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andrewp

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 24, 2008
72
0
Damn, looking around at this forum, I see that you all are purchasing MBA for 1200-1800$.

In Denmark I just ordered the 2.0 with 1.86 and 120gb for 2700$ :eek:
And with insurance it's going to be 3200$

Guess it's too nice to live over there ;)
 

FFTWarren

macrumors member
Oct 13, 2008
83
0
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
now they talking about spending that on the 1st gen MBAs on ebay and stuff like that. My 2.0 MBA 1.86/128ssd with printer came out to $2609 or somewhere right there. and that was with a student discount which took off 200 bucks off the 1.86/128 ssd version. so you aint gettn a bad deal.
 

Lancetx

macrumors 68000
Aug 11, 2003
1,991
619
Best Buy actually has brand new 1st gen. MacBook Airs for $1,299 on closeout right now, so it is possible to get them for that cheap thru an authorized reseller and not just on eBay. The best time to buy is always right after they have just phased out a model.
 

mojohanna

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2004
868
0
Cleveland
Damn, looking around at this forum, I see that you all are purchasing MBA for 1200-1800$.

In Denmark I just ordered the 2.0 with 1.86 and 120gb for 2700$ :eek:
And with insurance it's going to be 3200$

Guess it's too nice to live over there ;)

Keep in mind that advertised US prices do not include sales taxes (equal to your VAT). I understand that in Europe, all prices are advertised inclusive of VAT.

Typically, you can add between 7-8% on to the cost of an advertised price in the US to cover sales tax in MOST areas. Some are higher and, probably very few, are lower.

Granted, that does not make up the differnce you are showing, but it is a contributing factor. The same computer as you just purchased for $2700 would be $2698.92 based on Apple.com price plus 8% tax. Add in applecare and you are at $2967.84. I would say that is pretty comparable (other than your insurance. I am assuming you are purchasing a 3rd party coverage).

Oh and it will be nice living "over here" for another 12 weeks or so. Then we become a socialist country that will suck its citizens dry. sorry, did I just say that??? ;)
 

allmIne

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2008
771
0
United Kingdom
Argggh!

It's not that simple.

As said above, the price you see doesn't factor in sales tax, which varies according to state. It's always less than UK VAT (I'm from the UK), but it's still additional.

Even then, you can't just convert at the exchange rate and price the product that way; exchange rates vary - at the minute, we get a great deal compared to US citizens buying pounds. Were that to change, American prices wouldn't look so competitive. Then you factor in things like income, cost of comparative or substitutable products, etc.
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
....
Oh and it will be nice living "over here" for another 12 weeks or so. Then we become a socialist country that will suck its citizens dry. sorry, did I just say that??? ;)

First of all, I say this with amusement and laughter in my voice (well in my fingers, I guess)

This comment always makes me LOL, when it comes from citizens of the USA. They really have no idea of what socialism is if they think their left leaning party is "socialist". I'm from Canada where "liberal" is not just not the worst thing you can call your political opponents (and supporters) - its actually the name of the political party that has governed the country for most of its history. The parties that are way far to the right on the Canadian political spectrum, are still more left than anything the US has - AND - Canada is still not as "socialist" as many countries in Europe that are democratic, and economically strong.

I will also point out, that the last year or two on Wall Street have not been the best example to show the merits of capitalism.

But back to the thread.

Apple doesn't price products just by straight currency exchange, but also by cultural price points.

IIRC iTune songs (most of them) in the US are priced at $0.99. iTune songs on the Canadian iTunes store are also $0.99. The price doesn't change as the currency fluctuates. It is, in both cases, priced at the psychological barrier of a dollar. There are many products that are priced at what is considered the psychological barrier. When the dollar fluctuates, then Apple makes more or less profit - but they don't change the pricing. Its essentially priced at what they feel the market will bear, based on Canadian incomes and perceptions of value. I assume its the same in other countries.

Cheers - and long live the revolution....:D
 

juanster

macrumors 68020
Mar 2, 2007
2,238
0
toronto
LOL...:) exactly what i was expecting...I lived in the US before and loved it, live here now and love it a bit more, but living in Colombia still beats both even put together IMO, then again taht's probably because it was my pre-teen years and b4 adulthood (not that i still know that much about that) so i did not have anythingt o worry bout in life..
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
Beats living in Canada.

oops...forgot this :)

Thems fighting words!, eh? I challenge you to.... just checking so see where you are from..... California. I challenge you to a snowball fight!

Oh wait, I'm from coastal BC, not much snow here either.....

never mind. I'll buy you a beer instead and we can argue instead about whether Tim Hortons or Krispy Kreme makes better doughnuts.
 

RedRocksU2

macrumors member
Apr 11, 2008
35
0
Murrieta, Ca USA
LOL...:) exactly what i was expecting...I lived in the US before and loved it, live here now and love it a bit more, but living in Colombia still beats both even put together IMO, then again taht's probably because it was my pre-teen years and b4 adulthood (not that i still know that much about that) so i did not have anythingt o worry bout in life..

