Blooming puzzling

If you want to witness the peculiar pricing and economics of the Canadian newsstand spring is a good time to look at gardening books.

On a typical news rack, you will find U.S. titles Horticulture and Fine Gardening selling for C$7.99. Right next to it you will find Canadian Gardening and Gardening Life, both published in Canada, selling for $4.95. That's a $3.04 cent difference; the U.S. books are selling for about 61% more than the Canadian cover price.

You'd be hard-pressed to explain this gap in terms of editorial quality and value or even number of pages. The Canadian books would seem to have the edge with readers because they quote and refer to Canadian sources and Canadian growing zones.

So, why are such excellent magazines as Canadian Gardening and Gardening Life selling single copies at such a relatively low price?

(In its domestic market, Horticulture sells for US$5; Fine Gardening for US$6.99. It would seem that Fine Gardening Canadian pricing is closely calibrated to the current difference in exchange rate. Horticulture, on the other hand, still seems to think the Canadian dollar is $0.63!)