Paying more to save money

I received an e-mail from Amazon.com a week or so ago telling me that Wrestlemania 25 was available for pre-order for just $19.98, which for a 3-disc DVD set, is quite the deal. Of course, that's $19.98 American, but these days that's still only about $22 Canadian, so it's still a good deal.

I checked Amazon.ca, and it was an even better deal, as the Canadian price on the DVD was a shade under $33. I was saving $11, even factoring in currency conversions.

So, I placed my order through Amazon.com ... and lo and behold, the $11 spread vanished in shipping charges. Suddenly, my $20 DVD was nearly $31 US, which after currency conversion, became more expensive than the highly-marked up Canadian version.

In the end, I pre-ordered the DVD through Amazon.ca, because after adding a book I was planning to buy anyway, I got free shipping.

Wacky.

I do not (heart) this

I was at a major grocery retailer yesterday - five days after Christmas - and the Valentine's Day candies were already out.