Complaints about Panasonic's pricing in Canada

This is more to a comment I read in the enormous hand-wringing post regarding Panasonic's announcement of a re-org... but I've heard others express concern that somehow Canadians are getting a raw deal when it comes to pricing camera gear.

The GH5 was referenced and it's what I've seen complained about the most, so:

USD: $1999 (give or take a few dollars)

CDN: $2699

XE's conversion rate: $2000 USD = $2675.10 CDN

I'm not sure I'm seeing where the complaints are coming from, especially when you consider that in Canada, we can get the GH5 with the PL12-60mm as a kit for $3499 CDN ($2579 USD, so... the normally ~$1000USD lens for below 2/3rds the list price).

Rejoice, Canadians.

I guess their pricing is not consistent because in looking at the GX85, I saw that all major Canadian retailers are selling the body for $950 CAD.

Down in the States, it seems B&H Photo and Adorama have it for $600 USD.. taking today's exchange rate, that's roughly $800 CAD. So a $150 CAD difference and whats more a couple weeks ago B&H Photo was even bundling a second battery + charger with it at no additional cost.

Even paying tax and shipping, it's still cheaper to buy from the US in that case!

Hi GCharma

You are probably referring to some of the comments I have made regarding the Cdn prices for Panasonic cameras. One of the ideas I have pointed out is Panasonic's marketing historically in Canada has not created any incentive for me as a buyer to say 'hey that is a better deal' I am buying the Panasonic. The example you put up there with the conversion of our current dollar is a good example but you left out the Olympus aspect. From your conversion of the GH5, Panasonic is being pretty fair with the Cdn price and they have been very fair with the recent G85 pricing. But the base value we usually compare to is the US dollar. In the US the EM1ii is $1999. The GH5 is $1997. The Cdn $ values are $2499 for the EM1ii and $2699 for the GH5. Who is giving the incentive to buy?

The Cdn dollar plunge has created a interesting situation for sellers. As Ashyu pointed out most Canadians are pretty fast at converting what the equivalent dollar amount should be and how deals work. Consider the G7 currently selling for $599 US. In Canada the best price is $899. Using your conversion rate it should be $803 Cdn. Where I noticed the biggest discrepancy was with the Gx8 which only recently has dropped from the reduced price of $1599. At one point in time when I was hoping to buy one the currency conversion was 1.48 with Panasonic pricing. It is only recently in it's third year that the price has been reduced.

I have not seen any Canadian offers or incentives on Panasonic cameras. Possibly you have? The UK has had free battery grip (G80) and cashback offers. If you look at the cross border camera pricing comparison you can see the number of times Panasonic USA had offers on while in Canada there were none. Maybe they sold really well here and this is a great market country for them and they need no incentives to get customers. For me that didn't work. I really like their cameras and some of their ideas but not enough to pay more than anyone else.

Silver

Hi Silver,

Yup, it was your comment that got me thinking. I guess I'm looking more at this from the perspective of this being a brand new camera, and not really expecting a manufacturer to incentivise sales on launch. I don't get Panasonic UK's approach, to be honest - you're going to undercut your MSRP on day 1? I get that Olympus has a sort-of-kind-of comparable camera in the E-M1 MII, but... only if you've done a pretty poor job differentiating your offerings from the competition would a consumer mistake them for the same thing (and thus feel that a day one price break will sway them one way or another).

While they offend me with their pricing, Leica may have the future of camera pricing right (at least from a sustainability perspective) - make a premium product (or don't... *cough*) and charge a premium dollar for it. Don't race to the bottom. Develop relationships with your user base. Love them and the way they love your product. Panasonic hasn't shown me that they can do any of this other than the making of a premium product (which I wholly feel the GH5 has the makings of becoming).

I guess in the end, I don't feel like we get a raw deal too much - though Panasonic can definitely do a better job of getting the word out about their good products and avoid this entire issue altogether.

Hi GCharma

The major point though that I am trying to make is we almost always still pay more for the same Panasonic product than others do. Consider we both walk into a store to buy the G7. I have US dollars and you have Cdn, I pay the US dollar price and you provide the Cdn dollar equivalent. The sales clerk says that is the current equal amount in Cdn to US but you owe $100 more because you are Canadian. That is what has been occurring. It is interesting that you mentioned Leica because it almost feels like the Leica type branding 'that is the price' take it or leave it. This is the point I was making regarding the EM1ii and the GH5. They both represent flagship models and I am aware they are different cameras for different users but...why are they the same price in the US and not Canada?

Incentives are about perception in the customer base. Car manufacturers use them all the time. Appliance companies do as well which is interesting because Panasonic fits into this group. If you want to establish a new user base it can often be a good way to get the word out among buyers or it can bring current owners back since they are more likely to follow a company's production if they re happy with the manufacture's product.

Silver

Wouldn't part of the reason for any differences in prices have to do with the different currencies' (US and Canadian) relationships with the Yen, and perhaps how taxes are handled? Some people in the US avoid taxes and some pay; I have no idea how it works in Canada.

I'm going to Paris next month and know that anything there is going to be cost-prohibitive for me, whereas I'll be in New York later and will visit B&H and Adorama (already making my wish lists) but will have any purchases shipped to my home to avoid the NY sales tax.

I'm no expert on this, just wondering.

Silverback46 said:

The major point though that I am trying to make is we almost always still pay more for the same products than others do.

Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind a little post processing.

Seems to hold true for most things. I don't get it, either.

Here are 2 tips for M43 (or other camera) gear shoppers in Canada (in Toronto at least):

1) Shop at Aden Camera. If you walk into one of their stores, they will generally offer 10-20% lower prices on Oly and PL lenses than MSRP or even their own advertised sale prices. They can't do that with Sony gear any more because prices are dictated by Sony.

2) If you travel to US, order from Amazon.com (US) and have it delivered to an Amazon locker at your destination. In addition to getting the benefit of US pricing, you usually forgo US taxes (depending on the state), and if it's $800 or less and you are away for 48 hours or longer, you are exempt from Canadian & provincial sales taxes and duties also.

Did Panasonic have the promotion for 3 years on the warranty offered in Canada?

453C said:

Silverback46 said:

The major point though that I am trying to make is we almost always still pay more for the same products than others do.

Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind a little post processing.

Seems to hold true for most things. I don't get it, either.

Click to expand...

Oh so true 453C!

Silver

RSSrsvp said:

Did Panasonic have the promotion for 3 years on the warranty offered in Canada?

Click to expand...

I believe so RSSrsvp though I do not seem to have it on my G7 which I purchased from Henrys. I see GX8s for sale in Canada still indicating the warranty is good till this year. Since it came out in 2015 that makes sense. Interestingly the warranty card for the G7 goes to Panasonic North America in Colorado. I believe that incentive started around Aug 2015 in the US at least?

Silver