Apples Price Politics...

[lowendlinux]

What is this?

Don't you know that since we are European, unlike the US, our prices already have the sales tax included? And that is about 24% in the EU?

MwSt in Germany is 19% not 24.

I'm sure part of the difference is warranty and localization.

 

[seme332]

What is this?

Don't you know that since we are European, unlike the US, our prices already have the sales tax included? And that is about 24% in the EU?

Well, I DID say that I included US Tax in my calculations, so your comment is actually not of any use for this. The price difference persists and is exactly what I said if you calculate with US Tax included.

 

[lowendlinux]

Well, I DID say that I included US Tax in my calculations, so your comment is actually not of any use for this. The price difference persists and is exactly what I said if you calculate with US Tax included.

There is no US tax each state taxes differently but yes Mac's are more expensive here and so is the cost of service.

 

[AppliedMicro]

When you buy a new iPhone 6s 16GB in the US in NYC, the price is 706$ with Tax included. Buy the same iPhone in Germany, and you pay 817$!

USA:
iPhone 6s, 16GB, price from Apple in the US: 649 USD before taxes.
That's approximately 595 EUR before taxes.

Germany:
Retail price including VAT, from Apple: 739 EUR
VAT is 19% of the net price, that is 118 EUR.
Which gives a price excluding VAT: 621 EUR

Real price difference for German customers: 26 EUR - or 4.4%

That's not much in my book. Especially if you consider the longer two year period for customers claims as mandated by EU law. Anything else is just due to higher tax rates in Germany, different copyright levies, etc. Remember, it is not Apple who are liable to VAT - it is you as the consumer. Apple only collects tax on behalf of the governments.

It get's even worse with their new iMacs: iMac 27" 5K Retina (Base model) in the US = 1.917$ (Tax included). The same iMac in Germany = 2.319$. This just blows my mind. Does it cost them 400$ per iMac to ship'em to Germany?

US price before sales tax: 1799 USD ≈ 1649 EUR
German price without VAT: 2099 EUR / 1.19 ≈ 1764 EUR

Real price difference: 115 EUR - or 7%

Does it cost them 400$ per iMac to ship'em to Germany?

They are directly shipped from Asia anyway. Does a price difference of 7% or app. 100 USD seem all that unreasonable to you, to cover higher costs, localisation and currency fluctuations for the European market?

 

[Zirel]

MwSt in Germany is 19% not 24.

I'm sure part of the difference is warranty and localization.

Doesn't matter, you live in the EU, the price has to be the same for everyone.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Doesn't matter, you live in the EU, the price has to be the same for everyone.

Different EU countries have different tax rates. And companies are free to set different prices in different EU countries. - Though Apple's net prices are usually pretty much identical throughout Europe - and then adjusted for local currency, levies and rounded to the next price barrier.

Less income tax.

You wish 😀

Better social benefits, public transport, universal health care etc. are worth mentioning though.

 

[Zirel]

Well, I DID say that I included US Tax in my calculations, so your comment is actually not of any use for this. The price difference persists and is exactly what I said if you calculate with US Tax included.

Europe:

iMac 5K: 2099€

Without the 24% tax: 1692€

USA:

iMac 5K: $1799

In Euros: 1,646.40€

..........................

So much whining for a 46€.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Without the 24% tax: 1692€

In Germany, VAT is only 19%. So the difference is almost 2.5 times that. In Finland, the only EUR country to actually have a 24% VAT rate, the iMacs costs another 50 EUR more.

That, however, doesn't change the conclusion at all:

Can somebody explain to me how this is fair in any kind of way? I don't get it!

There's no "evil european pricing" conspiracy going on at Apple. 😉

You are liable to German value added tax.
US customers are liable to US sales tax.

Tax rates are higher in Germany.

That's pretty much it. At current currency rates, you pay more in Germany, primarily due to the higher tax rate. Besides that, price difference is only a single digit percentage. That pretty much sums it up.

As another example, consider Switzerland, which borders Germany and has a VAT rate of only 8%: The iMac costs app. 1749 EUR without taxes, and the iPhone is 648 EUR (CHF converted to EUR).

 

[Zirel]

In Germany, VAT is only 19%. So the difference is almost 2.5 times that. In Finland, the only EUR country to actually have a 24% VAT rate, the iMacs costs another 50 EUR more.

There are other € countries with 23%, and other taxes being paid in EU countries.

And you have a 10% discount for students. Which for some cases, make them cheaper than the US.

Doesn't matter than in your country the sales tax is 19%, the price has to be the same in the EU, it's the law, the same merchant has to make same prices for everyone in the EU, and if it weren't, everybody would have went to the lowest tax country.