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I'd gladly pay another 5% if they layed off my effing tuition a bit.
Ask someone making $100k+ a year and see if they'd gladly pay an extra 5% for your tuition...
Honestly, tuition in Canada is already a real bargain compared to what we pay in America, especially for the top 20 universities. $200k for just 4 years of undergrad education. I'm pretty sure there'd be a revolution of schools charge even remotely that level here in Canada.
Ask someone making $100k+ a year and see if they'd gladly pay an extra 5% for your tuition...
Honestly, tuition in Canada is already a real bargain compared to what we pay in America, especially for the top 20 universities. $200k for just 4 years of undergrad education. I'm pretty sure there'd be a revolution of schools charge even remotely that level here in Canada.
Well, I don't see why that bracket would care if it were only sales tax. I also don't have sympathy for people complaining about paying higher taxes by the time they're making 100K/year anyways. And it's not just my tuition, it's everyone's and I think it's smart to invest in the population.
Tuition in Canada is literally ONLY a bargain compared to the USA. As far as I know, Western Europe has it pretty well funded in full for their own residents. Even Australia has a cool program where loans are forgiven or partially forgiven if graduates make under a decent salary after graduation. It is my opinion that if you think education should be a right, you should be prepared to go balls deep in the public portion.
Yea, I don't understand why people still go to big box retailers like Future Shop, Best Buy... And RadioShack is already going out of business. Amazon all the way. People in countries like China have even more advanced online buying options: the online marketplace Alibaba (soon to be the largest IPO in history) alone offers 5 different Amazon-like marketplaces, with many offering freesame day and next day shipping (with over $170 billion in sales in 2012... more than Amazon+eBay combined...
I wondered about that too, but Amazon has never cared too much about Canada. Amazon.ca's offerings are pathetic, with maybe 1% of the stuff Amazon.com has, and often with much much higher prices (100% more). One can shop on amazon.com but many sellers don't ship to Canada, and those who do often charge very high shipping fees. There have been too many frustrating online shopping experiences in Canada that I just don't shop as much as before.
Only Walmart manages to offer decent online shopping and delivery options in Canada. Others tend to either don't exist online, or hardly sells anything (the Bay for example), or eats you with delivery charges.
China's online shopping literally ballooned from nothing to highly vibrant in a matter of 5-8 years (and of course it crushes Canada instantly). Like you said, shipping is almost always free and the next day delivery is the normal among major cities. In comparison, Canada is stuck in the stone ages, but I can understand since it is a country with half the population as many Chinese provinces with elevated union work salaries.
I wondered about that too, but Amazon has never cared too much about Canada. Amazon.ca's offerings are pathetic, with maybe 1% of the stuff Amazon.com has, and often with much much higher prices (100% more). One can shop on amazon.com but many sellers don't ship to Canada, and those who do often charge very high shipping fees. There have been too many frustrating online shopping experiences in Canada that I just don't shop as much as before.
True. But that's because Canada has a much smaller market compared to the US - so it is not feasible for retailers like Amazon to build huge warehouses all around the country.
Compare consumer prices and products in Canada to countries in EU. Atleast Canada gets consumer products like Xbox One, PS4, iPhone etc at the same price and at the same launch date as the US.
Yes. There are many. I was very surprised to learn that cell phone services in Canada are much cheaper than the US. In the US, you get no decent plan for under $50 per month.
I wondered about that too, but Amazon has never cared too much about Canada. Amazon.ca's offerings are pathetic, with maybe 1% of the stuff Amazon.com has, and often with much much higher prices (100% more). One can shop on amazon.com but many sellers don't ship to Canada, and those who do often charge very high shipping fees. There have been too many frustrating online shopping experiences in Canada that I just don't shop as much as before.
Only Walmart manages to offer decent online shopping and delivery options in Canada. Others tend to either don't exist online, or hardly sells anything (the Bay for example), or eats you with delivery charges.
China's online shopping literally ballooned from nothing to highly vibrant in a matter of 5-8 years (and of course it crushes Canada instantly). Like you said, shipping is almost always free and the next day delivery is the normal among major cities. In comparison, Canada is stuck in the stone ages, but I can understand since it is a country with half the population as many Chinese provinces with elevated union work salaries.
Let's just say shopping in Canada was an eye-opening experience.
But what is most incredible to see is the stranglehold that big businesses have on the Canadian consumer. In Canada there is hardly any competition and corporations and big businesses can just do whatever they feel. They can charge people ridiculous prices, and guess what - the average Canadian will pay because he simply has no other options, and many aren't even aware of how badly they are being gutted on a daily basis.
Bostonkid's example of air fares stands out. They can charge rip-off prices for a flight from Montreal to Miami because the guy leaving from Montreal has no other real options. He could drive all the way to Boston to take a flight, but that's several hours driving and would defeat the purpose. So what is he going to do? He buys the ticket, and empowers the company that will rip-off the next guy in line. In the end the cycle continues.