Yeah, but you have no In-N-Out burger....:)


Thems fighting words!, eh? I challenge you to.... just checking so see where you are from..... California. I challenge you to a snowball fight!

Oh wait, I'm from coastal BC, not much snow here either.....

never mind. I'll buy you a beer instead and we can argue instead about whether Tim Hortons or Krispy Kreme makes better doughnuts.

Beer??!! Sure! make it a Hef.
*Adds to friends list*
 

juanster

macrumors 68020
Mar 2, 2007
2,238
0
toronto
Yeah, but you have no In-N-Out burger....:)




Beer??!! Sure! make it a Hef.
*Adds to friends list*

oh yehhh beeeeeeeer.. that fixes everything hahahah....I couldn't live without poutine,, oh yeah one thing that sucks about Canada.. hmmm it snowed here yesterday :eek: ahah alreadyyyyyyyyyyy.. i couldn't believe it...
 

Tosser

macrumors 68030
Jan 15, 2008
2,677
1
You know what you should do? Have a friend who lives in the US buy it for you, then have him send it to you. Unless...the shipping cost goes overboard.

I don't think you can order it with a danish keyboard with the letters æ, ø, and å from the US. Another thing: Europeans have one more physical button on our keyboards than the US has.
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,160
4,152
5045 feet above sea level
in and out burger is soooooooo overrated.

sorry had to get that out of the way.

all my friends from cali act like its the best thing on this planet and then i went to one when in vegas and yea, nothing special. it was like eating at wendys with much less stuff on the menu (and yea i know the secret menu thing too)
 

RedRocksU2

macrumors member
Apr 11, 2008
35
0
Murrieta, Ca USA
in and out burger is soooooooo overrated.

sorry had to get that out of the way.

all my friends from cali act like its the best thing on this planet and then i went to one when in vegas and yea, nothing special. it was like eating at wendys with much less stuff on the menu (and yea i know the secret menu thing too)

Complete fail.
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
:D

*had double-double for lunch*

Gotta love each country's slang. In Canada a "double double" means double cream and double sugar in a coffee, usually at a Tim Hortons - a very popular doughnut and coffee shop in most of Canada.... though, strangely enough - not in BC. And when I say popular, Tim's in Canada (with a 10th of the population as the US) does more business than Krispy Kreme, by some some huge factor - that I forget now.... Anyway, love of doughnuts is another difference between Canada and our southern cousins.

And back to the thread.....

Canadian dollar has lost nearly $0.20 in the last few weeks. Still no change in the Apple pricing..... yet.
 

aleni

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2006
2,583
909
in Indonesia, there is no official apple store. the 1st gen of 64GB SSD equipped is still selling for $3100 here, because the retailers have the old stocks when apple sold it for $3000. by the time apple dropping the price, the retailers in here did not because they bought the stocks before apple cut the price.

lame.

FYI, the base model of the unibody macbook is selling for $1.395 and the macbook 2.4ghz sells for $1700. it sucks.
 

SFStateStudent

macrumors 604
Aug 28, 2007
7,496
3
San Francisco California, USA
in Indonesia, there is no official apple store. the 1st gen of 64GB SSD equipped is still selling for $3100 here, because the retailers have the old stocks when apple sold it for $3000. by the time apple dropping the price, the retailers in here did not because they bought the stocks before apple cut the price. lame... FYI, the base model of the unibody macbook is selling for $1.395 and the macbook 2.4ghz sells for $1700. it sucks.

Sorry to hear that...:( I wonder where that extra money is going?
 

rowlands

macrumors member
Oct 24, 2008
45
26
Taiwan
in and out burger is soooooooo overrated.

Never eaten there, couldn't get over the name... Kinda put me off trying!

You know what you should do? Have a friend who lives in the US buy it for you, then have him send it to you. Unless...the shipping cost goes overboard.

I tried this while I was in the UK, its a non-starter. My friend shipped it express, should be there in 3 days. After 5 (working) days, I called the US courier who had passed it on to the UK courier and I needed to deal with them. I had to speak to several departments and then finally the person I needed to speak to wasn't there. A couple of days later I found that the UK government had impounded the laptop and I needed to speak to someone in the tax office. Finally I get to speak someone in the UK tax office. I have a month to pay them a couple of hundred pounds, or the machine will be auctioned off, and they have had it a week already, so actually I have 3 weeks. I argued that it was a gift and I hadn't paid for it (which I hadn't yet), they said it doesn't matter what I say or what I can prove they have valued the machine and decided that I have to pay the tax if I want the machine, or they will sell it to reclaim the lost tax! I took it as far as I could, talking to my local politicians and in the last week I paid the tax. They charged me duty or import tax, then VAT on top! It ended up costing me more, especially when I paid for the express shipping.

The next time I bought it in the Apple Store in the US, threw away the box and carried it home in my backpack. Saved myself quite a bit that way.
 
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