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Author Topic: Blaming the government for costs of doing business
angrymonkey
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posted 30 November 2004 02:58 PM      Profile for angrymonkey     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I recently ordered a book through ABE books. I was puzzled why the store I was ordering from charged 7.50us. When I inquired about this seemingly high flat fee(non related to weight) I recieved a mini rant blaming Paul Martin about high postal costs. Ok- but then why was everyone else based in Canada asking for around 4.50 us?
He says that a book costs 6.00(doesn't mention which currency) to send(within canada). That seems to be a fair canadian average. So why is he charging 8.90 canadian and lustily blaming paul martin?
Then he states that sending a small paperback within canada costs people 9.50 canadian(which makes him look like he's losing money-what a great guy. And what happened to the 6.00 he previously mentioned).
Well, I have books that two other can. dealers sent me -a small hardcover that cost 5.30can and a big hardcover that cost 7.25 can. (One guy even threw in some bookmarks).The book I was now considering feels inbetween the two in weight.
He also states handling fees of 4.00 hour. Throwing a book in a bubblepack and labelling shouldn't take too much time.(There is the envelope cost though)
Now, I don't want this to sound like a consumer report - I picked it up from the dealer locally and did not pay his fee. I am not complaining about his pricing as much as the fact that he seems to be making personal decisions about his costs - and then blaming the liberals. Inferring that if it wasn't for them, I'd be getting a better deal.
Makes me wonder about other businesses.

And off topic- you wouldn't believe all the right wingish ideas he espoused in my conversation.


From: the cold | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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Babbler # 1448

posted 30 November 2004 08:02 PM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I mail vhs tapes on occasion. It usually costs (depending on distance and type of case) between $5.40 and $7.00. Canadian dollars, of course. I don't generally charge for the packaging. I don't think most businesses do.
From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
Klingon
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posted 30 November 2004 11:33 PM      Profile for Klingon        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
P'Tachk! Greed and elite dictatorship never go well with honesty and sincerity.

I agree there are many federal, as well as provincial government rules that negatively impact on small business: namely the GST and rules that are designed to enrich the banks.

The Conference Board of Canada two years ago released a report that confirmed what Statistics Canada and other economic organizations were claiming: that the biggest cost to small business was not wages or taxes, but bank interest.

In larger businesses, the biggest costs are clearly the cost of capital (as in high rates of return on investment) and management/bureaucracy (as in the bloated remuneration for CEOs and other high-level hacks).

The economic idiocy think tank the Fraser Institute whines constantly about the "high cost of employment," and blame everything and everyone for this except what t=is the main source of the problem: the employer itself. High capital costs, high corporate bureaucracy costs and high bank interest costs are what stifles every economy more than anything else--especially since these are largely unproductive costs that add nothing (and in fact take away from) economic power.

Ain't it interesting how most of these corporate business whiners never talk about these key factors that have such a huge negative impact on our businesses and economy.


From: Kronos, but in BC Observing Political Tretchery | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 01 December 2004 12:00 AM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't find GST to be a big problem -- inconvenient, yes, but not stifling. Bank interest, though, yup, and it's hard to manage cash flow without some sort of line of credit.
From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
Anchoress
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posted 01 December 2004 01:24 AM      Profile for Anchoress     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
IMO the problem is with the huge numbers of people who go into business without having any idea of their true costs, and who operate for months and months before they realise they aren't making any money.
From: Vancouver babblers' meetup July 9 @ Cafe Deux Soleil! | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
verbatim
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posted 01 December 2004 05:57 AM      Profile for verbatim   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Angrymonkey, keep in mind that a large number of booksellers on ABE are nothing more than people operating from their homes. As Anchoress wrote -- many of them have never even considered the real costs involved.

I am, at the moment, responsible for the ABE side of things at my mother's used bookstore here in Victoria, so I am quite familiar with the parameters in which this fellow actually operates. The ABE shipping matrix is set in USD, and based on a book weighing 1 kg or less, which is a pain in the ass to convert backwards and forwards according to the prevailing exchange rate, and so many vendors just go with ABE's suggested values. ABE, even though it is a Canadian company, concerns itself mainly with American booksellers because, as in everything else it seems, they dominate the marketplace and so must be catered to first. In any event, many booksellers who can't be bothered to research and set their matrix according to their actual costs will just play fast and loose with you.

The bookseller you dealt with seems like a real amateur if he's indulging in political commentary while completing a transaction. "Handling fees" are simply a cash grab, and I frankly wouldn't deal with a seller who tried that crap. Any business worth its salt builds those costs into the book prices. Of course, you may be dealing with one of the volume sales businesses who list all their books at $3.99, regardless of worth, and then try to make up for it elsewhere.


From: The People's Republic of Cook Street | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
BleedingHeart
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posted 01 December 2004 10:59 AM      Profile for BleedingHeart   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Zoot:
I don't find GST to be a big problem -- inconvenient.
Plus as I've found out you can get most of it back with very little paperwork. What a great country, you can tack 7% onto your prices commisserate with your customers about the evil government and then get a nice cheque back from the same government reimbursing you for most of the GST you charged. No wonder business doesn't complain about the GST anymore.

From: Kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 01 December 2004 12:58 PM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well, that depends on how much GST you take in. I've had to pay in the last year, and more than I've gotten back in previous years. But then, I can't complain -- I wouldn't have taken in more GST than I spent if things weren't going well.

What GST really amounts to is money passing through your hands for the gov't -- I charge GST, and hand it over, as do the vendors I deal with, etc. It's really just a balancing of in and out in the books.

BTW, I regard ANY extra paperwork as an inconvenience...


From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
angrymonkey
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posted 01 December 2004 01:11 PM      Profile for angrymonkey     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Klingon's post reminds me of how I want to find a good beginner level book on economics. I borrowed some university texts once but returned them before I got too far- missed opportunity.
I had a girlfriend who started up a small small business for a time and got to that point where you need help but don't want to part with any money. Tests your scruples, I guess but it should be factored into your business costs from the beginning.
I did speak to the guy later at his house/business and boy, would he keep babble humming with indignation. He verbally crapped on canadian writers, the liberal cbc and media, the liberals, immigrants, how great it was that fox network was coming (and maybe now some people would be careful about what they said!), etc. It started out as a pleasant discussion about books and bookstores and ended with me fleeing from his worldview.

From: the cold | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged

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