Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Sephora Gives Treatment to Australians We Canadians Would Kill For!

So if you are Canadian, you probably know this feeling all to well. You see a beauty set/product/kit advertised on a blog and talk yourself in to needing it.  It's more than you SHOULD spend, but you WANT it. You head to the Sephora site and realize that the product you just talked yourself in to, that was pricey to begin with is $5-$20 more for you simply because you are Canadian. Sound familiar?

Photo taken from Marie Claire article linked below
Well, as it turns out, we are not alone. Australians have that same frustration. Yes, things have a higher mark up in Australia than they do in Canada, but when you factor in that they have a minimum wage twice ours, similar expenses, etc. I think we can safely say we are two countries BOTH feeling ripped off. Well, apparently the beauty giant Sephora feels for our dilemma. Well, not OURS, but THEIRS. They recently announced that when they open their first store in Australia later this year, they will be matching the American prices.

While I question the koolaid that the author of the article was drinking when stating Sephora is known for its cheap cosmetics......... (I mean REALLY?! I have never once in my life heard the store described that way by anyone. Even those who love the store), the point of the story sent shockwaves through the Australian Beauty community. You can click here to read the article. Basically, they recognize the toll the mark ups can take on Australians and plan to eliminate it.

On facebook groups and forums I am on, this has outraged many Canadians. Why do we not get accorded the same privilege? And if the reason even in a small part lies in the lack of market share they may or may not hold in the Canadian market (I really have no clue what the market share is or if this is a factor) I think they would do well to realize just how many of us save our Sephora shopping for when we cross the border.

Now I have always been a strong believer in paying a dollar or two more to buy a product HERE rather than cross the border to save a few bucks. To start with, I love my sales associate at Holts and my sales associate at the Bay and would rather deal with the one associate I know. Also I am an instant gratification kind of girl, I want it and I want it now. I dont want to wait. That being said, I remember ordering an eyeshadow palette from Holt Renfrew that was $76US. I assumed I would have to pay about $85 for the product and I swallowed hard and went in to pick it up. $110 was the Canadian price. It was the first time I flat out refused to pay the difference. At this time it is helpful to note that our dollar was actually worth MORE than the American one and so the mark up was even more than $34.

So I understand why this announcement angers so many Canadians. But I wonder if they realize this: We are actually NOT charged the Canadian MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price). We are quite often charged MORE than that. A girl actually contacted Sephora on the facebook page and asked for details on our pricing. This is the answer she got:

Sephora: Hi Samantha, here at Sephora, duties have never been included in the Canadian price of an item. Each brand gives us a suggested Canadian retail price, and we determine the final pricing based on the market, competitive factors, and the fact that we ship our products from the US to Canada. We will also be sure to pass along your feedback to the appropriate contact within our company.
So they factor in the market, and other things in the price points. But see, the Canadian MSRP already takes in to account the duty and taxes and thus the cost of shipping from Canada to the USA. Three items I have recently purchased at Sephora have actually been MORE EXPENSIVE than our Canadian MSRP.

Now I would love to tell you that it took me hours to find products that were charging more at Sephora. About two seconds. Mainly because I have learned the hard way on these specific ones.

Butter London Matte Top Coat. Sephora - $22.50 The Bay - $21.00 Yes, its only $1.50. But thats more than 5%. And thats $1.50 more than you needed to spend.



Ciate Paint Pots are a whopping $17 at Sephora. But did you know that they are more than ten percent cheaper at The Bay ringing in at $2 less per polish?



This product I was going to buy at Sephora when a friend stopped me. $56.25 is a hell of a lot more than $45!!



So while I share the anger and frustration at Sephora doing this for Australia and not us, I am actually more outraged that they charge us MORE than MSRP on many items. We live in Canada, we know that. We know we are stuck paying more. We know there are many products that wont even ship to us. But to rip us off simply because they can get away with it? THAT'S where the bulk of my anger lie.

Do you have experiences with Canadian VS American pricing? Or specific Sephora pricing? Please leave a comment letting me know your take on this issue!

