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Apple currency exchange in Australia is ridiculous!

tongteh

tongteh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 16, 2008
415
4
Hello all, I guess the tittle is pretty much self-explanatory. The apple currency exchange in Australia is totally ridiculous!

Currently
MacBook Pro 15inch 2.66hz
U.S price: US$2199
Australia price: AU$2798.00

US$2199 at today's conversion rate is only ~ AU$2268!! That's an additional AU$500 differences from the currency exchange! I mean don't you think this is ridiculous?

This happened before during the financial crisis in 1year ago! Where apple increase the australia's product price due to weak currency exchange but left it the same when australian currency exchange was strong?

What do you all think? comment? observations.

Thanks
 
Remember that US prices don't include taxes. Apple would have to change the prices all the time if they followed the exchange rates. Sometimes it means higher prices but sometimes you get stuff for very cheap.

Remember what happened when Apple lowered the price of original iPhone? People went crazy and in the end Apple had to give refunds to buyers who bought it for the original 599$.
 
spinnerlys said:
What about GST?
Australian prices include it, US American don't.
Click to expand...

There's also this. From my calculations when trying to guess the price of the new iPhone, every popular (macs, ipods) Apple product from the last 3 years come with a price tag of 1.25-1.33x the price listed on the US online store. The bottom end of the range usually results from a strong Aussie dollar.
 
No, the Aussie price is not ridiculous at all, look at the New Zealand price :eek:

MBP 15" 2.66 i7 = NZ$3883 :eek:
NZ$3883 = US$2881 or AU$2,976

Includes 15% GST though. Still ridiculous!
 
Apple NZ said:
No, the Aussie price is not ridiculous at all, look at the New Zealand price :eek:

MBP 15" 2.66 i7 = NZ$3883 :eek:
NZ$3883 = US$2881 or AU$2,976

Includes 15% GST though. Still ridiculous!
Click to expand...

Still less than what we pay

MBP 15" i7 = 2217€
2217€ = 3054US or 3149AUS or 4109NZ

Our prices include 23% VAT though so everything is expensive here, especially Apple products
 
even if it's 10% GST, but it doesn't equate to AU$500!! like i said early, it's kinda ridiculous. I understand apple can't change their price tag every week or so, but now that the currency exchange is almost 1 to 1 compare to back then 0.80 to 1. there should be sufficient reasons to change the price tags in australia.
 
tongteh said:
even if it's 10% GST, but it doesn't equate to AU$500!! like i said early, it's kinda ridiculous. I understand apple can't change their price tag every week or so, but now that the currency exchange is almost 1 to 1 compare to back then 0.80 to 1. there should be sufficient reasons to change the price tags in australia.
Click to expand...

If your GST is 10%, then the GST-less price is 2518AUS which is only 2442US so only ~250$ more than what US people pay. It's still money but you can't always win.

1.5 years ago when pound was fairly weak against Euro, I remember that Macs in UK were like 50% cheaper than they were in Finland. An update came and £ prices went up hundreds. Apple didn't change the price before an update so in that case, Apple was losing money.
 
the macbook 15inch price change was only significant during the 2009 revision. over the course of 1 year, the australia dollar has changed very much! Yet apple is still hedging to the exchange rate during the crisis instead of the new strong australia foreign exchange.
 
tongteh said:
the macbook 15inch price change was only significant during the 2009 revision. over the course of 1 year, the australia dollar has changed very much! Yet apple is still hedging to the exchange rate during the crisis instead of the new strong australia foreign exchange.
Click to expand...

Quick, dirty (current MBP was released on April 13, 2010):

2199$USD * 0.926 AUD/USD on April 13 2010 * ~1.15 for Customs+GST = ~$2731

And finally, there's probably some added 'costs' like the local adaptor, some local prep work, whatever. Get it now?
 
I suppose the data has not been updated, or it is an error. You just have to wait for the correction. :cool:
 
Ok, I'll bite.

Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Enough said. The competition should be over with regards to pricing.

15" MacBook Pro 2.66Ghz. US$3.035 or AUS$3.132 ...

You also have to factor in that you probably earn more than the average american.

Update: Ok, clearly the Brazilians win this battle ;)
 
wow and to think i was complaining about the price i paid for my macbook pro in singapore which is 1788SGD = 1359USD at today's rate for the 13 inch 2.4GHZ C2D.

US store sells the same model for 1199

For the guys staying in AU, EU, UK, etc i seriously suggest staving off any apple purchase until you are visiting the US (if you have such a trip planned in the near future). With the US dollar set to drop like a rock...you can get amazing deals if you buy there...provided of course, you're not american :p and assuming of course apple doesnt decide to revise its prices (though i expect it will have to, pretty soon..the imbalances are starting to get a little ridiculous)

Other than that if you're visiting asia...hong kong prices are pretty damn good too, and its 100% tax free.

singapore is decent too if you happen to visit on transit or something (particularly if you're aussie since most flights from aussie to anywhere else in the world typically transits in singapore). You can buy at list price at the airport less 7% GST which is fairly competitive (marginally more expensive than US after subtracting GST, without the hassle of voltage conversion since, like AU, Singapore is also on 220V, particularly if you are buying an AC model like an imac or apple cinema display). but it seems like the US and HK are pretty much unbeatable in terms of absolute price savings
 
Exchange rate is just one factor to consider when doing business internationally.
 
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