Bad news is coming, I’m afraid…
I know price increases are not popular, but unfortunately, the Canadian dollar continues to plummet. It is currently at 1.32 USD to CAD, and when we purchase from the US, we are really getting hit hard.
Most of our TWSBI products are being increased by a few dollars, but here are the important ones:
TWSBI 580 from $60 CAD to $65
TWSBI 580-AL from $72 CAD to $78
TWSBI Vac700 from $78 CAD to $85
We haven’t raised prices on Sailor so far, but the time has come.
Sailor Reglus – from $133 CAD to $145
Sailor Professional Gear Slim – from $185 CAD to $205
Sailor Professional Gear/1911L – from $295 CAD to $325
Sailor Jentle Inks – from $15.50 CAD to $16.50
Sailor Four Seasons Inks – from $22 CAD to $24
Sailor Kiwa-Guro/Sei-Boku – from $25.50 CAD to $30
I’m really sorry to have to keep announcing these price increases – I know every time I blog about this I talk about the exchange rates, but these are literally the same prices as US retailers except in Canadian dollars. We are continuing to absorb the cost of increased international shipping, duties & custom taxes.
We have had a few folks from the US comment that our prices end up being really terrific for them because their dollar buys more here than if they would be buying from US stores. While we love our American visitors, our current Canadian pricing is a disadvantage for both our US retailer friends but also for us to continue to stay in business. We had hoped our Canadian dollar would strengthen and perk up a bit, but with fluctuations mostly downward, this is unfortunately out of our control.
Thanks so much for your understanding and support. We really, really appreciate it when folks in store comment about the exchange rate, knowing that our already slim margins in importing goods because even slimmer. It can sometimes seem like our prices are “higher” than getting it from other independent retailers, but in reality, with the exchange rate, we are still committed to as fair and as competitive prices as we can afford to offer you.
These new prices will take effect Monday, August 17th. If you have any questions, please let me know. Unfortunately, we cannot hold old prices for products that are out of stock up to and as of August 17th, although we are going to be trying our best to get TWSBI and Sailor in over the next two weeks.