Amazon Canada Sometimes Charges 20% Less for Blu-Rays Than Amazon USA

Canadian dollars are currently worth about $0.71 US. That translates to serious discounts for Amazon shoppers.
Updated
Julie Ramhold
BY:
Senior Staff Writer/Consumer Analyst
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Amazon may be the biggest (and most popular) online retailer in North America, but its currently facing some pretty stiff competition — from Amazon Canada.

The Canadian loonie seems to be stuck in a downward spiral. And while that's concerning for Canadian residents, who are dealing with much higher grocery costs and lower returns on savings and investments, consumers from the United States can take advantage of the exchange rates to get lower cost goods.

Cheaper Blu-ray Box Sets

One area where we've been seeing noticeable savings is Blu-ray box sets. Movie and TV box sets here in the US are some of the most expensive gifts, with one season of a show sometimes running from $60 to $80, depending on the show and where you shop.

The difference in pricing on Amazon.com versus Amazon.ca is pretty significant in some cases. At times, the average savings between the two sites is about 20%, but in individual cases the pricing from Amazon's Canadian site can sometimes be closer to what we see here in the US around Black Friday. Many of the cheaper deals we found were still cheaper with shipping costs added.

Of note: Both the US and Canada are in the same DVD region, and many Blu-rays are region-free anyway, so any Blu-ray purchases should work on your player. Still, it never hurts to check compatibility when buying discs from an international seller.

Readers, will you be price-shopping on sites like Amazon Canada now? Or do you prefer to stick with Amazon US? Sound off below!

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Julie Ramhold
Senior Staff Writer/Consumer Analyst

Julie's work has been featured on CNBC, GoBankingRates, Kiplinger, Marketwatch, Money, The New York Times, Real Simple, US News, WaPo, WSJ, Yahoo!, and more. She's extolled the virtues of DealNews in interviews with Cheddar TV, GMA, various podcasts, and affiliates across the United States, plus one in Canada.
DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article. Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).

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8 comments
gloryroad
What about digital things that have no shipping, like apps or mp3's ? Can those be bought for less at Canada Amazon ? --Someone below commented that "digital copies only work in Canada" ?? Would an app, video or mp3 from Canada Amazon not work in the US -- that seems an extreme limitation?

Also Canada has a VAT tax of some sort, is that waived for US Amazon shoppers. . .the UK VAT apparently is.
January 31, 2016
Lindsay Sakraida (DealNews)
@Brodee That figure includes shipping costs. They are 20% less including the cost of shipping. If you only looked at the face value price, then it would be a 30% difference. But since we factored in the shipping costs -- because naturally you have to pay that to get the item -- it's about 20%.
January 28, 2016
snaimpally
Shipments from Canada do not incur importation tax. I have ordered DVDs from Amazon UK (I have a Universal DVD player) and even after paying shipping, they were cheaper than buying in the USA. If you have an existing Amazon account (in the USA) you can use that in Canada - you don't have to create a new account. Because of shipping charges etc., it only makes sense to buy from Canada if its a box set or if you are buying multiple discs.
January 28, 2016
gnext2
Also most digital copies will only work in Canada.
January 28, 2016
Brodee
It's true, the Canadian dollar is currently only worth about 75% of the US dollar. However, the problem with your theory is that Amazon.ca charges just over $7 to deliver a Blu-ray to America, even for Prime members, because they're shipping to a different country.

So even a 20% savings would be nullified when including the increased shipping price. This report was pointless.
January 28, 2016
HeyTiger
Do shipments from Canada incur an importation tax or any other such surcharges?
January 28, 2016
hamillewiston2
be aware of added fees by banks / credit cards for exchange rate
January 28, 2016
dealnewsgrub
i use which ever amazon. (x) gets me the best delivered price...
January 27, 2016