to my Canadian Colleagues and supply pricing

[gabagoo]

We all see how strong the Canadian dollar has become in the last couple of months. I am wondering if like me you have not seen any price decreases for supplies. I have asked a few suppliers why when the dollar dropped 6 or 8 months ago they wasted no time in raising all our prices across the board on materials, and now when the Canadian dollar has bounced back why the price has not dropped back to previous levels. One supplier in particular raised my ink prices (Mimaki ss2) from $119 to $149 and they have stayed there and I have asked about price reductions with no budging. This morning I call one of their competitors I have no account with and I can buy them for $15.00 less!!!. I will give them one last chance to better up or off I go. How have you found your general pricing for digital supplies and substrates?

 

[R08]

I noticed signexpressproducts are giving me an extra 10% off.

 

[gabagoo]

I noticed signexpressproducts are giving me an extra 10% off.

Well nice to know there are a few honest suppliers out there. They are in St Mariys...correct?

 

[CanuckSigns]

I get very frustrated at the fact that Canadian suppliers don't seem to stock nearly as much variety of stock as American places. for example, Proveer has a "north american" catalog, however, 50% of the products are not available in Canada.

 

[gabagoo]

I get very frustrated at the fact that Canadian suppliers don't seem to stock nearly as much variety of stock as American places. for example, Proveer has a "north american" catalog, however, 50% of the products are not available in Canada.

I know it is annoying, but maybe slowly over time they will bring them up. I would love to see 3M vinyls become a main stay item, then we could have a little competition around here.

 

[Browner]

When the exchange rate gets to where it is now, I start "shopping" in the states. Even with shipping and duties (and some cases brokerage fees), there is - for many products - a CONSIDERABLE savings to be had.

In regards to the "we don't stock that here" attitude from the local suppliers, I suspect it's a lot worse here in the prairies. We usually get the, "It will have to come in from Toronto," or "That's a special order from the manufacturer." They've missed out on some decent business from us, as I'm more than willing to deal with Advantage Sign Supply or Fellers who have yet to have ANYTHING not in stock, and available at my door THE NEXT DAY (and depending on the exchange - cheaper).

 

[Rooster]

When the exchange rate gets to where it is now, I start "shopping" in the states. Even with shipping and duties (and some cases brokerage fees), there is - for many products - a CONSIDERABLE savings to be had.

In regards to the "we don't stock that here" attitude from the local suppliers, I suspect it's a lot worse here in the prairies. We usually get the, "It will have to come in from Toronto," or "That's a special order from the manufacturer." They've missed out on some decent business from us, as I'm more than willing to deal with Advantage Sign Supply or Fellers who have yet to have ANYTHING not in stock, and available at my door THE NEXT DAY (and depending on the exchange - cheaper).

Yeah after moving from Vancouver to Edmonton I noticed I had to adjust my expectations of in-stock items and delivery times by quite a bit. Smaller city, not a port city, etc. Things you never consider I guess.

I really need to set-up an account with a customs broker to take advantage of the US pricing. My local guy is raping me with the ink-costs, and they hardly ever have them in stock.