Buying Canadian - A.musing

[Liviu]

So we decided to buy a Spa…(when I say “we” it means it’s been decided for me ), and for the last three weeks we’ve been doing our homework and shopping around …

There are four quality brands to chose from, two are made in USA and two are Canadian. Three brands are offered at reputable retailers and the fourth one at a manufacturer outlet.

I was determined to buy Canadian, but much to my surprise I found the prices on the Canadian brands higher than one would expect, and here is the conundrum:
A Spa is made in a factory only 45 miles away, put probably on a flatbed, and sold at a factory outlet, in Canadian dollars (1CAD=1.02 USD) at a certain price.
The same Spa is made, put on a train, taken over the border (taxes) to a retailer that is some 1200 miles away, and sold in USD at a slightly lesser price.

I asked the salesmen to explain me this, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) so I’d say: “don’t want the best price, just give me the same quote that somebody in Minnesota is given”.

So… pondering upon this, I came to the conclusion that it’s impossible to buy Canadian, even if one wants to, and here is why:
The Canadian manufacturers are “global companies” that sell globally. In order to stay competitive in the global market (e.g. US), they have to offset those lower margins with higher ones here at home (and there is room for that, as “made in USA” spas would have taxes and shipping costs “absorbed” into prices).
The point is, the prices are driven by a global market (that is in turn driven by the US manufacturers), therefore they are global prices set by global companies, and consequently one can only buy a “Global Spa” that happens to be made in Canada…QED(?)

The aforementioned point required of us to take into consideration all the Global Spas, and that’s what we did, accordingly.

And when we were given some quotes (nothing included):
2011 Cub Ultra - $11,500
2011 Cameo - $11,600
2010 J375 – $9,000…
all we can say is, Jacuzzi/Sundance… here we come…

Cheers.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

The NAFTA agreement should eliminate any "additional" taxes that you might be assuming on a US made spa (besides, most of the parts used to make the Canadian spas come from the US).

I imagine labor costs, for manufacturing the spa, are higher in Canada compared to the US.

[Liviu]

The NAFTA agreement should eliminate any "additional" taxes that you might be assuming on a US made spa (besides, most of the parts used to make the Canadian spas come from the US).

I imagine labor costs, for manufacturing the spa, are higher in Canada compared to the US.

I could be mistaken, but there are six NAFTA criteria (A through F) and depending in which category the product is, a different rate of duty applies. So if the product is not "completely free of any non-North American parts, components, ingredients or materials" then probably some taxes have to be paid.
It could be the case with spas "made in USA" (you know these products better then me for sure), I mentioned taxes in the previous post just because one of the dealer mentioned them (as in "we have to pay this and that") to justify the higher prices in Canada.

As for the labour costs, you're right, they are higher here (I suspect the average pay is somewhere around $20-$30/hr.), I just don't know if there is enough difference in salary to justify the one in cost... but then again, if everything adds up, I could be mistaken (thinking of medical coverage, Canada pension, etc...)

Liviu.
P.S. To my fellow Canadians...hope I didn't come across bitter or somewhat resentful, as I'm far from it .
Just as I stated before, I wanted to buy Canadian, and I'm "forced" to look in a different direction...

[wmccall]

Then there are other global forces at work.  At least 4 of Khadaffi's hot tubs have been blown up this week so demand is high driving prices up on the hot tub speculator's market.

[Tman122]

So we decided to buy a Spa…(when I say “we” it means it’s been decided for me ), and for the last three weeks we’ve been doing our homework and shopping around …

There are four quality brands to chose from, two are made in USA and two are Canadian. Three brands are offered at reputable retailers and the fourth one at a manufacturer outlet.

I was determined to buy Canadian, but much to my surprise I found the prices on the Canadian brands higher than one would expect, and here is the conundrum:
A Spa is made in a factory only 45 miles away, put probably on a flatbed, and sold at a factory outlet, in Canadian dollars (1CAD=1.02 USD) at a certain price.
The same Spa is made, put on a train, taken over the border (taxes) to a retailer that is some 1200 miles away, and sold in USD at a slightly lesser price.

I asked the salesmen to explain me this, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) so I’d say: “don’t want the best price, just give me the same quote that somebody in Minnesota is given”.

So… pondering upon this, I came to the conclusion that it’s impossible to buy Canadian, even if one wants to, and here is why:
The Canadian manufacturers are “global companies” that sell globally. In order to stay competitive in the global market (e.g. US), they have to offset those lower margins with higher ones here at home (and there is room for that, as “made in USA” spas would have taxes and shipping costs “absorbed” into prices).
The point is, the prices are driven by a global market (that is in turn driven by the US manufacturers), therefore they are global prices set by global companies, and consequently one can only buy a “Global Spa” that happens to be made in Canada…QED(?)

The aforementioned point required of us to take into consideration all the Global Spas, and that’s what we did, accordingly.

And when we were given some quotes (nothing included):
2011 Cub Ultra - $11,500
2011 Cameo - $11,600
2010 J375 – $9,000…
all we can say is, Jacuzzi/Sundance… here we come…

Cheers.

Jacuzzi makes a fine product. Scores higher than the Cub IMO

[Spatech_tuo]

This is only semi-related but:

A couple weeks ago I used Google to find out what cars are "American made" because its not as simple as "buy a Chevy". I wanted to know where its made, how much American parts used etc. This pointed me to a government website that lists just about every model sold in the US and shows you whether its US made and % content US except it really shows it as US/Canada.


http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1173220&icid=autos_0329&GT1=22009

http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/Part+583+American+Automobile+Labeling+Act+(AALA)+Reports


In the article it makes this statement:

"The AALA (American Automobile Labeling Act) ... has convoluted formulas for determining the place of origin for parts, and considers Canadian content as domestic. Ontario is kind of like the 51st state when it comes to the auto industry,"


(Anyway, hope I didn't semi-hijack the thread too much)

[Liviu]

Jacuzzi makes a fine product. Scores higher than the Cub IMO

So it happens that we ended up buying a 2010, J-480 floor model "used" for about 2 months, for $11,990 (everything included except Ozonator).
Ah, forget... I did pay another $40 to the 2 guys that delivered and installed it yesterday.

I was pleasantly surprised about the insulation: we had a very first soak yesterday around 11PM with water temp at 39C.
When we got out, I changed the setpoint at 37C, and yet this morning at 8AM the water temperature was still at 39C; it didn't drop one degree.

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  Congrats that's Good price on a J-480