An old question ...
Not a complaint yet as I hope I'm being stupid.
US pricing of the G5zilla is USD2999.
UK pricing of the G5zilla is GBP2299
at 1.667 US to the pound that makes the price of the UK box (inc VAT) USD3831 ... now ... tell me it's the VAT thing that does it. How widespread is sales tax in the US, and can you actually get the G5zilla for that price in many states?
Hope this is the right forum.
H.
US pricing of the G5zilla is USD2999.
UK pricing of the G5zilla is GBP2299
at 1.667 US to the pound that makes the price of the UK box (inc VAT) USD3831 ... now ... tell me it's the VAT thing that does it. How widespread is sales tax in the US, and can you actually get the G5zilla for that price in many states?
Hope this is the right forum.
H.
Comments
I'm looking at it longingly.
Amorya
All things being equal 260 more ... an old complaint but WHY?
Originally posted by Harald
Just checked the price sans VAT ... £1956 or $3259 ...
All things being equal 260 more ... an old complaint but WHY?
In .nl we 'only' have to pay an extra $222.50 before sales tax. Same old complaint. Same old question. Why the hell?
A recent example. I could have purchased my Yokomo MR-4TC SD RC car from Japan for about $240 USD in Japan while it's $300 USD at the local shop.
Originally posted by Harald
Patronising attitude does not suit you.
It doesn't?
It's such simple concept...I'm just annoyed with the whining. Goods made in America are paid for largely by American dollars. When sent overseas, they are still valued in American dollars to the company that has shouldered the cost of manufacture. Currency values fluctuate. Given a weak pound, euro, rupee, turkish lira the price premium may dwindle or even turn negative from Apple's PoV...There are exceptions to the rule of course. If the domestic brand uses overseas manufacturing and inventory, prices may be more stable in that region. If the value of a currency is fixed against the US dollar's as it is in Hong Kong, then that lends itself to stability and cheaper pricing over-all.
Originally posted by Eugene
Goods made in America are paid for largely by American dollars.
Isn't the Power Mac built in Ireland? And the laptops in Taiwan?
Why is the Euro price one-to-one with the dollar, when the euro is running around USD1.17?
With some exception, Japanese items cost about the same in Europe as in the States, when you factor out the VAT. The difference in prices for LaCie, a French company, is not much between the States and Europe.
What I find funny is California wine sold in Europe is about half the price as in the States.
This is Apple's market strategy. Europe gets screwed. I hope the macosxrumors.com statement about trying to rectify this inequity is true.
Originally posted by GardenOfEarthlyDelights
Isn't the Power Mac built in Ireland? And the laptops in Taiwan?
Why is the Euro price one-to-one with the dollar, when the euro is running around USD1.17?
With some exception, Japanese items cost about the same in Europe as in the States, when you factor out the VAT. The difference in prices for LaCie, a French company, is not much between the States and Europe.
What I find funny is California wine sold in Europe is about half the price as in the States.
This is Apple's market strategy. Europe gets screwed. I hope the macosxrumors.com statement about trying to rectify this inequity is true.
The Power Mac has been built in Elk Grove, California for a few years now.
"With some exception?" More like everything. I remember making a habit of buying electronics overseas because it was cheaper. A lot of the cheap electronics online stores you see on pricewatch and pricegrabber are gray marketers which import asian market versions of the same equipment, because it's cheaper for them.
The US imports volumes more of most anything than other countries, so that weighs into the final mark-up of imported goods.
And as for 'Californian' wine, it depends on the wine. You can buy both good and shitty French, Italian, etc. wines here. And I don't see the validity this comparison. The wine is cheap because nobody wants it, not because it's imported.
When Apple decides on European prices they look at the exchange rate that day (which could've been weeks ago) and then figure in a buffer in case the exchange rate changes before the next revision (which it will).
Why all the bitching? The DP2GHz G5 in Europe is cheaper than the old DP1.42GHz G4 was - that's not the case in the US.
And Eugene, Power Macs for the European market are built in Ireland, and eMacs are built in the Czech Republic.
But then again, almost all the components come from Asia.
Originally posted by JLL
And Eugene, Power Macs for the European market are built in Ireland, and eMacs are built in the Czech Republic.
Are you sure about this? From what I've heard, every single Power Mac since the G3 has been built in Sacramento no matter what the destination.
I know iMacs were built in Cork at one point. Anyway, the location of the manufacturing plant may only affect things a little as I stated earlier.
Originally posted by Eugene
Are you sure about this?
Yep! It's clearly stated on the cases.
Originally posted by Eugene
Anyway, the location of the manufacturing plant may only affect things a little as I stated earlier.
Correct.
Originally posted by Eugene
The Power Mac has been built in Elk Grove, California for a few years now.
Yeah.. I got confused with this MacNN article:
The Irish Examiner reports that SIPTU workers at the Apple plant in Cork have negotiated a 13% pay rise, despite a global pay freeze for all workers, which was instituted in October of 2001 "and this is up for review in July. The bulk of the SIPTU members at the plant are involved in the production of the company's high-end desktop G4 computers and servers. There are 180 permanent workers in manufacturing, plus up to 200 other contract workers employed at the busiest periods....Their pay review date fell in December, prior to the implementation of the pay freeze.
"With some exception?" More like everything. I remember making a habit of buying electronics overseas because it was cheaper. A lot of the cheap electronics online stores you see on pricewatch and pricegrabber are gray marketers which import asian market versions of the same equipment, because it's cheaper for them.
Clarification: I'm talking about Best Buy vs. Media Markt, or other volume resellers here in Germany and Europe. In these cases, prices are very close, when factoring taxes out. A few years ago, I was buying Sony products in Amsterdam significantly cheaper than in the States.
This is the situation Harald is talking about, not necessarily the supercheap pricewatch.com resellers.
The US imports volumes more of most anything than other countries, so that weighs into the final mark-up of imported goods.
Yup.
And as for 'Californian' wine, it depends on the wine. You can buy both good and shitty French, Italian, etc. wines here. And I don't see the validity this comparison. The wine is cheap because nobody wants it, not because it's imported.
I'm talking about the exact same brand of wine. This is just economics. The bottle that goes for $10-20 in the States is going against $5 bottles here. The California wine is not 2-4 times better than the wines here, so they drop the price (my guess). Which means they're probably gouging in the States. Or it's a volume thing. Who cares, as it's off topic.
Europe: Two year warranty.
Originally posted by bunge
USA: One year warranty.
Europe: Two year warranty.
Norway, up to five year warranty. (not that it really works that way though