Some interesting news from DC for our friends up north in Canada, we received this update from DC Comics recently:
UPDATE ON CANADIAN PRICES
Please note that beginning with items arriving in Direct Market stores on March 19, DC Comics periodicals will feature a single price for both U.S. and Canada.
As an example, the price on the cover of ACTION COMICS #863, scheduled to arrive in stores on March 26, reads “$2.99 US/Can.
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I think the Marvel books has been costing only a few cents more for the past few months. A $2.99 book would cost $3.05. But even before I hasn’t been too big a promblem for me. Not sure if this has been going on in other places but most of the places in downtown Toronto has been selling new comics for US cover price for a few years now. Anything more than 3-4 weeks old, you pay Canadian. So I’m usually fine unless I’m trying to catch up with a series. Then It might have to reconsider buying them or get them at a con.
I have been fortunate. I have been getting par minus 20% for the past 5 months anyways (on EVERY title regardless of publisher). It helps that my best bud owns the shop. 😀
It took DC long enough. But good for them anyways! I knew they’d would consider beating the Marvel 3.05. You can’t do much else but declare par then. Does Marvel do it now? No way. 6 cents is not going to be worth the cost to change.
So, this won’t change my buying habits specifically, but I know a ton of locals that’ll make a point to add one more comic.
This doesn’t affect me at all. Like Ghazzi said, stores in Toronto have been charging the US cover price for a long time now.
One store in my city has been giving the US price for a while, but this will now give me more choice as to where to go(at least for my DC books it will)
Well, the Canadian unit of currency is worth more than the US dollar, so that probably has something to do with the change
Toronto has been at par for quite some time, and some of the larger stores extend the privlage to all customers, regardless of pull list(Mad props to The Silver Snail). Still, I remember what it was like getting raked over the coals at a small town LCS, so this is good news.
my sells stuff at US prices but it sure sucked before they did. Marvel is the worst with their TPB, it will be $15 us and $25 cnd even though the cnd dollar is worth more. It drives me crazy.
i’ve been buying my stuff at canadian cover minus 20% if i order on time, so this is good news. marvel is especially bad at adjusting their prices. on the issues it’s okay, but on hardcovers and trades it’s brutal. a forty dollar trade is 65$ CDN! DC prices on the other hand have been more fair since our dollar’s been on the rise.
anyway, good news all around. hope everyone else follows suit.
It’s not that they effect my purchases, but it’s definitely something you notice.
U.S. pricing out on Vancouver Island for some time now. Nice to see dc step up to recognize the change in the dollar and the fans up north. Drink beer,play punk rock and read comics my fellow canucks.
My local store has been charging US prices on issues and trades for quite some time now. I just would not go to any store that didn’t.
Still, it’s nice that even the stores that were gouging (my opinion) will now have one price.
Does this effect TPBs too? If so, wooohooo….hopefully Marvel follows suit. I haven’t found much difference lately since most stores sell at the exchange rate the day the books come out. Or US prices. But a few years ago some books ( mostly Top Cow/Image I found ) had a big US/Canadian difference.
My shop has always charged the difference between the CAN and US dollar. When the prices were 4.25$ he was charging 3.55$ about two years ago. If the dollar gets strong he say he’d try to make the price lower for us.
About time, it burns a little more considering most comics are printed here and then taken to the states and reimported (is that a word???) to us. Now we just have to get Marvel to put down the crack pipe on the trades.
I’d be happy with Canadian prices. Here in Australia we are paying something like $4.50 an issue. I know that we have to factor in shipping but this is ridiculous! 1 Aussie dollar=93 US cents! Add into that the fact that my comic store doesn’t get the comics until Friday (If that) and you have a very unhappy G’nort.
Interesting news!
I think this is more about the American dollar’s value going down than the Canadian dollar. Because of the weak US$, it seems less and less justifiable to keep the prices as they were. But what happens when the US$ goes back up (hopefully)? Do they raise the price in Canada causing mass fanboy revolt (eh)?
G.nort – you only have to pay 4.50$ – most shops ive been to charge ~6$! if you think that with the direct conversion we’re looking at around 3.22$ a comic so what the hell is with the rest. I mean i co-ran a store for a while – i know shippings pricey but c’mon.
Anyway – happy for the Canadians!
Being able to pay only $3 an issue is definitly a relief, means i can get a book or two more a week
Another Silver Snail regular here. I’ve also noticed that Amazon.ca’s discounts on trades and hardcovers lately have been based on the US price, so it’s usually cheaper than brick and mortar. Luckily Silver Snail had 40% off books yesterday for their March Break sale, so I paid less for JLI volume 1 than I was planning on on Amazon.
This is actually huge. If I were to buy, say, 10 comics this would give me the money to buy an extra two or three.
Like a lot of people here have mentioned, though, a lot of stores have started to charge American prices just to keep people coming. This is probably going to be a bigger relief to all of the CBGs out there than it is to the customers. Could bring in new readers, and won’t lose them the money that not charging cover probably was.
Question. Do you guys know if this extends to Vertigo and Wildstorm? And what about trades?
I have no local comic shop, but as I live right on the Canada/U.S. border, I use a mail-order service and have my books delivered to a P.O. box just across the line. Never have a problem bringing them back and I have never had to pay any duty. I wish I had a local store, but this system works pretty well.