It was my good pal, Stephen's, birthday a few days ago - so, like any good friend - I got him a bread box...

With the Canadian dollar doing very well (almost at par), I thought that the price of the bread box would be similar to that advertised on their US website. But it wasn't. The pricing in-store was significantly higher than that online.

Fine. Okay...I will deal with that.

But this got me thinking, if I drove to Buffalo to buy the bread box there, factored in gas, taxes at the border, the exchange rate and the state taxes...it would have still been $10 cheaper than what I paid. (However, I didn't factor in the amount of time it would take). Check out this great cross border shopping calculator if shopping south seems like a better option.

Damn! No doubt, If I went to Buffalo, I would have bought some treats for me too! Making it even cheaper...

I decided to post about this because of recent stories regarding the exchange rate and the pricing of goods in Canada compared to the US. Customers are complaining about the price difference. Companies are failing to take consider the CDN rate when it comes to pricing, posting it on their website or on their price tags...it is upsetting customers.

Companies that are changing their pricing may definitely see an advantage.

PS. It's time to renew that passport.