Rip off UK!!!

[The Grood]

Why does all Apple gear cost so much more in the UK than in the US at the current exchange rate???

eg 1: Basic White Mac Book: $1099. Should be £577, but costs £749.

eg 2: 60gb ipod: $399. Should be £209. Acutal price: £299

etc etc.

Any economists/conspiracy theorists out there care to explain?

 

[Killyp]

Why does all Apple gear cost so much more in the UK than in the US at the current exchange rate???

eg 1: Basic White Mac Book: $1099. Should be £577, but costs £749.

eg 2: 60gb ipod: $399. Should be £209. Acutal price: £299

etc etc.

Any economists/conspiracy theorists out there care to explain?

Because they can sell it for that much over here? Everything is more expensive in the UK.

 

[Mac Rules]

Plus that lovely rip-off known as VAT!

Damn the government!

Cheers

 

[Blue Velvet]

How many times have we been over this? US prices don't include sales tax. UK prices do (17.5% VAT).

 

[Queso]

£749 is £637.45 + VAT. Sales tax is always added onto the US prices.

The rest? Some to cover the paperwork costs for importing them, and some to cover their backsides in case the US Dollar gains value against the Pound Sterling I would guess.

 

[Chundles]

Why does all Apple gear cost so much more in the UK than in the US at the current exchange rate???

eg 1: Basic White Mac Book: $1099. Should be £577, but costs £749.

eg 2: 60gb ipod: $399. Should be £209. Acutal price: £299

etc etc.

Any economists/conspiracy theorists out there care to explain?

Can you explain to me why you think that things should be sold at the going exchange rate without taking into account pricing for local storage, staff wages, advertising, design regulation compliance, legal fees, service costs, shipping and receiving etc.

It costs a different amount because it's sold in a different place with different conditions.

Mind you, we actually pay less than the UK for a lot of our Apple stuff down here. Not often that happens for tech products subject to the "southern hemisphere tax."

 

[The Grood]

Can you explain to me why you think that things should be sold at the going exchange rate without taking into account pricing for local storage, staff wages, advertising, design regulation compliance, legal fees, service costs, shipping and receiving etc.

I don't think that. But even taking all that into account this discrepancy seems a little, erm, suspect.

Someone once told me that the Big Mac is the only true international currency - the only way of assessing exchange rates that include all of the above ie - it is priced to sell in huge volumes in every local market.

Is this rubbish?

PS. Sorry if we've been through this before. But if you lived in the UK you'd understand the need for CONSTANT bleating.

 

[Queso]

PS. Sorry if we've been through this before. But if you lived in the UK you'd understand the need for CONSTANT bleating.

The problem is we always compare our prices to the USA. Try comparing prices with another country such as France, South Africa or Italy instead and factor the average annual salary into your calculations. You'll feel much better about the price we pay.

 

[Chundles]

I don't think that. But even taking all that into account this discrepancy seems a little, erm, suspect.

Suspect eh? This is obviously years of studying economic theory speaking I presume?

Seriously, the time for whinging about paying more than another country for stuff has to end. We pay more than the Americans but we pay less than most of the Europeans - that's just the way things work. The only way that whinging about price discrepancies would be justified is if everything around the globe was done on a single currency and everything cost the same to do regardless of the location.

Yeah, not going to happen.

Sorry to get all narky about this and it's honestly nothing personal, but really, there's nothing you can do and it's never going to change. Remember, they may pay less but they have to listen to GWB try to give "speeches." I think it evens out.

 

[The Grood]

Of course, you're right. The market will always pay what the market will bear.

Sadly, I live in a very 'bearing' country. Hmmm.

Thousands of Brits who import cars on the cheap from Europe soon find out that the warranty is invalid etc.

Don't get me started on house prices.

Rant over.

Apologies to everyone.

 

[calculus]

You can't just compare just one thing (say prices) between one country and another. You have to think about taxation, welfare etc. etc. The whole idea of 'rip off Britain' really annoys me. Most times when you look into the comparisons they are not like for like.

 

[macenforcer]

You know I got a great job offer in the UK last year and this was one of the main reasons I decided not to take that job. Not to mention...

- Different voltage
- High gas prices
- Terrible weather
- Gross quisine, except fish and chips which I love.
- Drive on wrong side of the road
- Roundabouts instead of 4-way stops.
- No SUVs. Go to chevy UK.

Hot dogs over there are not real hot dogs.

You spell color like I just did, not colour. hehe.


and just a lower standard of living. A one bedroom flat over there cost like $3000 US a month and the buildings were made in like 1750 BC.

But heh, I love the Brits. Love watching them duke it out on the house of commons channel.

 

[Savage Henry]

Easy Solution.

eg 2: 60gb ipod: $399. Should be £209. Acutal price: £299

Alternatively, "Hooray for Cheap Britain", with the equivalent iPod costing SEK 4795 ... or £312 in Sweden.

 

[Queso]

You know I got a great job offer in the UK last year and this was one of the main reasons I decided not to take that job. Not to mention...

