iPod Apple Aust: You cannot do this! iPod$$ = rip! (RANT)

[DoFoT9]

hey all,

i woke up this morning all excited about the new ipod releases and whatever else was going to come with it. so i go to apple.com and see that there is a new ipod touch!! wow! the 8gb model is $US229! thats a pretty good deal!

the 16gb is $US299, which isn't too bad. no biggie, i check out the apple.com.au store to see if its been updated yet, and it has.

i see the "From $329 AU" price tag for the 8gb and nearly fall over. what the hell apple? you can't just add an extra $100AU onto the price because we aren't in your country! if you convert US$229 its only AU$282. this is pathetic apple, i know that you cant just compare things as easily as currency rates. but we aren't a country that has a weak economy. i just dont understand...

the AU$549 price tag on the 32gb comes out to be US$445, an extra US$45..

is this just me?? or does this whole thing just push you over the edge? i have an urge to get on ebay and buy one from the US, even with shipping it would still be less!

 

[thechidz]

vote with your wallet

 

[Trip.Tucker]

hey all,

i woke up this morning all excited about the new ipod releases and whatever else was going to come with it. so i go to apple.com and see that there is a new ipod touch!! wow! the 8gb model is $US229! thats a pretty good deal!

the 16gb is $US299, which isn't too bad. no biggie, i check out the apple.com.au store to see if its been updated yet, and it has.

i see the "From $329 AU" price tag for the 8gb and nearly fall over. what the hell apple? you can't just add an extra $100AU onto the price because we aren't in your country! if you convert US$229 its only US$282. this is pathetic apple, i know that you cant just compare things as easily as currency rates. but we aren't a country that has a weak economy. i just dont understand...

the AU$549 price tag on the 32gb comes out to be US$445, an extra US$45..

is this just me?? or does this whole thing just push you over the edge? i have an urge to get on ebay and buy one from the US, even with shipping it would still be less!

*shrug* oh well.

 

[dukebound85]

there are more factors in price than just conversion rates......

 

[Schtumple]

Actually if you add on Sales Tax, which isn't shown, you probably find that the price difference isn't that large, and hey, atleast it isn't the UK £170 for 8GB, $350 (US), gotta love that inflation...

 

[DoFoT9]

vote with your wallet

poor uni student here...

*shrug* oh well.

for you maybe, not for me.

there are more factors in price than just conversion rates......

yes i know. however its not like apple needs to make as much profit on their ipods... come on it just plain annoys me that their profits are through the roof yet we see no price cuts or anything..

 

[DoFoT9]

Actually if you add on Sales Tax, which isn't shown, you probably find that the price difference isn't that large, and hey, atleast it isn't the UK £170 for 8GB, $350 (US), gotta love that inflation...

so u kno what i mean then

 

[TEG]

there are more factors in price than just conversion rates......

Exactly... shipping, duty/import charges, adding 'u' to many words needlessly . Have you compared the prices of other items sold in the US with what is sold in OZ? I just had this discussion with someone complaing about the prices in the UK, and compared to other items, it is actually a discount.

TEG

 

[Chundles]

Economy of scale.

Australia and the US - roughly the same size and distance from the factory.

20 million people here, 370 million people there. Makes it much easier to sell at a lower price where you know you're going to make back the lesser margin on the volume of sales.

Then there are all the other variables.

In the end, we pay more - it's not immoral it's just the way things work. You can't go basing prices off the exchange rate alone.

 

[Schtumple]

so u kno what i mean then

Yes, but what I'm saying is the US store does always look far more enticing because Sales Tax is not shown, I can't remember the percentage that Sales Tax comes to, it varies per state, but it comes pretty close to VAT over here, which is shown in our prices. So overall, your not as bad off as you think.

 

[DoFoT9]

Exactly... shipping, duty/import charges, adding 'u' to many words needlessly . Have you compared the prices of other items sold in the US with what is sold in OZ? I just had this discussion with someone complaing about the prices in the UK, and compared to other items, it is actually a discount.

TEG

no idea about how to add in duty prices and everything else, nor do i have the patience lol.

heres a quick comparison between an Intel CPU E8500

US $189.99
AU $220.

a lot closer in price than what the ipod is.

harddrive prices are pretty much comparable. a WD (green thing) is around $165AU here, about $150US...

 

[DoFoT9]

Economy of scale.

Australia and the US - roughly the same size and distance from the factory.

20 million people here, 370 million people there. Makes it much easier to sell at a lower price where you know you're going to make back the lesser margin on the volume of sales.

Then there are all the other variables.

In the end, we pay more - it's not immoral it's just the way things work. You can't go basing prices off the exchange rate alone.

ok then i guess..
just wish it were a bit more obvious and comparable. it annoys me that we are forced to pay this increased price because we are small, hate to see what other countries have!

Yes, but what I'm saying is the US store does always look far more enticing because Sales Tax is not shown, I can't remember the percentage that Sales Tax comes to, it varies per state, but it comes pretty close to VAT over here, which is shown in our prices. So overall, your not as bad off as you think.

sales tax is somewhat like GST?? thats pretty silly that they dont show it i wasnt aware of that!! i guess that will put the price up a tad, thanks for that

 

[dukebound85]

no idea about how to add in duty prices and everything else, nor do i have the patience lol.

heres a quick comparison between an Intel CPU E8500

US $189.99
AU $220.

a lot closer in price than what the ipod is.

harddrive prices are pretty much comparable. a WD (green thing) is around $165AU here, about $150US...

the us price doesnt include sales tax though. does the au one?

i always anticipate paying 10% in taxes when bugeting for things (usually tax is around there or a tad less)

 

[Schtumple]

sales tax is somewhat like GST?? thats pretty silly that they dont show it i wasnt aware of that!! i guess that will put the price up a tad, thanks for that

VAT VAT is a 17.5% tax on all items sold in the UK, if an item is going to be sold at £10, VAT puts the price up to £11.75

In the US the sales tax can be as high as 20%, I could be wrong though, but I think Californians and New Yorkers pay by far the most in terms of Sales Tax.

