why o why? (tiny vent about scenera prices)

[tawnylee]

I am so sick of going on to american boards and hearing how "cheap" the scenera is. Why the heck is it $40 there and $100 here when the dollar is on par with US right now? This is driving me crazy! Just because we're across the border we have to pay more? I am NOT HAPPY!!! I wish I could get a cute daisy scenera for $38 on sale at wal-mart.. poop!

[scatterbunny]

Aren't all seats more expensive in Canada? It sucks, definitely. :( I'm sorry.

[LuvBug03]

Even when the dollars werent so close the scenera was way overpriced! When 1CDN=.80US the scenera was still twice the price!! But some of the other seats were more on par. Now that the dollars are getting closer they arent going to just adjust the price so they come out similar to US prices, because they dont have to :(
It really sucks for yall, but at least you have free healthcare :D

ok sorry I had to throw that in :ROTFLMAO: I know its not all it sounds to be ;)

[joolsplus3]

I always hated how everyone would say, but that's in Canadian dollars! when I'd say how expensive seats were... even my lame math skills could tell seats were priced higher! (and, ahem, shouldn't seats be CHEAPER since they have universal health care? Talk about a cheap way to lower the costs of medical care... getting kids in cheap seats prevents thousands of injuries a year and would save probably millions of dollars for the whole country...)

[dd9736]

I hate when everyone says we have free healthcare, I pay $$ every month for just the basic healthcare, if i wanted prescription benefits, ambulance, vision, dental, I'd be paying out my butt. (wait I do I just can't afford it.)
Of course this is only alberta, everywhere else they have free healthcare. Something that's pissed me off since I discovered I had to pay, DH didnt' even realise, because it was automatically taken off his check when he was employed by someone else.

[LuvBug03]

oh we know its not free, even where it is "free" you know its not actually free... nothing is free :(
just poking fun at it as if its an excuse for high retail prices :rolleyes:

[BudgieStew]

My beef right now is the fact that everywhere and I mean everywhere in the U.S has these neat online shops that offer free shipping and coupons..so far I have found two places in Canada that offer real free shipping.TWO!!! And forget about coupons.

And why oh why is the Tripp Trapp 289.00-299.00 plus taxes and shipping here in Canada and 199.90 in the U.S. 199.90.
DH might get slightly squeamish about 199.90 but paying almost 700.00-800.00 for two children's chairs is a big no go.:(
I want a Stokke!!!

[tawnylee]

I wonder what Cosco would say if I e-mailed them asking about the price difference. Surely it isn't because it costs almost $60 per car seat to ship them around! Hmmm, maybe I'll go do that right now!

[snowbird25ca]

I wonder what Cosco would say if I e-mailed them asking about the price difference. Surely it isn't because it costs almost $60 per car seat to ship them around! Hmmm, maybe I'll go do that right now!

Oooh, I'll be watching for what they tell you.

My twocents - they charge it because they can. We don't have any Canadian companies doing car seats in Canada, so we're at the mercy of whatever the other companies want to charge us. :rolleyes:

I wonder if there's a way to really put pressure on a manufacturer to drop it's MSRP though?

* Wal-mart does periodically have the scenera for $80 - still way more, but if you need one then that's the way to go. Their regular price right now is $90 and they also have had the daisy one in stock. Although our store only has 1 left at the moment.

[tawnylee]

I love the daisy one... It was sold out at my walmart the day after it went out...That tells you about the need for inexpensive seats in canada. Even though our "cheap seat" is more than alot of boosters in the US!!

[babychild taxi]

I just bought a Daisy Scenera at Wal Mart for $90. Although the price is higher than the US, the seat is really cute and a great/affordable alternative to the Princess Radian for younger children. I also think the cover fabric is nicer than the regular Scenera.

Can anyone tell me when most kids outgrow the Scenera by height and weight? My baby friend, about 18 mos, is already just over 30lbs and appears to be just above the 3rd harness slot (so using the 4th slot).

Thanks,

K.

[snowbird25ca]

I just bought a Daisy Scenera at Wal Mart for $90. Although the price is higher than the US, the seat is really cute and a great/affordable alternative to the Princess Radian for younger children. I also think the cover fabric is nicer than the regular Scenera.

Can anyone tell me when most kids outgrow the Scenera by height and weight? My baby friend, about 18 mos, is already just over 30lbs and appears to be just above the 3rd harness slot (so using the 4th slot).

Thanks,

K.

Well, both height and weight should be slowing down by now, but it sounds like her little one may outgrow the seat by weight before height if he keeps gaining weight quickly since his torso isn't likely to grow very quickly anymore... 1" torso growth is about 2 to 3" height overall, so she could kind of use that to predict how long he'll fit the seat height wise.