It's you lot that drive on the wrong side. If you drive your horse and cart on the left it leaves your sword hand available to attack people coming the other way. If you drive on the right you leave your body exposed to the attacker

 

[Chundles]

Don't get me started on house prices.

Rant over.

Apologies to everyone.

Now that's somewhere we can agree on. A recent US report put Sydney just behind the Bay area of San Francisco as having the highest average house prices when adjusted for mean income.

Millions of dollars will buy you diddly squat in Sydney right now. A shack overlooking one of the city's beaches - with no road access mind you, you literally have to time when you leave and come back with the tides because the only way in is off the beach - recently sold for around the $4 million mark. About £1.5 million. And I mean a shack, made out of bits of wood and looking like crap. You can't even build on the land anymore. Four million bucks. The guy who owned it made 6000% on his original investment.

Even my folks' house on the market now has seen a 700% increase on their investment in less than 20 years and they're an hour and a half out of the city (about 150km).

I know London has higher prices but Sydney is incredibly expensive for real estate.

 

[Chundles]

It's you lot that drive on the wrong side. If you drive your horse and cart on the left it leaves your sword hand available to attack people coming the other way. If you drive on the right you leave your body exposed to the attacker

And those 4 way stops are the most stupid thing in the world. If there's nobody coming on a round about, I can just keep going on my journey but if it's a 4 way stop, even in the middle of nowhere I would be legally obligated to come to a complete halt.

They are ridiculous. Get rid of them.

 

[Jeewhizz]

You know I got a great job offer in the UK last year and this was one of the main reasons I decided not to take that job. Not to mention...

- Different voltage
- High gas prices
- Terrible weather
- Gross quisine, except fish and chips which I love.
- Drive on wrong side of the road
- Roundabouts instead of 4-way stops.
- No SUVs. Go to chevy UK.

Hot dogs over there are not real hot dogs.

You spell color like I just did, not colour. hehe.


and just a lower standard of living. A one bedroom flat over there cost like $3000 US a month and the buildings were made in like 1750 BC.

But heh, I love the Brits. Love watching them duke it out on the house of commons channel.

You are so wrong on so many accounts! English cuisine is amazing - and not packed full of sugars!

Each to their own I guess!

 

[Queso]

You are so wrong on so many accounts! English cuisine is amazing - and not packed full of sugars!

Each to their own I guess!

Oh come on. There's no defending English food. Even the British only ever eat Chinese, Italian and Indian

 

[nomad01]

- Gross quisine, except fish and chips which I love.

Oh and the US gave us all the best cuisine in the world? Hmmm. Keep taking the pills. <wink>

And oddly enough, most hotdogs I've had in the US are no different to most hot dogs I've had over here... and that includes Nathan's Famous dogs. Maybe you shop and the wrong hot dog shops in the UK??

 

[Shadow]

- Terrible weather

The weather isnt that bad *thunders* oops, maybe it is .

That actually happened once.

 

[Chundles]

You are so wrong on so many accounts! English cuisine is amazing - and not packed full of sugars!

Each to their own I guess!

Yep, I'd rather British food (gasp, I'm an Aussie) than that processed-to-within-an-inch-of-it's-life full of sugar and vacant in taste "American Food."

Just a quick word, the only food I would consider "American" would be some creole/cajun stuff and whatever the native americans cook. Hamburgers and hot dogs and all that crap do not constitute "local cuisine" no matter how well you make it it's still just a bloody hamburger. Not to mention the hamburgers you do get are the size of a hubcap and come with a truckload of fries, "here ya go sir, we cut the chips too thin and made the hamburger from as little fresh and natural ingredients as possible but we gave to enough to feed a small army to make up for it."

 

[The Grood]

Oh come on. There's no defending English food. Even the British only ever eat Chinese, Italian and Indian

Now now! that's a little out of date:

http://www.michelin.co.uk/travel/red2006/index.htm

PS. Other than the Big Mac, Cup Cake and Twinkie, what has the US got to offer? (oooh contentious!)

 

[2ndPath]

And those 4 way stops are the most stupid thing in the world. If there's nobody coming on a round about, I can just keep going on my journey but if it's a 4 way stop, even in the middle of nowhere I would be legally obligated to come to a complete halt.

They are ridiculous. Get rid of them.

I have to agree with this. At least after having driven in the US I understood, why there are so many automatic gear cars in the US: Because you have to stop your car at every other crossing.

 

[2ndPath]

It's you lot that drive on the wrong side. If you drive your horse and cart on the left it leaves your sword hand available to attack people coming the other way. If you drive on the right you leave your body exposed to the attacker

Not if you are left handed as I am.

 

[Lau]

- Different voltage
- High gas prices
- Terrible weather
- Gross quisine, except fish and chips which I love.
- Drive on wrong side of the road
- Roundabouts instead of 4-way stops.
- No SUVs. Go to chevy UK.

Sounds like we had a lucky escape...