36 comments:

  1. Unnecessary Sephora mark ups are the reason I won't shop at the store. I see it as a sign of disrespect for Canadian customers. I couldn't believe how much they marked up the Naked 3 palette! Our dollars were so close and it was $10 more! If they lowered their prices to be more even and fair to Canadians I'd actually shop there, but for now, no way!

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    1. I understand to an EXTENT. Urban Decay has ridiculous MSRP for Canadians. But to take brands that overcharge us to begin with, and then raise them simply because they CAN? Its WRONG! And the more Shoppers that get Urban Decay and Smashbox and Stila etc. the more incentive it is for us to shop ELSEWHERE.

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    2. It's very frustrating as a Canadian to have to pay more for something just because we live in Canada specially when our dollar at times can be just as strong as the US dollar . They way sephora treats us it makes me no longer want to shop with them , I already try to go to the beauty boutique at shoppers or murale over sephora .

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  2. This turns me off of Sephora. Honestly, if they can do it in Australia why on earth wouldn't they do it in Canada?

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  3. Our Canadian dollar is at par with Australia! That is a whole hell of a lot farther for Sephora to ship product. This is another example of sticking it to Canadians. Well FUCK YOU Sephora. -Aleks

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  4. I agree with the blog post and I would like to add something. Why are we not able to pay using a gift card on their website??? This have been an issue since at least 2012 and we are still not able to pay with a freaking gift card! See here for more info about that: http://community.sephora.com/t5/Customer-Support/Can-canadians-use-gift-cards-online/qaq-p/284925 I commented on their Facebook page about this issue and they simply ignored me. I never got a answer!

    So add the gift card issue and the price issue, and you'll see how Sephora simply do not care about us canadians!! They don't care at all!

    I'd rather shop at Shoppers Drug Mart, they have an awesome customer service and sometimes, they have products on sale (sephora almost never have sales). They also have a really better reward card.

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    1. I dont disagree with anything you are saying, but there are big problems with shoppers also. They dont have an online store, Murale has a TERRIBLE website that only has a fraction of thier products, and I live in a city with NO murale and not a single shoppers in my PROVINCE sells Dior, Chanel, Urban Decay or other brands. So what do I do? If I want Urban Decay I either order from Sephora or I go without. There is NO other option where I live.

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    2. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba ;)

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  5. I stopped shopping at Sephora & will not shop there until this changes. I tell everyone I know about the unfair pricing we Canadians are experiencing at Sephora!!!

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  6. I like shopping at Sephora and I enjoy the experience there - but seriously, this is getting ridiculous. I've started shopping directly at the company of the products I like and I think I'll be doing that more and more, now. Too bad for Sephora, I guess. :(

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  7. & This is why I never shop at sephora. No matter what that have that I want.

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  8. I stop mostly shopping at sephora. The only thing I still buy there is my foundation. Since none of the other stores carry my brand.

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  9. Our money is as good as anyone else's, and until Sephora realizes that and starts treating Canadians like valued customers, i'll be shopping elsewhere.

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  10. If they're price matching in Australia their previous excuse about increased shipping costs is out the window. I also prefer Shoppers, their reward program is far better. I know it sucks for those who don't live in big cities, that's not an option. But I think with the Loblaw takeover Shoppers will now have more buying and brand power and will soon be a much bigger rival and better option for many customers. I, for one, have already taken my business to Shoppers and will not consider going back to Sephora if they continue to snub Canadians like this.

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  11. I don't think we should just blame Sephora because ALL american companies have a CANADIAN price for everything and is a lot more expensive. It's just how it is.

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    1. Thats not the issue. The issue is Sephora thinks its an unfair practice for the Australians and is going to compensate them.

      At the same time, they not only wont afford us the same courtesy, they are actually charging us MORE than the companies inflated Canadian rates when they can get away with us. For Australia, they should pay what Americans pay, but for us, we should pay as much as they can possibly milk us for.

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  13. I think that "Anonymous" may have missed the point of the post...

