Price USA vs Canada?!

[Gt]

Hi everyone, I am just new at airsoft and I am looking for my first gun and I am looking alot on the internet and all the stuff and while I was shopping for my first AEG one questions came up in my mind..


Why the prices are so much different between americans and canadian? Because canadian airsoft website and even canadian airsoft shop have probably a permit for these importation... so my question is, maybe we have an 50$ difference between the USA ok.... but i've been looking and its more about like 40% difference, so why this difference stands?

As an example, juste look the echo 1 series or even the Ares and VFC, there are a HUUUGGGEEE difference between our prices and their prices +- 200$

Like in the states I think with an 300$ you have an 500$ canadian airsoft gun.

So thanks to help me up with my litle question

And if you know a shop in Canada that has great prices let me know because Iv'e look alot and the prices are all the same for what i found

[THe_Silencer]

Read the FAQ first: http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=23034 Then get Age verified. Once you do, you'll get access to a whole bunch of airsoft stuff on the classifieds. As for the price disparity, getting Airsoft in country is still somewhat considered a grey market thing. It takes some effort and a lot of risk in order to bring it into Canada w/o it getting seized, thus, this is reflected in the price markup.

[L473ncy]

Shipping, duties, importation paperwork, a cut of everyone involved, etc. all play a factor here. You can't say it's like cars, electronics or something like that because at least with the car industry there's NAFTA to kind of cover some of that cost.

Why is it that we pay more for cable, internet, cell phones and such than other countries? Did you know that North Korea had 3G networks up only 3 years after we in Canada had them?

It's a lot better than 5-6 years ago when you would pay ~$700 for a Classic Army M16 (and thats when their internals were shitty and you had to pretty much upgrade everything inside). Shipping and duties play a big role here actually. Say you score an awesome deal on an LCD TV during black Friday in the US. How much does it cost to ship that one TV from the US to Canada? What about duties, taxes, customs clearance, etc?

Also, how about a small store buys 50 TV's to sell? What about a bhain buying 10,000 TV's? The more units you get the cheaper it becomes, not only that shipping costs almost even out and it doesn't cost much more to ship an extra 1000 units (plus these chains probably get really good wholesaler pricing too).

[w1lp33]

Plus I'm sure that supply/demand plays a part ere as well. There isn't much competition or stock at any one time in Canada compared to the huge number of airsoft stock and stores in the states, so Canadian retailers are able to put a higher markup on their guns...

[Ricochet]

The real base problem here is Canadian law. Due to airsoft gun classification. It's very difficult to get decent airsoft guns into Canada legally. So for a lot of products you need licensing, brokers ...ect. After all is said and done the mark up is huge. As a new player you should read the airgun fact sheet. It's posted on the forums, as well as many other posts involving the legal side of things. If you try ordering something out of country, there is a very good chance it will be seized and destroyed. And your money is gone. Do not smuggle guns across either, the penalties are severe as it's a felony. There are some great Canadian retailers though. But getting age verified is your best step. Access to the classifieds and more info.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

Canadian retailer charge more, because they can.

Also due to the overhead to run a business in Canada VS the USA , they have to charge more for their products in order to stay in business.

The market for guns in canada is far smaller, so wholesale importers do not get the massive volume discounts that US wholesale importers do.

Also , in order for guns to be legally imported into Canada they must meet specific requirements . Manufacturers in some cases have to manufacture a special version for Canada. This costs more.. you pay more.

Look at it this way, If I live in the Caribbean I can pull red snapper from the ocean for free, why do I have to pay $7.99 a lb for it at the grocery store here? .. simple the costs of bringing the product to market.

USA and Canada is not the same market.. so costs of products are different.

[bizkilter]

Or.... You could get guns shipped from the US provided the box includes all the relevant customs docs.. some companies will do that upon request.

[ThunderCactus]

Originally Posted by Brian McIlmoyle

Canadian retailer charge more, because they can.

BAM! Hit the nail right on the head.
I'm good friends with an ex-importer, I know first hand how much they can be marked up.

[Gt]

Its sad that we can't import these airsoft guns...

I know our market is smaller and all the rules but i still think, if you take the example of the car, that a 20 000$ usa car don't cost 35 000 in canada..

Just to be clear, my inttention is not to import, i was just asking for the huge price difference..

[Brian McIlmoyle]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

BAM! Hit the nail right on the head.
I'm good friends with an ex-importer, I know first hand how much they can be marked up.

All good business people charge what the market can bear I would not expect anything less. It's not a charity.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

Originally Posted by Gt

Its sad that we can't import these airsoft guns...

I know our market is smaller and all the rules but i still think, if you take the example of the car, that a 20 000$ usa car don't cost 35 000 in canada..

Just to be clear, my inttention is not to import, i was just asking for the huge price difference..

Your error is in comparing 2 different markets..

When you look within the market, you find that all retailers in the market are priced at comparable rates.

That is the "market Price" it is not impossible to buy in another Market, but then you incur the risk incumbent with that decision.

[Matt 'Maverick' Watts]

If you want to compare, here's what has to be looked at:

1) initial cost - if ordering from a manufacturer, the same basic price. Discounts get applied to volume obviously, and to give you an idea of the volume difference, more airsoft equipment was sold in California (1 of 50 states) than ALL of Canada in 2010. A large US-based airsoft importation company will be bringing gear in for the entire country, not just 1 state.. getting an idea of the discounts they would get yet?

2) upgrading cost - the US doesn't have this, so we have to pay an additional fee to have airsoft guns able to be properly imported

3)Shipping cost - it costs more to have less-than-container shipments sent than full-container shipments to start. Want to fly it over? Triple your shipping costs to get it here faster.

4) duty fees - our national agreements with pacific rim countries are vastly different than the USA's national agreements. Bottom line is that we pay more to import than they do (goes back to the quantity question in a way)

5) Brokerage - about the same IF you have a good brokerage company

6) Cost of business - As Brian stated, it costs more to do business in Canada than it does in the USA. That is reflected in the price

7) Approval paperwork - we have reams and reams of paperwork that needs to be filled out, along with processes that need to happen in order for companies to be approved to import airsoft. Then there's the cost of this paperwork process... did you think that was free? it's not, it's massive actually

8) The 'no guarantee' issue - even after (or if) you get through all of the above, there is still no guarantee that you will get your order. The CBSA could randomly decide to hold it, deny it, destroy it, anything. Even though you have done everything right, they still have the power to over-rule. Do YOU want to take that chance with tens of thousands of your own money?

Starting to get it? Oh, and don't use the car analogy, or the TV analogy. Want to know why? Those are BILLION dollar a year industries that move tons of product into Canada. Companies selling those products order hundreds if not thousands of a single item. Not one of the airsoft importers in this country has anywhere near that ability.

[Polish_Legion]

Originally Posted by bizkilter

Or.... You could get guns shipped from the US provided the box includes all the relevant customs docs.. some companies will do that upon request.

Which companies do you know of who do that in the States at the moment?

[Janus]

Think very carefully before you answer that. We don't need to be promoting border seizures and underagers getting their paws on airspft guns.

[Matt 'Maverick' Watts]

Originally Posted by bizkilter

Or.... You could get guns shipped from the US provided the box includes all the relevant customs docs.. some companies will do that upon request.

Don't bother.. seriously. They're interested in getting your money, that's it.