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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arnwyn" data-source="post: 3057505" data-attributes="member: 7701">A professional accountant here. This needs to be re-quoted.As noted, the (unreasonably) high MSRP is due mainly to exchange rate speculation (with only a little for shipping) at the time just before the book is printed. It does not come down quickly, as it is in the publisher's best interest to keep this higher for longer, as they get any excess profit from the (lower) exchange rate. As noted in the article, it is the publisher's decision, and any selling they do (to a distributor or otherwise) will have this additional mark-up reflected somehow. [13garth13 also notes this in his post. His paraphrase of the interview is essentially correct.]The bonus is that in some cases, the mark-up isn't so high that the bookseller has no leeway - depending on the book format. Hardcovers and certain other books have greater pricing flexibility than paperbacks. Thankfully, this is reflected in many places in Canada in which certain WotC books can be sold for closer to the US price (in $Cdn).Aside: In most provinces (if not all), PST is not charged on books. GST is always charged, but not included in the book's printed MSRP.Incorrect (unless WotC isn't the "publisher"). The publishers (is WotC the publisher?) do indeed make the extra money from using an inappropriate exchange rate.Actually, Canada Post is known for its efficiency. In many cases, due to the geography and infrastructure involved, it really is sometimes cheaper to mail to the US from Canada. (Unlike how the USPS does things...)Absolutely not. As noted above, the USPS has some questionable pricing when mailing to Canada - and combine that with duties (yes, ordinary citizens still pay duties, NAFTA or otherwise) and sometimes a questionable conversion rate (credit card companies are hit and miss with their daily exchange rate, and also charge a "conversion fee"), and it becomes ridiculously expensive to order from the US and ship to Canada. (And this doesn't take into account the 'virtual exchange rate' when the Cdn$ was a bit lower - this allowed for slightly cheaper pricing in Canada than what a straight US + exchange conversion would result in; it accounted for the fact that the Canadian dollar was undervalued in the markets at the time. The 'virtual exchange rate' slowly diminishes as the Cdn$ approaches par with the US$.)Aside: Actually, Sony is pricing the PS3 appropriately for Canada - we're getting it at US + exchange. Period. (It's MS who is ripping off Canadians with the 360.)Whew! All done with my blathering.</blockquote>

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