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European Mac Prices vs american?

Grokgod

Grokgod

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 26, 2002
906
0
Deep within the heart of madness!
greetings all....

I am in the middle of moving to East Germany from the states and was also thinking about selling my Ti book 800 for the newer Alubook.

Are prices much higher in Euro or is it the same since the Euro is of equal value.

Does Apple ship there or whatever...
Any information on this subject would be very useful thank you!
 
1) It cost a lot more to buy in Europe b/c of the VAT and added cost by Apple to have them there.

2) On-line you can only ship to a US address, however calling up the Apple Store, you may be able to explain you situation and just pay for the extra shiping.

3) You should also check out the Apple speciality stores on the webpage if you are a)in School b) Working for the Government or c) if your company has a contract from Apple.

TEG
 
Far as i know, apple ships everywhere. In all countries other than America (or the vast majority) there is a duty on the purchase, VAT or value-added tax... so it will be more expensive in germany than here...

i would buy one here and take it over, definitely!

i don't actually know the current exchange rate for the euro, but it fluctuates constantly...

pnw
 
Used to be that Apple seemed to just change the dollar sign for the pound and hope we'd pay up, but a quick look at the US and UK stores shows that it's about even now, given the £/$ exchange rate.

The $/? rate is currently 0.92 Euros to the Dollar, so it'll look expensive from your side but it isn't really that bad.

You can order over which ever Apple site you're near, they'll ship it to you.

Global marketing has it's good side:)
 
Vat!>?

This value added tax is an interesting and irritating turn of events.
when you add the additional costs of the currency exchange though small it certianly adds up when you talking about the few thousand dollars that it costs for an ALubook.

So according to my caluculations the VAT is approximately 500 dollars. what is the percentage rate used to charge the VAT?

thanks for the help guys!
 
1. prices are much higher... see 2.

2. german apple store (-> yes, they ship to germany)

3. 'East Germany'...? you do know that the berlin wall has fallen, do you ;)?

[edit: forgot to conclude: i would buy the alubook in the states and maybe sell the tibook in germany...]
 
Outrageous Pricing - Poor Service.

I am in Europe at the moment and have experienced some difficulty with the service and support here.

The price difference is not justified by VAT, I am in Bruxelles and the VAT is 21% but an airport card retails for €144. There is sales tax in the US aswell. The approximate price relationship I have found is that if you look at the price apple charges in Canada and change the Canadian $ sign for the € then you have the Eurozone price. Definitely buy in the US.

As far as the support issues -it took four and a half hours of bureaucratic nonsense to get a replacement battery for my TiBook. They would not recognize my Apple Care which is international and it took a prolonged phone call to Apple to resolve the issue which was made on my mobile phone and cost a decent chunk of the price of a new battery in addition the apple care number here is not a toll free call like in the states.
 
holy spit!

The VAT is 21 % that is crazy!
and the call to Apple care is NOT toll free...
damn,,,!

What about the internet, do they have cable modem access, there? I heard that they pay by the minute of use...is that possible?

What about electrical problem with plugging in a Alubook bought in the states and used in Germany. By the way , the East Germanys do not like to be associates with the west,. as far as I know.. L:)

Maybe it would be better to buy here and even sell my Ti book in germany but then I would have to carry around 2 computers n the trip ,,whew!
 
Power is not an issue.

One of the things apple handles very well is the power issue - the power supply for all PBooks since the G3s has been essentially global in addition to that the little plastic section with the prongs on it is detachable and apple sells a world travel kit with european plugs that slide on - or you could buy a little adapter prong for €2.50

They have ADSL here and in Germany - you dont pay per minute. You pay per minute with dialup twice - first for the online time and second on the phone time.

All the base ADSL modems are USB here (strikes me as idiotic) so for a real ethernet ADSL modem I had to pay virtually €200 but then the Telco/ISP has locked the settings to prevent bridging and changed the way I am supposed to logon to the modem CLI or web control panel to change the settings. End result no 802.11 for me. I believe it can be made to work it is just a matter of wrestling the telco.

