Apple gone too far with new pricing?

[paduck]

Meh, I'm a newb - not everybody starts out painting a mona lisa with their first go. It doesn't really make it right to charge the UK more though - Everyone now is saying that it's because of the exchange rate change. But when we talked about the exchange rate a year ago, everyone came back with "There's loads more to it than the exchange rate".

There was a whole series in the papers over a decade ago "The Cost of Buying British." It basically compared the prices of everything in the UK with the rest of Europe. Bottomline, it cost something like 30% more on most consumer goods to buy in Britain, so nothing new here. Just look at car prices (although there is the whole right-hand steering wheel issue). There aren't a lot of bargains to be found in Britain...

Try Googling "more expensive in Britain"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=more+expensive+in+britain&btnG=Search

And you will find that ASUS, Dell, automobiles, train tickets, PS/3's and organic meat are also a lot more expensive in Britain.

 

[Gregintosh]

In another topic I posted the cost comparison I did between the UK prices and the US ones. On many of the new models, the UK price is lower:

Mac mini:
1
UK price: $611.19
US price: $599.00

2
UK price: $794.89
US price: $799.00

iMac:
1
UK price: $1161.95
US price: $1199.00

2
UK price: $1467.12
US price: $1499.00

3
UK price: $1834.21
US price: $1799.00

4
UK price: $2201.03
US price: $2199.00

You forgot to add sales tax to the US prices, which depending on your location in the US can be as much as 10-12%. This would make it even more in favor of the UK price.

 

[j26]

.... Just look at car prices (although there is the whole right-hand steering wheel issue). There aren't a lot of bargains to be found in Britain...
.

Try buying a car in Ireland. A certain 1 year old car we are looking at is £11,500 in England, but €24,000 in Ireland for a similar mileage model.

Also, the mini
The Mac Mini is £499 (€559.60 according to XE.com) on the UK website, but €599 on the Irish one. So the UK is not doing as bad.

 

[neiltc13]

You forgot to add sales tax to the US prices, which depending on your location in the US can be as much as 10-12%. This would make it even more in favor of the UK price.

What is the saying? Compare Apples with Apples and that's what I did. All of the prices are without sales tax.

To get the correct UK prices you have to add 15% to those figures I mentioned. The only fair comparison is to do it without sales tax on both.