 

[telf22]

i know what you mean op. but i moved to nyc from aus a few yr ago so yerrr...it sux

 

[DoFoT9]

VAT VAT is a 17.5% tax on all items sold in the UK, if an item is going to be sold at £10, VAT puts the price up to £11.75

In the US the sales tax can be as high as 20%, I could be wrong though, but I think Californians and New Yorkers pay by far the most in terms of Sales Tax.

wow thats pretty heffty!! we pay a 10% GST (goods and services tax) but that is already included in the price, so there is no extra prices that we pay. i dont understand why the VAT isn't included for you?? i guess youd get used to it though.

 

[dukebound85]

VAT VAT is a 17.5% tax on all items sold in the UK, if an item is going to be sold at £10, VAT puts the price up to £11.75

In the US the sales tax can be as high as 20%, I could be wrong though, but I think Californians and New Yorkers pay by far the most in terms of Sales Tax.

here is a link on state sales tax
http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/sales.html

keep in mind that this does not include city or county sales tax which are in addition to state sales tax

 

[dukebound85]

wow thats pretty heffty!! we pay a 10% GST (goods and services tax) but that is already included in the price, so there is no extra prices that we pay. i dont understand why the VAT isn't included for you?? i guess youd get used to it though.

you do get used to it. i really wish though that the price you see is the out the door price

it sucks getting enticed for something at 150 and knowing you will be paying close to 170+ for the item for example at check out. or when i bought my motorcycle advertised for 3500 and paying over 3800 out the door. quite a big difference


i mean gasoline here has the tax included in the price advertised. why retailers dont follow suit i dont know

 

[DoFoT9]

i know what you mean op. but i moved to nyc from aus a few yr ago so yerrr...it sux

hows the prices going compared to living in aus for ya? the fact that the taxes are so high is kinda wierd, mustnt be a very good government jks.

 

[DoFoT9]

you do get used to it. i really wish though that the price you see is the out the door price

it sucks getting enticed for something at 150 and knowing you will be paying close to 170+ for the item for example at check out


i mean gasoline here has the tax included in the price advertised. why retailers dont follow suit i dont know

now that is pathetic. if we barter a tv for $1500 then we will pay 1500 (plus maybe a credit fee or two).

on the receipt we can see how must the tax was etcetc. do the taxes that you pay go towards the government? im guessing they do.. the company wouldnt see anything of that.

 

[dukebound85]

now that is pathetic. if we barter a tv for $1500 then we will pay 1500 (plus maybe a credit fee or two).

on the receipt we can see how must the tax was etcetc. do the taxes that you pay go towards the government? im guessing they do.. the company wouldnt see anything of that.

no the company doesnt see any of it, it's all government


on a tangent, when you guys work at say 40k/year is that income figured after taxes as in you take it home or is it like here where you take home ~75-80% of stated income due to taxes, medicare, ss and such. like i know an advertised 8/hr job is really around 6/hr that you actually receive


for example, i was making 1675/month but only saw 1200-1300 on my checks after taxes and such.

 

[doubleohseven]

The iPod touch has gone down $70 for the 8GB in Australia in comparison from the older (or yesterday's) model, so I'm not complaining. However I do understand your point. Currently US $229 buys AU $285.

 

[Schtumple]

wow thats pretty heffty!! we pay a 10% GST (goods and services tax) but that is already included in the price, so there is no extra prices that we pay. i dont understand why the VAT isn't included for you?? i guess youd get used to it though.

I honestly thought you'd typed VAT wrong when you first put GST

 

[DoFoT9]

no the company doesnt see any of it, it's all government


on a tangent, when you guys work at say 40k/year is that income figured after taxes as in you take it home or is it like here where you take home ~75-80% of stated income due to taxes, medicare, ss and such. like i know an advertised 8/hr job is really around 6/hr that you actually receive


for example, i was making 1675/month but only saw 1200-1300 on my checks after taxes and such.

stupid government.

|_ no we get taxed weekly/fornightly/whatever. say i get 500 a week i will get taxed however much (depending on my tax bracket). at the end of the year we can claim certain things back yada yada.

The iPod touch has gone down $70 for the 8GB in Australia in comparison from the older (or yesterday's) model, so I'm not complaining. However I do understand your point. Currently US $229 buys AU $285.

well thats a start!! i wonder how much it has reduced in the US.

that was kind of my point, i wish our dollar would come back up so that our exchange rates were better, might definately think about grabbing an ebay ipod then eheh

 

[TraceyS/FL]

now that is pathetic. if we barter a tv for $1500 then we will pay 1500 (plus maybe a credit fee or two).

on the receipt we can see how must the tax was etcetc. do the taxes that you pay go towards the government? im guessing they do.. the company wouldnt see anything of that.

Sale tax can goa variety of places.

Can go something like this:

State: 5%
County: 2% (orange county FL has a HUGE hotel tax rate)
Local: .5% (or sometimes penny per dollar, or penny per sale - that is what built our library here, a 1 cent tax).

So the prices Apple would have on their sight would vary GREATLY from State to State (some have no sales tax, some have 10%). It's not a national thing - so it could never be priced that way.

It just depends on where you live. Mine is 7% in my county here in FL, and 6.5% 4 miles up the road in the next county.