Triumphrat

Triumphforever

I think another reason we pay more in Canada is that the population in the U.S. is almost ten times that of Canada.
Chris

deluxe

Yeah,..you should see our hydro in my province. We pay very high rates,...rates paid for in advance. When people conserve energy like good little soldiers and we have a surplus, the hydro company has to get rid of the excess.

Sell it? No. We pay Quebec and Northern New York to take our energy. Not kidding. So we pay for something we don't get,...and pay again to give it away.

But I digress.

Think I will see what my horoscope is tomorrow

welshrob

With comments like that you have obviously never run a business and have no concept of running one. Businesses (not online businesses) don`t exist to provide bargains for cheapskates, they have wages, tax, rent, power, insurance, running capital, shrinkage etc etc etc. They exist to provide a service, as well as a product. It`s "come in, try it on, we`ll help you and if you like it, walk out with it today." Can they compete with some one man band on ebay who doesn`t pay tax and runs his business from his garage? Of course not.

I know the question wasn`t for me, but my answer is, I will always try and support my local business. It`s a big picture thing. I`m not completely innocent, I DO buy a lot of stuff from ebay, if the difference is $200 it`s a no brainer but if the difference is $50 then I`ll support my local business, because they employ locals who use MY business.

We are so obsessed with saving money on our mindless consumerism that we are buying ourselves a ticket back into the third world and nobody can see it.

"It will never happen." How many times I have heard those words from people that seem to think that the USA and Europe will remain at the top of the tree forever, because... well they just will, OK?

That is what the Romans thought. Their empire was much bigger and more powerful but it all went went pear shaped. The biggest single factor cited in the decline of the Roman Empire was the "Loss of Civic Virtue." Think about it.


Sorry. Rant Over.

__________________
My Album

http://www.triumphrat.net/members/al...rrap-1882.html

D41

Rob, that sounds an awful lot like "If I can support local business a little bit, I will....if it means I have to support it a lot, then I won't".

"Local business"...even the very term is laughable in most regards.

deluxe

I think part of my angst is that I did run a business (2 actually) for many years and always offered A1 service, above and beyond what was expected. Very successful actually. We treated people honestly and any complaints were dealt with very fairly.

We didn't expect or think we deserved special treatment since we were 'local' that people were automatically supposed to patronize our business. We earned our money fairly because of our reputation, not out of the conditioned sense of the meaning 'local' as if that is worth something. We prided ourselves on that.

I really feel that some think the 'local' retailer is the be all end all. I don't. If they are crap and rip people off, they deserve to go out of business.

welshrob

You are confusing me, your comments about running your business make perfect sense to me, you had a good reputation and earned your money fairly, you say, that is how business SHOULD be run, I agree but you have a client mindset that says "cheap is best." and "save save save" and seem to think that the premium you pay for the convenience of local premises and a good service is somehow a "rip off?"




I`m not looking for a fight, just curious as to where you`re coming from, I`m actually pretty sure we have some common ground here.

__________________
My Album

http://www.triumphrat.net/members/al...rrap-1882.html

spank86

I beleive wholeheartedly in good christian values,

Only last weekend I could see the old lady at the end of my road struggling with her winter firewood so I went over there and spent hours stacking it up... so I could burn her as a witch.

__________________

Demonic

Good call. Never trust the elderly.

__________________
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
Isaac Asimov
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

spank86

Quite true, after all the good die young.

__________________

deluxe

welshrob in Canada we are paying high retail prices. Some of that is due to the commodity and the industry classifications it which they exist. Taxes, tariffs, brokerage fees exist but the markup at the retail level has many questioning why prices are high.

What the market will bare has little resonance if every retailer is charging over the top prices. Some say it is the retailer, some say it is the wholesale/distribution side,...some say the customer since they seemingly have no limit to what they will pay. But when every retailer has the same high prices, how does the consumer know what is fair.

I am not against the local guy. I am not against anyone. The mentality in my neck of the woods is basically buyer beware. If you don't look for the best deal and pay way too much, the onus is on you for not shopping around. Maybe it is like that everywhere, I don't know.

The government here is looking into a task force to investigate retail prices. I don't think it will warrant any useful results because any number of things can be said and justified for or against.

The bottom line is I can pay what the market bares or I can look for deals. I support the local retailer and understand the economy behind it, but a time comes (as it has) when that support doesn't always go both ways. Things are getting tighter, and what is most discerning is that unlike me, people are not looking around for better deals, they just have decided they are not buying anymore,...which is not good for anyone.

Not sure if that answers your question,..