24 Frimaire CCXVI (December 14, 2007)
"Eliminate Confusion" — Sure, Rosebud
As swiped from the CBC website:
"Instead of dropping its Canadian prices, a U.S. magazine publisher has quietly removed the American price for its magazines — leaving only the Canadian price on the cover.
"But despite the loonie being at or near parity with the U.S. greenback, the Canadian magazine prices remain up to 30 per cent higher than what Americans pay for the same Hearst Magazines publications."
[…]
"An unnamed Hearst official tells the Toronto Star the reason for the move to single pricing in Canada is to eliminate any confusion among consumers, adding it was done at the request of Canadian wholesalers."
I'm guessing the "confusion" they want to eliminate is the confusion of consumers for why they're getting screwed. Hell, I don't even read any Hearst publications and even I'm rolling my eyes.
On a completely different note, but also from the CBC: it appears that Fredericton has the highest apartment vacancy rate in New Brunswick. It also has the highest average monthly rent. Complete coincidence? I somehow doubt it. (That said, it isn't completely related. Basically: rent on the Southside has always been high due to the universities. From all reports enrollment has gone into a nosedive as of late, yet the landlords haven't seen fit to reduce rents. Hence, lots of places in the downtown area with "For Rent" signs still on them.)
The thing with the magazine prices is, leaving the American price off actually does stop a lot of complaints. It's not as effective as actually lowering the Canadian cover price so that it's the same as the US one, but it is shutting a lot of people up, which I (as someone who sells magazines but has no control over their price) appreciate.
A lot of people don't seem to get that the price difference for magazines isn't just based on the exchange rate of our dollars. They also don't seem to get that Canadian retailers pay for their magazines based on the Canadian cover price, in Canadian funds. This has lead to such brilliant questions as "can I pay the American cover price if I pay in American dollars?"
I hope this helps people to realise that publishers have been ripping them off for a long time now. I don't think it will, but it would be nice.
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