I notice it is 2 bucks more in Canada than in the US…why?
This is one item I’ve been meaning to post for quite a while.
I phoned Kalmbach quite a while ago but could only get vague answers. The Canadian dollar is now on par with the States. Some days it goes higher by one cent or lower by a cent. At one time not too long ago our dollar was ten cents higher & I purchased quite a bit of US currency. When I’m in the States I will buy my new books or magazines there, as considerably cheaper.
I now have a subscription and notice that Kalmbach ships by bulk to an address in Ontario & then sent to me by Canadian post. With this bulk shipping to Canada, this I imagine would reduce cost would it not?
Probably, but more important, it can save time. Every time I get a package or book from Canada (not constantly, but occasionally), it either went airmail or was shipped to a U.S. border point (Rouses Point, for example) to be put in the U.S. mail.
There might be other ancillary drawbacks that would make getting out the magazine more expensive for Canadians other than exchange rate or postage. Enabling the printer to run address names with the three - three alpha numeric codes Canada uses as its “zip code.” But this is pure speculation on my part.
Sadly, whatever is shipped CAN - USA, the S&H fees are really high. Even for amazon.ca.
But the difference is postal code shouldn’t have a bearing on the newsstand price…i.e… magazines are shipped to a limited number of points in Canada for distribtion to outlets within Canada. At any rate it wouldn’t account for the 40% higher price here.
Well first of all you have that 15% General Sales tax. Secondly there may be customs duty. Thirdly there is probably paper work to support the shipemnt. I always get grief when I go to Canada for business. It is much easier to say I take vacations frequently because I like Canada then I am coming for business purposes. Your government does just about everything it can to hassles US citizens there for business purposes and it may be the same for Kalmbach. Lastly the price may have been decided before the exchange rate changed.
GST is 5%…not 15%… Exchange rates change throughout the day however our dollar has been worth about as much as yours since last August…lots of time to adjust prices. About our government hassling US citizens…I can’t comment as you’re not specific…furthermore…the number of US companies doing business up here would suggest that this is not the case…
With out knowing all of details how Kalmbach Publishing ships/mails their magazine to Canada subscriptions… The postage rate is generally much higher for Canadian postage vs. domestic.
CC
One Day you are the Pigeon, next Time you are the Statue![wow] Happy Memorial Day to all…
Just asking the question…
The U.S. federal government heavily subsidizes the distribution of printed media. Almost all other countries do not. Check what Canada does. I suspect the difference in price is that you’re paying the mailing costs up front instead of through your tax dollar.
The irony of the heavy subsidy of printed media in the U.S. is that it rewards publishers of large-circulation, cheaply printed, cheaply produced magazines, because the true beneficiary of the subsidy is the advertiser, and punishes publishers of small-circulation, expensively printed, expensively produced magazines because they cannot attract significant advertising no matter how lavishly produced they might be. The subsidy favors light weight, so we get magazines printed on see-through tissue paper instead of glossy paper. The reading public sees a crummy but large-circulation “subsidized cost” magazine on the newsstand for $3 and a beautiful but small-circulation magazine for $8, and buys the $3 version, because while it’s not as nice, it’s “close enough.” That’s why England, Japan, and Germany can have thousands of glossy, wonderful, high-quality magazines for tiny readership niches, and the U.S. does not. The highest-quality railroad magazine I’ve ever seen is “Japan Rail” printed on paper so thick and glossy you could shingle a house with it. Last time I purchased a copy it was $21.
RWM
That’s very interesting… I’m sure there are some good reasons and I ask the question without predjudous or malice. A two dollar difference isn’t going to change my buying habits…but I think the American media would do well to let readers know WHY there’s such a difference. Some people (according to the media up here anyway) might jump to the the wrong conclusions.
How? The USPS in NOT a government-owned corporation. As far as I have read, it is autonomous and self-supporting.
THe USPS is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States govermnment. As such it is owned and run by “the people” i.e. the government.
lntersting, but is it in English ?
“The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (like, Amtrak), but is legally defined as an “independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States,” as it is wholly owned by the government and controlled by the Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act.”
But it is NOT funded or subsidized by U.S. taxpayer dollars, which is the point here. It is supported by its users.
Then maybe, cross-subsidized is a better description. [:)]
Your statement that the USPS discriminates against “small-circulation, expensively printed, expensively produced magazines because they cannot attract significant advertising no matter how lavishly produced they might be” makes no sense. How would being “lavishly printed” hurt a publication’s appeal to advertisers? I thought advertisers placed advertising in a certain publication because they wanted to target their message to that particular magazine’s readership.
Also, while you’re at it, please explain (or list a source) how “the true beneficiary of the subsidy is the advertiser”. I’ve never heard
True, but that doesn’t mean subsidies don’t happen. The subsidies occur in the way postal rates are set. Postal rates are established by two bodies whose members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the Postal Rate Commission and the Postal Service Board of Governors. Postal rates are regulated by legislation established by Congress and signed by the President. I think I can conclude from this structure that “Postal Rates are effectively established by the U.S. Government.” Postal rates do not necessarily reflect the actual cost of service by location or by class; if one rate is below the cost of service and another is abo
The USPS is no more subsidized by the G than FedEx or UPS. That’s why it keeps hiking the rates.
[quote user=“Railway Man”]
True, but that doesn’t mean subsidies don’t happen. The subsidies occur in the way postal rates are set. Postal rates are established by two bodies whose members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the Postal Rate Commission and the Postal Service Board of Governors. Postal rates are regulated by legislation established by Congress and signed by the President. I think I can conclude from this structure that “Postal Rates are effectively established by the U.S. Government.” Postal rates do not necessarily reflect the actual cost of service by location or by class; if one rate is below the cost of