Even more ridiculous is how they brainwash people to believe that keeping out competition and foreign companies is good. When Verizon was coming into Canada, Bell corporation made a massive appeal to the Canadian people to keep out an "American" company and highlighted a number of outrageous "what ifs" that could take place if Canadians didn't take action against the invader. Even though Bell had been ripping off Canadians for years, so many people took the bait. They play on the unwarranted fears of people and as a result keep Canada provincial and free of competition. Of course the only ones who win are the ones working in the corporation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sandman249
Yes. There are many. I was very surprised to learn that cell phone services in Canada are much cheaper than the US. In the US, you get no decent plan for under $50 per month.
No, cell phone service in Canada is ridiculously expensive. It is much more expensive than the US. The cell service in Canada was like stepping back ten years. In the US you have so many options of every kind, and in Canada it is the usual story having no selection and little choice.
Yes. There are many. I was very surprised to learn that cell phone services in Canada are much cheaper than the US. In the US, you get no decent plan for under $50 per month.
So I guess my $30 T-Mobile plan doesn't count? It includes Unlimited Data and Unlimited Text and 100 Minutes talk time (if you go over, you can easily make free calls with Google Voice via unlimited data). T-Mobile $30 Wireless Airtime Card - Walmart.com. Oh, and $30 is tax inclusive.
And none of the above plans require any permanent contract. You can cancel or switch carriers at anytime.
Name one plan in Canada that can match pricing and level of service from above. I'd love to know, because I'm paying a lot more right now under Rogers and Bell for the same level of data/text/talk.
Let's just say shopping in Canada was an eye-opening experience.
But what is most incredible to see is the stranglehold that big businesses have on the Canadian consumer. In Canada there is hardly any competition and corporations and big businesses can just do whatever they feel. They can charge people ridiculous prices, and guess what - the average Canadian will pay because he simply has no other options, and many aren't even aware of how badly they are being gutted on a daily basis.
Bostonkid's example of air fares stands out. They can charge rip-off prices for a flight from Montreal to Miami because the guy leaving from Montreal has no other real options. He could drive all the way to Boston to take a flight, but that's several hours driving and would defeat the purpose. So what is he going to do? He buys the ticket, and empowers the company that will rip-off the next guy in line. In the end the cycle continues.
Even more ridiculous is how they brainwash people to believe that keeping out competition and foreign companies is good. When Verizon was coming into Canada, Bell corporation made a massive appeal to the Canadian people to keep out an "American" company and highlighted a number of outrageous "what ifs" that could take place if Canadians didn't take action against the invader. Even though Bell had been ripping off Canadians for years, so many people took the bait. They play on the unwarranted fears of people and as a result keep Canada provincial and free of competition. Of course the only ones who win are the ones working in the corporation.
No, cell phone service in Canada is ridiculously expensive. It is much more expensive than the US. The cell service in Canada was like stepping back ten years. In the US you have so many options of every kind, and in Canada it is the usual story having no selection and little choice.
Why would you want to fly Air Canada or Westjet if you were going from Montreal to Miami? Just look for an international airline and the price will be way cheaper anyways. This problem certainly does apply, but only on domestic trips where only Canadian airlines operate.
When people on CD talk about what they think airfare should cost to go to some destination overseas, I am consistently shocked at what they project the fare should be. I always fly out of YYZ, which has high taxes and I get pretty nice fares. I'd have a field day if I lived in some American midwestern city, I bet.
Why would you want to fly Air Canada or Westjet if you were going from Montreal to Miami? Just look for an international airline and the price will be way cheaper anyways. This problem certainly does apply, but only on domestic trips where only Canadian airlines operate.
When people on CD talk about what they think airfare should cost to go to some destination overseas, I am consistently shocked at what they project the fare should be. I always fly out of YYZ, which has high taxes and I get pretty nice fares. I'd have a field day if I lived in some American midwestern city, I bet.
My friend just booked a ticket from SF to LA for $20.
Is that ever remotely possibly in Canada? That doesn't even start to cover the "surcharges".
Even in the tax intensive Europe, there are tons of budget airlines costing less than $100. Is that possible anywhere in Canada?
My friend just booked a ticket from SF to LA for $20.
Is that ever remotely possibly in Canada? That doesn't even start to cover the "surcharges".
Even in the tax intensive Europe, there are tons of budget airlines costing less than $100. Is that possible anywhere in Canada?
No, but we just don't have that kind of competition and never will. It's not even just a bureacracy thing, the population just isn't there to support all kinds of new budget options.
Sometimes Porter has sales and I've flown Sudbury to Toronto Island for around $80 before. These aren't even low budget planes. It was probably the best flying experience I've ever had. Their waiting area in YTO has free snacks, drinks, and wifi for passengers.
Last year I flew from Cairo to Toronto via Abu Dhabi on Etihad, a great airline, for $400.
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