Does anyone else see a problem with this picture? Yes, it's been photoshopped, but take a look at the price of the ipod Nano from the Northern, and then compare it the price from the Apple online store. But wait! It's on sale! I'm gonna run down there and buy me one of those fancy MP3 players right now... What a freaking rip-off! I don't really understand how they get away with this. The fact that they would prey upon uneducated, underprivileged people by marking up a product over twice what any other person would pay for it just boggles my mind. How can the managers of the Northern sleep at night knowing that they are ripping off the people of Nunavut like this?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Rip-off Artists
Does anyone else see a problem with this picture? Yes, it's been photoshopped, but take a look at the price of the ipod Nano from the Northern, and then compare it the price from the Apple online store. But wait! It's on sale! I'm gonna run down there and buy me one of those fancy MP3 players right now... What a freaking rip-off! I don't really understand how they get away with this. The fact that they would prey upon uneducated, underprivileged people by marking up a product over twice what any other person would pay for it just boggles my mind. How can the managers of the Northern sleep at night knowing that they are ripping off the people of Nunavut like this?
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12 comments:
I agree it’s a rip-off, but …Caveat emptor.
If the subject were a litre of milk, I could well understand a person getting a little peeved, but an Ipod? Not exactly a basic necessity!
It’s up to the consumer to educate him/herself, as our poster has done. This can be difficult for an Inuit person, perhaps lacking access to the internet, or maybe even the ability to read. Not impossible, though. It just takes more effort on their part.
I think the Northern has been in the business long enough to know that many people are impulse-buyers, and that is probably more true in the north than elsewhere in Canada. Pay double the price now, or wait three weeks for a mail-ordered item? Oh yeah, no credit card. I guess mail order is out. Could give the money to a friend going to Yellowknife – and hope he doesn’t buy weed or booze with your money instead! Limited options.
Stay in school, kids!
L
I agree with L. It ceases to be a rip-off the moment you slap your $319 on the counter. If you don't think it's worth $319, why would you buy it?
Is it a rip-off at $159. No? What if you found out that it costs Apple about $18 to produce that item. Is it a rip-off now?
Price doesn't determine whether an item is a rip-off or not. Value does. If you're willing to pay $319, but no sound comes out, then you got ripped-off. Otherwise, as L says, Let the Buyer Beware!
Fact's of life - high prices in the Arctic. So are your incomes, which are higher than the average Canadian.
I should like highlight your over generalizations about your host people.
I hope that 'they' can be patient with people who masquerade as intelligent when opinions voiced sound like the same kind Adolf held.
It is both pitiful and scarey. I wouldn't want to be the kind of Inuk they talk about.
-Uqituq.
An interesting post but really, when it comes to non-necessary items like Ipods, its really up to the buyer to make an informed decision. Last year I really wanted to get an Ipod. I could have ordered one and waited or I could have held off a few more months and saved money buying one on my way through Ottawa. I chose instead to buy here in town. The price tag was over $400 for a 60Gb Ipod. Sure it was a bit pricey. I really had no idea at the time how much more pricey but it was my choice so I know I have no right to complain. I'm sure I ended up paying double what I would have paid in Ottawa but I can tell you that Ipod is very well cared for and looked after.
I think the managers sleep just fine, they do not set or control any pricing. Most communities wouldn't exist without the Bay or Northern. The real crime is the co-op's who claim to be local with their head office also in Winnipeg, they receive priority bidding with there "northern status" yet their prices are usually higher than Northerns. Take a picture of a first air ticket and compare it to any other ticket from Canada to another country if you want to see a real rip off. With Northern or the Co-op you have the choice to buy or not, with first air we don't..
FAR NORTH
What about repairs, refunds? A lot of the times, Northern will refund money and write- off products like IPODs because it's better than trying to get them fixed. Freight, lengthy repair times and customer satisfaction means they have to do this. As well, Big box stores will make mere dollars ($4 - $5) in profit off the IPODS, but then turn around and make 90% margins on Extended Warranties, and accessories. Overall customer service, convinience and profit models must be researched, not just a retail.