    The Bay or shoppers have to pay the same import fees to bring an item into the country as Sephora. It is absolutley unnecessary to have higher pricing in store... but honestly, what's worse and is just straight up outrageous is setting up a special online "experience" for us - we get to pay the Canadian MSRP (or more depending on the items) PLUS our local taxes PLUS duties (you never even know what's what because they won't show a separate line item for the taxes and the duties). It is total BS that they charge import fees on an item whose price already includes these charges... it actually makes me wonder if Sephora is overpaying the Canadian government since import fees are being charged twice. but I think that we all know that this is extremely unlikely. I would say I don't understand why they bothered with a sephora.CA why not just charge the US price and then taxes and duties and exchange (like Saks or Nordstrom's)... But I can't say I don't know why, it's obviously because they can get more $$ from us. If it was a smaller company I might believe they really think the things they're saying are true... But they're part of the LVMH group and we all know those guys know what they're doing

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  14. The whole thing is crap from start to finish. So frustrating!

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  15. This is infuriating! I had no idea The Bay etc were less expensive than Sephora. I think my Rouge card and I will start looking a LOT more closely at pricing.

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  16. I hate that Sephora does that and its not right to you or any other country. Although I'm jealous of Holt lol Why can't stores get their stuff together instead of driving customers to another store by marking up they are loosing business

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    1. Id like Holt a lot better if they either had an online website like Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus or if we had an actual store here. I love my sales associate at the Holt Renfrew here, but its simply a store front for personal shoppers in the back. Cosmetic wise, we have bobbi brown and laura mercier and that is it! GRR!

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  17. This is ridiculous! This just proves that they CAN charge less (as they're doing for australians) than they do now, they just WON'T! Shoppers is going to get a ton of new customers after this, good riddance!

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  18. Absolute crap! We should be extended the same courtesy.

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  19. ...and this is why I no longer shop at Sephora or order from Sephora.ca. I'd rather support Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutique and Murale.ca

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  20. There's an interesting theory about their wording. They said they'll basically match the US prices for new brands coming. So if they sell Nars, we'll be paying through the roof since we already have Nars, but they will price match the Sephora brand, since we don't have it already.

    I'm trying to not get too excited yet. Once the doors are open and I see the range and prices, then I'll get excited :)

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    1. That is an interesting distinction. And its great for you guys, but I still have to ask, if they can do it for you lovely Aussies, why cant we Canucks get the same treatment. We have no option to boycott the store if we want many things as there are NO OTHER options here.

      And again, if they can show you guys THAT consideration, could they not at least show us the consideration of NOT raising the prices ABOVE MSRP?

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  21. The price difference drives me nuts. I normally buy items locally at a non-Sephora store for less or wait until I can go to the US and buy there.
    Sephora says the prices are higher because they've factored in Duty into the prices for having them shipped to Canada. Yet, when we order online there is Duty added onto our order at checkout. That doesn't make sense if the prices are supposed to already be set to take into account that they've had to ship the items into Canada and pay Duty. Duty isn't charged twice on a product.
    Plus the points we earn online are based on the US value and not the Cdn dollar value.

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  22. Although some are done by the brands themselves the differences in prices are a bit ridiculous. ESP when they are rewarded the same, so we spend more to get less.. :(

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  23. This is absolutely ridiculous. There's no way it costs more to ship to Canada than Australia, so that excuse is BS. The only thing I can think of is some type of import tax or fee?

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  24. I don't even go into Sephora due to the prices. I'm in Toronto so I can always find a Shoppers that has everything I want, and the chances are good to get it on sale!

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  25. Also-- watch your points on online purchases. If your CAD purchase on the website comes to $50, and the USD total is $42, despite paying $50 you will only walk away with 42 points. This has left me making a call after every online order asking for my other 8 points. If they can figure out how to charge us in CAD I am sure they can figure out how to get us the cornet number of points. They have explained why it happens, and have said they are looking in to it, but have yet to solve the problem.

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  26. Very strange, I don't even understand why Canadians should have to pay all these extra import taxes and whatnot on American goods. There are so few of you and you are all living along our border, lol, jk. I hope you can get Sephora to realize you count as customers as well!

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