Travelling with a Ti or Al Book is a breeze and if you sell it in Europe you will fetch a considerably higher price - but - apple is not very popular here so finding a buyer would be more complex and the national Ebays are dead except the English from what I have seen.
 
Re: Power is not an issue.

Originally posted by conceptdev
One of the things apple handles very well is the power issue - the power supply for all PBooks since the G3s has been essentially global in addition to that the little plastic section with the prongs on it is detachable and apple sells a world travel kit with european plugs that slide on - or you could buy a little adapter prong for ?2.50
Click to expand...

Correct...

Originally posted by conceptdev
They have ADSL here and in Germany - you dont pay per minute. You pay per minute with dialup twice - first for the online time and second on the phone time.
Click to expand...

Wrong... You just pay for the time being online. There is no double charging.

You also have flat rates for your ADSL connection with unlimited download and online time.

Originally posted by conceptdev
All the base ADSL modems are USB here (strikes me as idiotic) so for a real ethernet ADSL modem I had to pay virtually ?200 but then the Telco/ISP has locked the settings to prevent bridging and changed the way I am supposed to logon to the modem CLI or web control panel to change the settings.
Click to expand...

I don't know what you are talking about, but whoch Telco you are talking about? We have more than one here in Germany and I never heard about something like that before...

groovebuster
 
Re: holy spit!

Originally posted by Grokgod
The VAT is 21 % that is crazy!
and the call to Apple care is NOT toll free...
damn,,,!

What about the internet, do they have cable modem access, there? I heard that they pay by the minute of use...is that possible?

What about electrical problem with plugging in a Alubook bought in the states and used in Germany. By the way , the East Germanys do not like to be associates with the west,. as far as I know.. L:)

Maybe it would be better to buy here and even sell my Ti book in germany but then I would have to carry around 2 computers n the trip ,,whew!
Click to expand...

Calm down, in Germany the sales tax is "only" 16%. You don't seem to know a lot about Germany considering you are moving there. But you know that the east germans don't want to be associated with the west germans? Maybe some, but those people have still socialism in their heads, so be careful. So who gave you that information? It is always dangerous to generalize. Most people I know from the east or/and the west get along together pretty well.

To check out if Apple is "available" in Germany it would have been enough to try

http://www.apple.de

The prices in the german Apple store are extremly high. If you want to find better prices that are closer to the exchange rates, try

http://www.mac-preise.de

Have fun,

groovebuster

P.S.: Before I forget... english keyboards are not very popular here in Germany. So you'll have a hard time to sell your TiBook here. And also if you really need an english keyboard, buy your PowerBook in the US, since they only sell german (localized) PowerBooks here. The english keyboard is a spare part they charge extra for... Or you order in the UK, but Apple prices are higher there compared to Germany. It is up to you...
 
Belgium

Groovebuster:

I have just finished relocating to Belgium so - I was trying to share as much information on potential issues as possible. I should have put in a disclaimer stating I was in Belgium though I mentioned I was in Bruxelles.

Apples policy of making retailers keep a standard price on its product seems to extend to Europe as well though
 
Thank for the german internet information.
I take it that there isnt any chance of getting cable access which is my favorite.

I am going to be moving to Wiamer.
ANd your right I dont know very much about the area other than what my girlfriend has told me, she has been here in the states for about 6 months and from her broken english it is sometimes difficult to get all my questions answered, she is also not computer literate.

She does say that its very beautiful and far better a place to live in than the states.

She gave me the information about dial ups being charged by the minute.
Which I thought was really bizarre.

INteresting to know that an english keyboard laptop would be hard to sell, thanks for that information.

I never tried ASDL with my airport base station anyone know if that works ok? Always had cable in the past.

Does everyone use mostly Pcheese's in Germany. Is Mac used less than in the states because of costs?

Maybe I better buy a Pcheese laptop also before I go there?
 
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