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Apple Bumps UK Prices as VAT Rises

firestarter said:
All Apple gear is shipped here direct from the Far East - as it is to the US!
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But I bet the leases on Covent Garden, Regent Street and the other Apple Stores (which are all, generally, in upmarket malls or shopping areas in the UK) aren't cheap, not to mention the staff for whom they have to be paid a British living wage, employer's national insurance contributions, pension fund etc.

I can't present any numbers, but this would account for some of the difference on top of currency fluctuation.
 
Biolizard said:
But I bet the leases on Covent Garden, Regent Street and the other Apple Stores (which are all, generally, in upmarket malls or shopping areas in the UK) aren't cheap.
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So why aren't Apple devices cheaper for online purchases? I'm sure a warehouse near Heathrow is nowhere near as expensive as Covent Garden.
 
Wooo! 0% Tax in Guernsey, Channel Isles. I think the lowest in Europe?
:D
Anyway, a 2.5% rise isn't that huge, except for very expensive items. Even a £1000 mac now costs only £20 more - and lets face it, if you're going to spend that much on a computer, the additional cost isn't really a huge factor..

One thing that REALLY annoys me though is Apple TV. It's ridiculously too expensive. £101 now. LOL!
 
jameskatt said:
In the U.S., Apple advertises the before-tax prices of its products, just like everyone else.

Why not advertise the pre-VAT price of its products in England?

Is it illegal to advertise the pre-VAT price in England?

After all, the tax on products varies from country to country.

The actual price before taxes is what the product's advertised price should be. This way, England can do what it wants with the VAT tax. But Apple's advertised prices will be the same everywhere in the world.
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1. Because it's confusing and miss-leading.

2. Yes, but somethings are exempt form that rule, like if you went to a wholesaler.

Also may I add that we only pay 1 tax, VAT, where often in the USA and Canada the consumer pays 2 taxes.
Not only that but the line of 20% VAT is about average for EU countries.
Also another point to add, it's not the current government to blame, fair enough they carried out this increase but it is only an end result of our previous governments actions which has basically, royally ****ed the UK well and truly up.
 
bigchrisfgb said:
1. Because it's confusing and miss-leading.
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I guess it's just a question of the way you were brought up, and what you're used to seeing. Personally, I'm not at all confused by seeing sales tax added at the register. I'm used to seeing it that way, and I think it's misleading for the government to deliberately obscure the amount of money they're skimming off the top of my purchases -- making it appear as though the seller was actually reaping the full benefit of the post-VAT price.
 
goosnarrggh said:
I guess it's just a question of the way you were brought up, and what you're used to seeing. Personally, I'm not at all confused by seeing sales tax added at the register. I'm used to seeing it that way, and I think it's misleading for the government to deliberately obscure the amount of money they're skimming off the top of my purchases -- making it appear as though the seller was actually reaping the full benefit of the post-VAT price.
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Yes, it has a lot to do with how you are brought up.

Even if the retailers weren't required to display the VAT inclusive price they wouldn't dare to do otherwise. The number of people who got to the checkout to find that the price is actually 20% higher than they expected would soon put them off. Shops don't really like customers complaining openly.

It is just the way it's done here, and in many other places. I know that many people get very confused by the pricing in the States, and can't work out why anyone would do it differently.

I'm sure the government like the fact that people aren't reminded how much tax they have paid every time they shop (although many retailers do show the VAT amount on receipts), but I think the official reason for the requirement is to avoid confusion.
 
It does make sense though - I've lost count of the number of times I've been in the USA and realised at the till that the price on the product isn't the price I'm going to pay, and the tax rate is never displayed in an obvious place for me to work it out, as it differs by state.

So the law here in the UK is so that you know what the price is going to be when you pick up the item. The fact that it helps the govt obscure their tax take is a bonus for them!
 
I can’t for the life of me see any benefit of seeing a “This is the price you would pay if it wasn’t for the tax” just display the price that I’m gonna have to pay if I want the item.
 
How is the government getting away with not telling you how much tax is paid?
The rate is 20%, so take 20% off the price to find out how much VAT you pay. By law you can also request a VAT receipt as well which tells you how much VAT you pay.

The simple fact is that when I see a price I know thats the price of the product, I don't have to calculate how much more on top of that I will pay, I also don't bother finding out how much tax I pay because I would have to pay it in anyway.

If I have £20 in my pocket, I know that I can buy something up to the value of £20, and not something up to the value of £18.
 
batchtaster said:
Boohoo. Without the 10% GST, Australian prices are a minimum of 1.1 * US prices (1.16 for base Mac Pro). They should in fact be lower, as the AUD has surpassed parity with the USD.
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but what are the import costs for a non Australian company to bring products into the country and sell them.

THat would be where some of the extra cost is coming from
 
charlituna said:
but what are the import costs for a non Australian company to bring products into the country and sell them.

THat would be where some of the extra cost is coming from
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Like a lot of other countries, I believe the import duty for computers into Australia is zero
 
hfletcher said:
Wooo! 0% Tax in Guernsey, Channel Isles. I think the lowest in Europe?
:D
Anyway, a 2.5% rise isn't that huge, except for very expensive items. Even a £1000 mac now costs only £20 more - and lets face it, if you're going to spend that much on a computer, the additional cost isn't really a huge factor..

One thing that REALLY annoys me though is Apple TV. It's ridiculously too expensive. £101 now. LOL!
Click to expand...

I thinik you meant to say, that if you can't haggle a 2.1% discount in a shop when spending £1000, the shops love you. Of course, getting a discount on Apple kit is always hard, if not impossible, but you should always be able to get them to throw in something extra (worth the 2.5%) for free, ie. a copy of Battlefield 2142, a copy of Sims Complete, a 5m high-quality USB2 cable, a high-quality 2m HDMI cable, a spinle of 50 Verbatim DVD-Rs, £30 off a disk upgrade to 1TB, £60 off a 2TB enterprise disk, etc, etc. All examples of what I've got just by asking when buying a Mac at full price.
 
To all Americans, Canadians, Swiss citizens (Switzerland is *not* part of the European Union and it actually has a reasonable VAT of 8% since the first of the year, up from 7.6% prior) and all other NON-EU nationals: You can go to ANY European country and go shopping, always keeping in mind that you will pay up to 25% LESS than EU citizens. Always ask for "Export papers" for any and all items you buy and you will literally get a nice, fat VAT refund check for everything you buy in overpriced Europe from the nice people at tax-refund booths, which are conveniently located at all EU airports. I go at least once a year and believe me, it adds up quickly!

This concludes the Public Service Announcement from CrunchDude Circle of Love. ;)
 
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