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AUD vs USD

T

techhead42

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 25, 2010
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0
Hi All,

I am from Australia and I am looking to buy the 27 inch Imac 2.93 soon. Recently I have noticed that the AUD and the USD are almost 1 to 1. Back before the release of the 2010 Imac refresh it was 80 US cents to the AUD. There has been no price drop in the AUD price for the Imac at all. Am I right in thinking there should have been a price drop or am I wrong?
 
0007776

0007776

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Apple doesn't ever do price drops to adjust for exchange rates. If you want to buy it cheaper when you are visiting the US you can do that, but you may run into problems if you have to use the warranty, make sure you can get any work you might need done on it in Australia before you buy it.
 
Ivan P

Ivan P

macrumors 68030
Jan 17, 2008
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Generally the only time the price will be adjusted in accordance with exchange rates is when said product is refreshed.

Also, remember that Australian prices include that 10% GST. No tax is included in the quoted US prices as taxes differ from state to state. So when the time comes that Apple may adjust the prices, even if AUD$1 = USD$1, you can be sure that the Australian price will still be at least 10% higher to account for that GST.
 
V

Vylen

macrumors 65816
Jun 3, 2010
1,026
0
Sydney, Australia
mrkramer said:
Apple doesn't ever do price drops to adjust for exchange rates. If you want to buy it cheaper when you are visiting the US you can do that, but you may run into problems if you have to use the warranty, make sure you can get any work you might need done on it in Australia before you buy it.
Click to expand...

Just be wary though that if anyone goes the route of purchasing from America and getting it here, you'll have to pay Duty and GST (return travellers have a $950 threshold whilst postage has $1000). And based on current exchange rates + duty/GST you save around $200 compared to buying from your local Apple store.

I suppose a saving is better than no saving, but that's if you think that $200 is worth either lugging a 27" machine onto a plane and worrying about baggage handlers, or worth going to Customs and filling out importation forms.
 
Ivan P

Ivan P

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Vylen said:
Just be wary though that if anyone goes the route of purchasing from America and getting it here, you'll have to pay Duty and GST (return travellers have a $950 threshold whilst postage has $1000). And based on current exchange rates + duty/GST you save around $200 compared to buying from your local Apple store.

I suppose a saving is better than no saving, but that's if you think that $200 is worth either lugging a 27" machine onto a plane and worrying about baggage handlers, or worth going to Customs and filling out importation forms.
Click to expand...

And, correct me if I'm wrong, they'll need to then put money down to buy a power converter to get the US power cord working in an Australian power socket.
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
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Finland
Ivan P said:
Also, remember that Australian prices include that 10% GST. No tax is included in the quoted US prices as taxes differ from state to state. So when the time comes that Apple may adjust the prices, even if AUD$1 = USD$1, you can be sure that the Australian price will still be at least 10% higher to account for that GST.
Click to expand...

Exactly. 1€ is currently 1.361$ but base iMac is 1249€ here and 1199$ in US. That means it costs ~1700$ in here! However, we have 23% VAT in here so without the VAT, the base iMac would be ~962€ which is only 1309$.

It's not worth it to buy from US. All the extra hassle, shipping fees, customs etc.. In the end, you may end up paying more.
 
V

Vylen

macrumors 65816
Jun 3, 2010
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Sydney, Australia
Ivan P said:
And, correct me if I'm wrong, they'll need to then put money down to buy a power converter to get the US power cord working in an Australian power socket.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think iMacs use universal power supplies. So just need to buy a $5 plug adaptor or a new power cable.
 
emptyCup

emptyCup

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2005
1,482
1
techhead42 said:
Hi All,

Back before the release of the 2010 Imac refresh it was 80 US cents to the AUD. There has been no price drop in the AUD price for the Imac at all. Am I right in thinking there should have been a price drop or am I wrong?
Click to expand...

In our rulers mad rush to make our money worthless, and skim off the difference, exchange rates change daily. I have been involved in some transaction where a firm price was not established until the moment of the sale.

As of 7:16 US EST 1 AUD was worth 0.95 USD. So, Apple should raise its prices. Even discounting import duties, taxes and fees that we are rarely aware of, exchange rates change too rapidly for any company to adjust prices more than occasionally. Companies that don't want their prices changing every minute or don't want to demand payment in gold can only be approximate.

Sometimes you're ahead, other times not. This is true of Australian products in the US too.
 
T

techhead42

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 25, 2010
77
0
Thanks for the input guys! I new it was far more complex than I had envisaged.
I probably wasn't going to try and purchase an Imac from the US or elsewhere for that matter. However I was curious as to why prices didn't fluctuate alongside the exchange rates, now I know...:)

Thanks!
 
D

drambuie

macrumors 6502a
Feb 16, 2010
751
1
mrkramer said:
Apple doesn't ever do price drops to adjust for exchange rates. If you want to buy it cheaper when you are visiting the US you can do that, but you may run into problems if you have to use the warranty, make sure you can get any work you might need done on it in Australia before you buy it.
Click to expand...

Actually Apple has adjusted prices when exchange rates changed. In the fall of 2009, Apple lowered prices when the Canadian dollar rose near par with the USD. The low end 13" MBP dropped by $100, the higher end 13" and all 15" MPBs dropped by $200, and the 17" MBPs dropped by $300. This occurred before the fall release of the iMacs, which were priced at $100 over the US price across the board. The spring MPBs were all priced at $50 over the US price.

This may have been because a lot of Canadians in Toronto and Southern Ontario were buying their MBPs at the Apple store in Buffalo, NY. I visited the Buffalo store last fall and the sales rep told me that most of their customers were Canadians.
 
0007776

0007776

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Jul 11, 2006
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drambuie said:
Actually Apple has adjusted prices when exchange rates changed. In the fall of 2009, Apple lowered prices when the Canadian dollar rose near par with the USD. The low end 13" MBP dropped by $100, the higher end 13" and all 15" MPBs dropped by $200, and the 17" MBPs dropped by $300. This occurred before the fall release of the iMacs, which were priced at $100 over the US price across the board. The spring MPBs were all priced at $50 over the US price.

This may have been because a lot of Canadians in Toronto and Southern Ontario were buying their MBPs at the Apple store in Buffalo, NY. I visited the Buffalo store last fall and the sales rep told me that most of their customers were Canadians.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of that, but it makes since for them to do that in Canada since it's pretty easy to cross the border and buy it cheaper.
 
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