE for their prepaid cards. And thus you can check the rate at which they will convert at www.xe.com

This is why I suggested prepaid credit cards for these transactions. Sorry If I was not clear in that.

Sorry I forgot to add. Some prepaid credit card providers do charge a conversion fee (averaging 2.5% per conversion) be sure to check with your provider. As for other fee's most banks will charge 10-20 dollars per issuance of card for a set interval (usually 3 years) and nowadays no minium balance or deposit is required. Its like a debit card only using mastercard/visa/ect. network and thus you are entitled to the insurance that they provide for their transactions.

That wouldn't work well for larger purchases since the biggest I've seen on a prepaid card is 100, that is unless there are bigger ones i'm unaware of.

I never use paypal only mastercard.. I bought a few things in the states already.. Muahahaha.. My g/f is going to new york too this weekend..

True at least until September. High prices for gas that are enevitable every summer will only cause our dollar to climb, as right now we have a commodities based economy right now. If the dollar hits anywhere near $1.10 US buy American currency.

I dunno about that, trading on the FOREX you have a big chance of losing a lot of money. I would prefer diversifying my investments and buying mutual funds instead (which might put some money into the FOREX but some into manufacturing, tech, mining and other major industries to reduce the risk of losing a lot of money but also lower your potential to make a lot of money in a volatile market). (I'm not a businessman or whatever at all, just try to use my own common sense and things I've picked up when investing and such).