The Canadian Dollar

[snoopwiz]

It's strong vs. the USD. Very strong. Losing a point or two already, when exchanging US paypal payments. Long term predictions show the Canadian dollar should soon pass the USD and may even stay that way for up to 2 years. So what are your plans if you currently are listing on .com in USD? Eat it? Raise your prices. List in CDN dollars? Or....?

[surplusdealdude]

I'm going to eat it - I have room to do that.

My wholesale distributor in the States is going to get a price increase, though.

[jakeeangel]

I'm not sure where you got your info from but they are not predicting it to be par or more for that long of a period. No way.

But to answer your question, I'll still list in US funds.

[surplusdealdude]

they are not predicting it to be par or more for that long of a period

Uh, some economists are predicting that the $CDN will surpass the USD for years;

http://news.aol.ca/article/high-canadian-dollar-here-to-stay-economists/788076/

[jakeeangel]

And some think the looney will tank in 6 months. Who do you believe? The point is that nobody knows for certain, they're all guessing because they have to say something for their newspiece.

And personally, I'm not liking all the extra folks at the border. hmph! LOL It's taking longer to get back into Canada now. LOL

[surplusdealdude]

Haven't had any problems getting back into Canada, but going into the States today took a 2 hour wait on the Lewiston bridge.

I think their computers were crashing or something. Seems to happen a lot.

And, last Saturday, I saw them training a drug dog for the first time.

[jakeeangel]

We've seen the dogs many times. They come out in the spring and summer. And the mirrors too to check the underside of the cars and trucks. They don't just look for drugs. They look for bombs, bomb material, radiation etc.

The hubby went alone once and saw a takedown of some guy who they detected radiation on in the personal lanes. Apparently it was interesting and scary at the same time. You sure see some interesting things when you cross a lot.

In May the new Lewiston border coming into Canada for personal vehicles is supposed to open. Yay. The new commercial one has been open for a while now. 4 months, 6 months, something like that.

[craftycatsattic]

Eat it (sigh).

It went up a bit this morning. I really need to withdraw some funds and have been waiting to see it make at least some movement back the other way.

The worst thing I find about it is not so much getting less for my items (it's a wash when your sourced items are paid for in USD) but that my actual shipping costs are rising and as we all know they are already high enough for us as it is!

[craftycatsattic]

"It went up a bit this morning."

Was referring to the US dollar. You're getting about $5 more per thousand this morning than you were yesterday.

[surplusdealdude]

We've seen the dogs many times. They come out in the spring and summer. And the mirrors too to check the underside of the cars and trucks. They don't just look for drugs. They look for bombs, bomb material, radiation etc.

The hubby went alone once and saw a takedown of some guy who they detected radiation on in the personal lanes. Apparently it was interesting and scary at the same time. You sure see some interesting things when you cross a lot.

In May the new Lewiston border coming into Canada for personal vehicles is supposed to open. Yay. The new commercial one has been open for a while now. 4 months, 6 months, something like that.

Yes, I noticed that too.

Harper's already got a big sign in lights up on the American side telling all the Canadian-bound cards what a great job he's doing. IMO, they could have already been doing a better job if they'd just man the lanes that they DO have, or assign a traffic cop to re-direct people through the truck lanes when they're sitting empty, like the Americans do, but I guess that's too simple.

I haven't seen the mirrors or a take-down yet - a few times a cruiser with lights going has raced up and blocked someone from the front, then escorted them over to immigration.

[pierrelebel]

The BIG picture: The trend for the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar is UP (whether we like it or not):



and UP relative to the euro (€)



and UP relative to Sterling (£)



So, we are not looking at weakness of the US$ but a strong Canadian dollar worldwide.

[dipmicro]

So, we are not looking at weakness of the US$ but a strong Canadian dollar worldwide.

Which eventually is a good thing. Means strong local buyers.

[surplusdealdude]

Not if those auto jobs go south again.:-(

[dipmicro]

Not if those auto jobs go south again.:-(

Well, then so long for strong CAD when they do ...

All the laid-off workforce can then find nice and cozy government jobs, (e.g. at CP or CBSA), so small businesses who actually create the value keeping the CAD up there can get their paper pushing done faster.

[godboma]

My costs are going down at the same time so it eventually get balanced because none of my stuff is made in Canada. The time period depends on how big is your current inventory.

[surplusdealdude]

Well, like it or not, we're stuck with it.

So "adapt or die", as the saying goes.

[westernstargifts]

Not if those auto jobs go south again.:-(

The company from which DH just took an early retirement is in danger of moving south. It is an American owned company with a plant in the States which does the same thing. The only thing keeping this one here is the fact that they are more efficient. However, they have vastly reduced the number of employees.

The auto related company for whom my son works just filed for bankruptcy protection. The employees are on a 3 day work share programme and many of the staff, including my son and his boss, are back working on the floor instead of in management.

All the laid-off workforce can then find nice and cozy government jobs, (e.g. at CP or CBSA), so small businesses who actually create the value keeping the CAD up there can get their paper pushing done faster.

Where do they apply?

Last year I gave free shipping on all small items to compete. This year I have changed it back to charging shipping and have not noticed a decrease in sales. Most of my prices will likely remain the same although the competition keeps lowering them. That doesn't make much sense to me to do so at this time. If people don't have the money or don't want the products they will not buy them at any price. And I am not here to lose money.