[emalvick]

I'm not sure about the facts about the sales taxes by state... I live in California, and I have not seen the 2% extra quoted anywhere.

That's minor... most of those taxes are state specific, so many people don't tie it to the US sales model.

The bigger problem is that the real duties, those that come from imports, are built into costs, so people are unaware and uneducated about them. Other countries add that on separately, probably because of international business.

That would be similar to the lack of sales taxes there show up in online businesses who sell across many state lines. It becomes the burden of the consumer to pay those taxes for their own state... Many don't.

Regardless, the bigger problem may be a loss of market share as the cost benefit of Pentax versus other brands potentially goes down.

[SteveM]

Ignoring the comments about medicine, socialism and the like......there are other places on the forum for that, but as far as buying Pentax products goes...isn't it a wash? I understand how VAT or sales tax could impact the cost, but what about the hidden tax rates which are high in the US? Doesn't that ultimately get passed onto the consumer? Would those not find their way into the cost of Pentax gear?

When combining both federal and average local (i.e. State) corp tax rates, US and Canada raise revenue on the corporate side.....

Greece - 20%
Ireland - 12.5%
Iceland - 20%
Netherlands - 25%
Canada - 27.6%
US - 39.2%

[eddie1960]

Futureshop in Toronto just popped out a flyer with lots of Canikon, Sony and Olympus P&S and DSLR's. Nothing from Pentax. As you said, in Canada we still have B&M's and I include Costco, FutureShop and Best Buy in that list as well as others such as Japan Camera. Blacks, London Drugs etc. And thankfully we have Henrys who I find competitive in Pentax but for Sigma I buy from B&H :-)

I try to keep in mind while reading all the doom and gloom on pricing that a) the pricing focus seems to be some higher end lenses, not the whoe line, b) the Pentax line is much broader than DA* lenses and top end DSLR's. They have lots of P&S models, WG2, binoculars etc.

I look forward to seeing more shelf space for anything Pentax in the stores that I visit, assuming of course that they step up visibility here as well..

Gerrit

Future shop hasn't carried Pentax since the Kx
Best buy Canada never did (same buying group as Future shop BTW the buyers work together)
I understand London drugs has a really good selection, but they aren't out here so i've never been in one

sigma prices up here are stupid sometimes, but the warranty is 10 years. that can come in handy when the lens needs an update to work properly with a new body (the drawback to reverse engineered lenses)

[kenafein]

Ignoring the comments about medicine, socialism and the like......there are other places on the forum for that, but as far as buying Pentax products goes...isn't it a wash? I understand how VAT or sales tax could impact the cost, but what about the hidden tax rates which are high in the US? Doesn't that ultimately get passed onto the consumer? Would those not find their way into the cost of Pentax gear?

When combining both federal and average local (i.e. State) corp tax rates, US and Canada raise revenue on the corporate side.....

Greece - 20%
Ireland - 12.5%
Iceland - 20%
Netherlands - 25%
Canada - 27.6%
US - 39.2%

That is true, but corporations of sufficient size pay very little in taxes. There are a lot of tricks, such as incorporating in Delaware where the taxes are very low. Loopholes, deductions, tax-credits, fewer benefits and lower wages are also advantages to US businesses. Google is just one of many corporations to take advantage of the "Double Irish" tax evasion scam, and GE paid 0% in federal taxes in 2010. Corporations in other countries might do the same, I know they do in the UK, but I am unaware of others.

Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes - Bloomberg

I had a colleague who, as a contractor, incorporated himself and had the company we worked for pay him corp to corp. He wrote off everything and he said he paid about $5k in taxes per year.

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Last edited by kenafein; 04-27-2012 at 06:54 AM.

[Class A]

People buy from us even though they're on the other side of the globe because with international shipping and duty, customs, and other import taxes it's still less expensive to purchase from us.

I wish that were (still) true.

1. If I bought from B&H, I'd have no warranty. I have to factor this into the price. I do not understand the concept of a store like B&H being able to sell goods and then not be responsible for warranty cases (just because the buyer is in a different country). Other stores, like T-Dimension, offer a year's worth of warranty and even pay for all international shipping costs.
2. After the unilateral pricing policy became effective, the price advantage is no longer there. Compared to the ridiculously marked up official channel prices here in New Zealand, yes, but not to other parallel importers who offer a year of warranty.