Hi guys I wanted to share my frustration with the Apple tax that is very real in some countries.
There was a point 15 years or so ago where apple prices here in Greece were controlled by a single reseller and as a result the prices were insanely high.
After petitions and some changes in the reseller landscape things have improved and as a result we at least had parity with UK prices which as you might know also is a expensive country in Apple land. But it was a huge improvement.
But what I've noticed for the past few years is a change in pricing for the worse. The general rule of thumb is whatever the price is in dollars it'll be converted to euro and usual with a slight hike upwards! Which of course doesn't make any sense at all!
Let's say you wanted to pay for the overpriced ram upgrade for the iMac.
US: 32 GB of memory 600$.
In Greece: 666€ (no it's not a joke)
So even if you add tax to the US price there's no way you'll be able to reach the Greek price.
The same goes for other items.
For example Apple keyboard
US: 69$ Greece: 80€ (!!)
Magic Trackpad
US: 69$ Greece: 77€
Retina iPad 64GB
US: 699$ Greece: 739€
As you can see even if for example you add a 30% VAT in the US price which I'm quite sure is not even in that vicinity you still won't reach the Greek price. Greece has 23% VAT.
I'm not sure who is to blame here but I have a sneaky suspicion that Apple is the one responsible here. The resellers are sure hiking up the prices to have a profit ( especially in third party peripherals with prices for the same product varying greatly among them) but I think the major spike comes from Apple here.
I know that there aren't a lot of thing we can do to change that but I was wondering what is the experience of other Apple users in other countries.
Please do share your list of overpriced items!
There was a point 15 years or so ago where apple prices here in Greece were controlled by a single reseller and as a result the prices were insanely high.
After petitions and some changes in the reseller landscape things have improved and as a result we at least had parity with UK prices which as you might know also is a expensive country in Apple land. But it was a huge improvement.
But what I've noticed for the past few years is a change in pricing for the worse. The general rule of thumb is whatever the price is in dollars it'll be converted to euro and usual with a slight hike upwards! Which of course doesn't make any sense at all!
Let's say you wanted to pay for the overpriced ram upgrade for the iMac.
US: 32 GB of memory 600$.
In Greece: 666€ (no it's not a joke)
So even if you add tax to the US price there's no way you'll be able to reach the Greek price.
The same goes for other items.
For example Apple keyboard
US: 69$ Greece: 80€ (!!)
Magic Trackpad
US: 69$ Greece: 77€
Retina iPad 64GB
US: 699$ Greece: 739€
As you can see even if for example you add a 30% VAT in the US price which I'm quite sure is not even in that vicinity you still won't reach the Greek price. Greece has 23% VAT.
I'm not sure who is to blame here but I have a sneaky suspicion that Apple is the one responsible here. The resellers are sure hiking up the prices to have a profit ( especially in third party peripherals with prices for the same product varying greatly among them) but I think the major spike comes from Apple here.
I know that there aren't a lot of thing we can do to change that but I was wondering what is the experience of other Apple users in other countries.
Please do share your list of overpriced items!