Uqituq,
"Fact's of life - high prices in the Arctic. So are your incomes, which are higher than the average Canadian"
Say what??? In my community, at least 60% are living below the poverty line. Those of us with "incomes higher than the average Canadian" are employed by the Government in one fashion or another. And even then, we are paying 1500$+ a month in rent.
Don't you dare say that it's a fact of life in the North and that we should accept it because some residents in the North have "higher than average salaries". You should be ashamed.
No matter what you say, the Co-op and the Northern Stores in the communities are ripping people off. A lot has to do with who is managing the stores as well. I have seen one Co-op try and sell Clamato Juice that was so far expired that the cans were rusting through. But the manager said it was a GREAT deal at 25 cents a can and these are large cans. (3 years after the expiration date)
I know of another Co-op who took all the expired meats off the shelves in the fridges and hid them away the same day the Health Inspector came to town. The next day when the inspector left, all that meat that disappeared suddenly returned to the store shelves.
In some communities they have even banned cameras from inside the store because someone might get a picture of the grossly raised prices on items.
I agree that the prices will be higher the further you go north but come on, most stores are outrageous. They know that most people do not have credit cards and cannot shop anywhere else. Myself I bought four ATV tires and had them shipped by regular mail from Ontario and it was still cheaper than getting the same tires from my local store which was brought by sealift.
When buying food weekly from Montréal is cheaper than buying anything locally, you know there is a problem.
I won't comment on bad/unhealthy business practices. That kind of thing shouldn't happen, but I also think it's quite rare.
Your ATV tires were cheaper because:
1) The store you bought them from does a higher volume of business, therefore margins are lower.
2) The store you bought them from didn't have to warehouse those tires for very long, and not in a cold, expensive climate.
3) The wages they pay to their southern employees are far lower than store wages in the north.
4) A store in the north is many times more expensive to operate than a similar store in the south.
You didn't get ripped off by your local store on the ATV tires, did you? You shopped around and got a better deal elsewhere. That's your right as a consumer, and everyone has that right, whether they choose to exercise it or not.
Do people who don't have credit cards or jobs, rely on social assistance or can't read really need Clamato juice, Ipods or ATV tires?
L
I think a lot of people on this post have made really good comments both for the reasons why the Northern/Co-op charge more and that some of their behavior is uncalled for.
The basic fact is:
Poor people pay more for things than rich people people do - because rich people have the ability (credit cards, computers) and the know-how (education) to pay less. The gap gets wider.
The Northern is the winner - the one who benefits from the spending habits of the poor.
The original questions was is the Northern a rip off artist? I think the answer is clearly yes. They are certainly taking advantage of the situation - but the fact of the matter is is that they are a for-profit company.
I agree with anonymous April 15, 9:51 am with his/her points - however the degree to which the northern charges over compensates for the additional costs of running a business in the north. I would like to see the Northern's financial statements. Is there an investigative journalist out there?
Someone in the northern is failing to calculate that they would sell more if they had more reasonable prices. I suspect that they haven't done any recent market research.
Don't you think that they would sell more IPODs, more ATV tires and more lettuce if they had more reasonable prices? The 'rich' would stop using food-mail and the web for purchases.
This is what I can come up with possible solutions:
1. People-in-the-know put signs up in the co-op offering free tutoring sessions on banking and credit
2. People-in-the-know put signs up in the co-op offering free tutoring sessions on the benefits/pitfalls of web-based purchasing
3. Write a grant for hamlet-based community computers (1 or 2) for people without computers to use for web purchasing. Train high school students to teach older residents to use these computers and help with purchases (this also encourages inter-generational communication)
Let's be honest. The Northern, Co-op, First Air, Canadian North, Calm Air, etc, they are all rip- offs.
Folks in the north get paid well, but they are also very isolated. Therefore these so called honest businesses stick it to them because they can. Plain and simple.
The local managers are not at fault we would lower prices if we could head office in winnipeg controls the pricing That stops us from offering a fair price
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