The Scenera is probably usually outgrown around 2.5 or 3yrs old I think, but it just depends on the kid. In this kids case, I'd ask her if he's still gaining weight quickly. She should be looking at a high weight harness seat with him being 30lbs at 18mos old and will probably want to start saving money for that right away.

[tawnylee]

Ok, I finally got a reply from Dorel:

Thank you for contacting Dorel Juvenile Group Consumer Relations. We apologize for any delay in answering your email. As the manufacturer we sell the product to the retail stores but we donot set the price the retailer will charge. We realize that prices arehigher in Canada, unfortunately we have no control on price differencesin Canada. Transport Canada has guidlelines and policies we must adhereto.

[Mommy2Princesses]

Kind of a dodgy answer if you ask me. It could be taken that the retailers are setting the price or that Transport Canada is setting the prices. :twocents:

[tawnylee]

Exactly. Now where do we go from here? Do we contact the retailer or TC? I will contact both if I have to! THere NEEDS to be a seat that anybody with a baby is able to purchase and keep their kids safe. Even if it was, say, $60! I know alot of low income moms that would definetly benefit from it!

[tawnylee]

Ok, I just emailed them back, asking who it is (TC ow WM) that's jacking the prices up. Hopefully I get a reply sooner than last time!

[Misty-Bug]

I am deleting this. Didn't like responses. Sorry for talking about medical rather then the carseat.

[QuassEE]

Having lived in both countries, and having had two of my four kids in hospitals--one in each country...the US hospital was like a 5-star hotel versus Canada. I loved going to the doctor and him having an ultrasound machine RIGHT THERE--no two month wait and then an ultrasound with an absolute stranger... When I went to the clinic with my son, they were able to take x-rays right there. My doctors all had basic medications on hand versus getting a prescription, making another appointment, and coming back for administration (shots, etc)--what a waste of taxpayer money the healthcare system is here in BC. People DIE waiting for treatment. I pay under $200/m for my healthcare, and I get what I pay for--absolute crap. I don't know how this healthcare system even functions!

Canadians are under the impression that "poor" people in the United States cannot get healthcare. That's so backwards--the poor people DO get basic healthcare, slightly better than our socialized medicine here in Canada (they're covered for more, plus there's WIC and other programs to support health) and available to lower-income people. The people we hear the stories about are average middle-class people who're making more than the maximum to get State coverage, but too little to be able to or to choose to allocate funds to a plan. eg: making $5000/m and not wanting to or not being able to spend $1200/m on a family plan.. Those are the people who call through the cracks in the US, and it's unfortunate...

Don't try comparing our crappy State-level care here in Canada to some of the care available in the US. It just doesn't compare. One day I'm going to die on a waiting list.

BTW--I hope you spent that 5 hours IN the ER, and not 1/2 of it in the waiting room and the other half waiting around for diagnostics. I never waited longer than 5 minutes to get into the ER the whole time I was in the US...probably six or seven trips in total (asthmatic child, gallstones, stitches, misc.)

-N.

[tawnylee]

SOrry if I'm offending anybody, but can we use this thread for car seat related stuff? It really has nothing to do with healthcare.

[snowbird25ca]

Exactly. Now where do we go from here? Do we contact the retailer or TC? I will contact both if I have to! THere NEEDS to be a seat that anybody with a baby is able to purchase and keep their kids safe. Even if it was, say, $60! I know alot of low income moms that would definetly benefit from it!

Hmph, what a non-answer. :rolleyes: It's 100% the retailer prices - Transport Canada has ZERO authority to regulate prices for car seats. They make the regulations, car seat manufacturers have to adhere to them. Supply and demand laws are same in Canada as in the US, so either Dorel is charging CDN suppliers way more than US suppliers, or CDN suppliers are marking the seat up further because other manufacturer seats sell for more money so they think they can get away with it.

What a cop-out for a reply. :rolleyes: I hope you get a better & quicker response - and kudos for contacting the company. Maybe more of us should do it - or better yet, anyone have ties with a CDN retail company and able to see what cost is on the seat. :whistle:

[Mommy2Princesses]

What a cop-out for a reply. :rolleyes: I hope you get a better & quicker response - and kudos for contacting the company. Maybe more of us should do it - or better yet, anyone have ties with a CDN retail company and able to see what cost is on the seat. :whistle:

It would be really interesting to see what the "at cost" price Doral/Cosco is charging retailers per seat in both the US and Canada. Would really get to the root of the issue right there.

[Mommy090804]

It would be really interesting to see what the "at cost" price Doral/Cosco is charging retailers per seat in both the US and Canada. Would really get to the root of the issue right there.


Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking! What is the Scenera wholesale cost to retailers in Canada vs US?

I will bet my Marathon that Canadian retailers are being charged much more than US retailers for the Scenera!


On the other hand, I noticed that the AO has really come down in price. Last time I was at WalMart, it was $137ish. $137 for the AO and $90 for the Scenera. No wonder so many people pick the AO. Afterall, it's the only seat you'll ever have to buy!

[snowbird25ca]

On the other hand, I noticed that the AO has really come down in price. Last time I was at WalMart, it was $137ish. $137 for the AO and $90 for the Scenera. No wonder so many people pick the AO. Afterall, it's the only seat you'll ever have to buy!

Yeah, although I don't expect the $135 price to be a permanent thing - I think the other retailers followed wal-mart's lead - which was based on an anniversary celebration. I noticed that TRU flyer after that had the lower price, and I've heard Zeller's has it now too.

And "the only seat you'll ever have to buy" is also the seat that "will make you use more swear words on one occasion than you've used since you first learned to swear." :o Starting right from the time you open the manual. :rolleyes:

I still hate that darn manual, but before I was a tech I bought the AO for dd, and was so stinking mad at how unclear the instructions were in places before I even tried to install it that I was ready to return the darn thing and get the MA that I'd really wanted in the first place. There were lots of choice words used on that particular occasion, and then again when I put it in the first time. And the MA is what I ended up with in the end anyways after using the AO for 9 months and buying a MA for ds when I was pregnant, I sold the AO for half of what I paid so I could get a 2nd better seat when ds outgrew his carrier. :rolleyes:

[BudgieStew]

Maybe things are happening.:thumbsup:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/071019/canada/canada_retail_canada_col

[snowbird25ca]

Maybe things are happening.:thumbsup:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/071019/canada/canada_retail_canada_col

Oooh, that would be so good to see.

Many companies pay for things in USD, so the difference has been reflected more and more in their profit margins in those cases. I'm glad to see that there's getting pressure to the point politicians are stepping in and stores are realizing they're going to lose business to US retailers. If I lived near the border, I'd be doing a lot of shopping across the border...

[BudgieStew]

Since our dollar has been at par I have been going nuts on e-bay and the like shopping from the U.S. No Canadian shopping here.
Of course PP has a nasty habit of being not being on the mark with the exchange rate and I still end up paying a tiny bit more.

[tawnylee]

Ok, I finally got the second reply about the car seat price issue.
All they said was that the retailer sets the price.
So I guess the next step is to find out if the cost is higher here than in the US

[snowbird25ca]

Ok, I finally got the second reply about the car seat price issue.
All they said was that the retailer sets the price.
So I guess the next step is to find out if the cost is higher here than in the US

You have a retail contact to find out what the cost is? :whistle:

[tawnylee]

I wonder if I could find one. Not from walmart (which is where I want to find out) but I do have one at the Bay....

[snowbird25ca]

I wonder if I could find one. Not from walmart (which is where I want to find out) but I do have one at the Bay....

The Bay is an HBC company, so they're likely getting the same cost as zeller's which is likely inline with wal-mart. They've definitely got the buying power because of the parent company, so they could have a price pretty much the same as wal-mart. For things like car seats anyways, I'm not sure that cost would vary much between retailers anyways.

Although now that I'm thinking here, I'm not sure if the Bay carries the scenera? :confused:

[tawnylee]

I've seen the scenera at the bay, but not at zellers....maybe just here? Where abouts are you?

[snowbird25ca]

I've seen the scenera at the bay, but not at zellers....maybe just here? Where abouts are you?

Edmonton. ;)

I know our Zellers has it, I'm just not positive about the Bay. I don't go in very often because they're so overpriced for anything I'm looking to buy and our store doesn't have a lot of selection for car seats unless you're looking for a combo seat or a 3in1. :rolleyes:

[NZ Child Restraints]

BudgieStew - isnt the chest clip in your image too high?

The same seat here in NZ costs us $199.99 and $169.99 on special.
$1 NZ buys $0.75 US cents.

NZ loves to add in a standard, so that bumps the price up, although, per seat would not increase it from $38 to $199. Or cheap seats here are just that, cheap and nasty. The top seat here in NZ cost $449 + and only lasts to 40lb.
You can buy recaros, but they harness only to 40lb, and belt higher

[BudgieStew]

BudgieStew - isnt the chest clip in your image too high?


Its been discussed already.;) Don't worry it was just a throw baby in and take picture.DD was not really in the mood for pictures. We were not going anywhere. I will make sure the one I take today after I switch her cover is perfect.