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Macbook prices UK vs US

W

will0407

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 20, 2006
609
57
When I first saw the US price of the black macbook was $1499, I thought, wow, that's pretty pricy. The I saw the UK version was at £1028,adn me being me, I thought they must be about the same price when you convert the price from US$ to UK£. So................I did the conversion.......a black macbook from the US is £797 (according to xe.com), that more than £230 difference between UK and US.

Does anyone not think that this is completely ridiculous, especially for students like me, who are scraping evey penny together that they can?? I could maybe forgive an extra £100 give or take, but £230?that's a complete joke.
 
And since when has the price EVER been equal? Euro zone is ripped off just as much

I'll tell you what you need to do to get inner peace...
You just have to look into the horizon and begin walking. Soon you will come to a bridge. Underneath the bridge flows the River Pricedifferential, your task if your willing to accept it..... to cross that bridge and GET OVER IT ;)

:D :D :D
Nothing we can do no matter how irritating it is...
 
Which at 17.5% VAT brings it to £936.

That's about £90 of a difference which is still ridiculous.
 
LOL, macrumoruser, don't worry, I have crossed the river and will be ordering my black macbook next week. just a little less cash left in my pockets than I would have liked
 
will0407 said:
LOL, macrumoruser, don't worry, I have crossed the river and will be ordering my black macbook next week. just a little less cash left in my pockets than I would have liked
Click to expand...

:D Trust me I get pissed off everytime I buy a magazine in the newsagent. I'm in Ireland, so take say Digit. It's £5.99 but in store here I have to pay €11.80 which clearly is currency rate / plus tax / plus a huge happy bonus...
Same with all the magazines...

Euro prices on Apple hardwre is the same.
 
will0407 said:
Does anyone not think that this is completely ridiculous, especially for students like me, who are scraping evey penny together that they can?? I could maybe forgive an extra £100 give or take, but £230?that's a complete joke.
Click to expand...

You know you can get a large edu discount from Apple? If you log-on through your Uni's network to http://apple.procureweb.ac.uk/ then you can get a white 2Ghz MacBook for £773, or a black 2Ghz one for £884...

Oh and you get a free 3-year warrenty on that too...
 
or if your at sixth form you can get an NUS assosiate card and log in via the NUS site and get 14% off and applecare, thats how i ordered my macbook, now i just have the agoniseing wait.
 
this has been brought up 385714 times.

U.S. prices are pre-tax
U.K. price are after the ridiculous high V.A.T. (17.5%)

if you calculate both as pre-tax price, they are virtually the same ;)
 
I think exactly the same about the difference in prices in the UK and US it is not fair. If i was to buy a macbook in the US can you not claim the tax back when you leave the states and also does anyone know if the warranty would be valid in the UK even thoug the computer was bought in the US?
 
Apple portable warranties are global (not sure about now, but the desktop ones did not use to be). The problem with doing that is that you will end up with a US keyboard layout (and a US power adaptor, but that's no big deal).

In addition you are then meant to declare that purchase at customs when you re-enter the UK and pay tax etc on it. There's only a really small chance they'd catch you, but still it's a risk...
 
robbieduncan said:
Apple portable warranties are global (not sure about now, but the desktop ones did not use to be). The problem with doing that is that you will end up with a US keyboard layout (and a US power adaptor, but that's no big deal).
Click to expand...

I actually would really like a US keyboard as i find the uk enter key too thin on the uk laptops. If i was to buy one in the UK i don't suppose they would be able to put a us keyboard on it would they?
 
joe8232 said:
I actually would really like a US keyboard as i find the uk enter key too thin on the uk laptops. If i was to buy one in the UK i don't suppose they would be able to put a us keyboard on it would they?
Click to expand...

I don't think so. It's a factory fit thing. The keyboards are a different SKU so they'd need to order one specially with the US layout. You could try asking in store...
 
get someone to claim vat back

hey if you have any friends who are foreign (or have foreign passports) who are going on holiday and you really trust them you can give it to them to claim back vat. thats just about as cheap as the american ones! i was going to do that, but it works out even cheaper if my mom buys it for me from hk and bring it over... i also don't like the fact the @ is paired with the ' in the uk keyboard so it works out for me...
 
EricChunky said:
U.S. prices are pre-tax
Click to expand...

And they stay pre-tax here in Oregon, as well as New Jersey!:D

Thats two of the states I have lived out of three (born in Cali). Its going to be tough for me going to college in NYC or Dublin where I have to remeber 3.99 does not, in fact, mean 3.99. :(
 
Felldownthewell said:
Its going to be tough for me going to college in NYC or Dublin where I have to remeber 3.99 does not, in fact, mean 3.99. :(
Click to expand...

LOL! Dublin... Welcome to Euro hell and 21% ;) Where a pint of milk and a sliced loaf of bread will cost about the same as you pay currently to refil your car full of gas, drive to the store, buy a weeks shopping, stop at a restuarant, have a 4 course meal, drive home, go out for the night, get drunk, taxi cab home.... you get my point :D :D :D :D
 
MacRumorUser said:
LOL! Dublin... Welcome to Euro hell and 21% ;) Where a pint of milk and a sliced loaf of bread will cost about the same as you pay currently to refil your car full of gas, drive to the store, buy a weeks shopping, stop at a restuarant, have a 4 course meal, drive home, go out for the night, get drunk, taxi cab home.... you get my point :D :D :D :D
Click to expand...

If you wanted to buy something expensive that’s Appley, couldn’t you go on a day trip to Manchester? Would probably work out cheaper in the end.
 
MacRumorUser said:
LOL! Dublin... Welcome to Euro hell and 21% ;) Where a pint of milk and a sliced loaf of bread will cost about the same as you pay currently to refil your car full of gas, drive to the store, buy a weeks shopping, stop at a restuarant, have a 4 course meal, drive home, go out for the night, get drunk, taxi cab home.... you get my point :D :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Haha i get it i get it!

Still, I'd be in college and that would totally outweigh the expensive-ness of everything. Plus the Griffith photojournalism program is 8,000 Euros a year instead of the $30,000-40,000 that Columbia (NYC) and other colleges I'm looking at cost, so even factoring a (21% :eek: vat) we'd probably come out saving money.

On another subject (not to hijack the thread or anything, if you feel this is too-hijackful don't respond) how do you like Ireland? I've been all over Europe and the World but never to there.
 
Dublin is much like any other European captial - except full of drunk irish men.. oh wait much like any other....... ;)

It's a great city, though I'm a bit of a culchie (a country boy)..

Ireland a grand place to live, I live in the rural South West - Kerry, staring out across fields of green, mountains, cows, sheep and couple miles down the road, beautiful golden sands and turquoise waters of the Atlantic..
 
Does anyone happen to know if customs will charge UK tax or import tax or any additional fees if I send a computer to the UK from the US? I want to get my mother a mac mini, but am worried that if customs picks it up and wants to charge whatever for it, I would have been better off asking my sister to buy one there.

UK prices aren't just bad for computers, what about CD's!:eek: I used to visit Germany just to buy CD's. I saved a fortune! ... and for US readers: if you think gas prices are bad here ($2.73 p/g around here today)!!! Last I heard from my father, he pays $100 for a full tank!
 
Just a quick question somewhat related to this topic...

Is it cheaper to get the Macbook in the US or in Canada.

Canada's 15% tax kills...
 
yojitani said:
Does anyone happen to know if customs will charge UK tax or import tax or any additional fees if I send a computer to the UK from the US?
Click to expand...

If they find out what is in the package, yes they will probably try and charge you import tax. Once again you take the chance...
 
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