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john_satc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 14, 2005
398
0
B'ham Uk
I went to HMV in Birmingham today and they are selling iPods with up to 120 pounds off each! i asked why and they said they were being discontinued. any ideas as to why?
 

john_satc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 14, 2005
398
0
B'ham Uk
oh thanks

its a great deal! i have reserved a 30 gig ipod photo for £249 - down from £359! i didnt even know stores could do that, sell apple products for less than what apple tells them to - something like the minimum selling price. :confused:
 

john_satc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 14, 2005
398
0
B'ham Uk

watcher2001

macrumors 6502a
Blue Velvet said:
Err...retail price for a 30gb ipod photo is...£248.99
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...4dO36lr/0.0.11.1.0.6.13.0.1.1.3.0.5.1.2.1.1.0

No great deal, just the usual deal.

I have a question regarding prices in the UK... I note on this post that a 30GB iPod photo is £248.99. at current conversion rates that equals 465 us dollars. however if I order one on the US site they are only $349 US. Breaking that down comes to $115.00 or £62.00 more.. Am I converting this wrong or are you guys getting ripped off?
 

Ringu

macrumors member
Mar 20, 2005
95
0
watcher2001 said:
I have a question regarding prices in the UK... I note on this post that a 30GB iPod photo is £248.99. at current conversion rates that equals 465 us dollars. however if I order one on the US site they are only $349 US. Breaking that down comes to $115.00 or £62.00 more.. Am I converting this wrong or are you guys getting ripped off?

The UK is being ripped off, as usual
 

john_satc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 14, 2005
398
0
B'ham Uk
Ringu said:
The UK is being ripped off, as usual

yes we are, as usual, being ripped off.

which is why when i hopefully go to the states to do a year in uni, i will be bying an iMac then for myself to save loads.
 

bentley

macrumors 6502
Mar 20, 2005
252
1
we're not getting ripped off badly

you're looking at it in terms of exchange rates as opposed to purchasing parity.
 

dogsbody

macrumors regular
Jun 13, 2004
120
0
Channel Islands
Don't forget that the UK are paying VAT sales tax as well.

So, the iPod Photo 30Gb is:-

£211 before VAT, which is $395.93

i.e only $46.93 more, which equates to £25.12.

And that's using currency-exchange rates from x-rates.com. The actual exchange value is probably not quite so good, so Brits only pay an extra £20 in actuality, which, considering that the dollar is weaker than usual, is acceptable I reckon.
 

mpw

Guest
Jun 18, 2004
6,363
1
Ringu said:
The UK is being ripped off, as usual

Why do so many people in the UK think they're being ripped off, because that's what they're told by the papers?

The difference in price taking account for taxes etc. between the US and UK Apple stores is by my calculations around 9.8%. I know that I can show a bigger differential between shops in my town than this and I'm pretty sure there are other companies that have far bigger differentials. 9.8% isn't that bad considering Apple are hitting price points, allowing for higher cost of business etc.

here's a post of mine from another thread in January so the prices may have changed but the gist is the same;
mpw said:
I get kinda mad when people complain how much Apple charge for their products in the UK. OK there is a difference but then there is a completely different market so why should Apple have a global price? On this occasion I've actually gone out of my way to find out how much we're being screwed by.

Apple Mac mini in the US $499 which converts to £267. Apple UK charge £289 so there's an 'overcharge' of about 8%. Now take into account the different wages operating cost etc. that, to me doesn't seem so bad.

Dell 2400 in the US $459 which converts to £245. Dell UK charge £380 so there's an 'overcharge' of 55%. Err where's the complaint about Dells pricing?

Now I know there's a slight difference in the spec. of the the two Dells but that's little more than bundled software and warranties.

Also I think you'll find that Apples 20" Cinema Display comes out about £6 or $11 cheaper in the UK than the US.
 

Loge

macrumors 68030
Jun 24, 2004
2,821
1,310
England
john_satc said:
yes we are, as usual, being ripped off.

which is why when i hopefully go to the states to do a year in uni, i will be bying an iMac then for myself to save loads.

Worth remembering though that iMacs purchased in the US tend to be single voltage (100-120V), whereas iMacs purchased in the UK are dual voltage (100-240V). As previous posters have said, the price difference is less once you allow for sales tax.
 

ijustin

macrumors newbie
Mar 16, 2005
14
0
mpw said:
Why do so many people in the UK think they're being ripped off, because that's what they're told by the papers?

The difference in price taking account for taxes etc. between the US and UK Apple stores is by my calculations around 9.8%. I know that I can show a bigger differential between shops in my town than this and I'm pretty sure there are other companies that have far bigger differentials. 9.8% isn't that bad considering Apple are hitting price points, allowing for higher cost of business etc.

here's a post of mine from another thread in January so the prices may have changed but the gist is the same;

How exactly are the costs of business higher here when we order something which is delivered from Taiwan?

As for being ripped off, if we pay more than somewhere else for the same stuff then we are being ripped off!
 

giveup

macrumors member
Dec 15, 2004
44
0
Canton
ijustin said:
How exactly are the costs of business higher here when we order something which is delivered from Taiwan?

As for being ripped off, if we pay more than somewhere else for the same stuff then we are being ripped off!

don't you think anyone in those english speaking countries is paid much much more than one from those country like Taiwan and China for doing a same exact kind of job? Think how much you got paid per hour and please dont say you are being ripped off, you have taken too much for granted.
 

ijustin

macrumors newbie
Mar 16, 2005
14
0
giveup said:
don't you think anyone in those english speaking countries is paid much much more than one from those country like Taiwan and China for doing a same exact kind of job? Think how much you got paid per hour and please dont say you are being ripped off, you have taken too much for granted.

What has that got to do with what I said? If something is being ordered and dispatched from Taiwan, then why should one country have to pay more than another for the same item? Also, I doubt that the difference in price has an effect on how much the people who make the product get paid. They don't get paid extra for making a machine which is being sent to the UK!

Back to the original topic...
 

Nickygoat

macrumors 6502a
Dec 11, 2004
992
0
London
ijustin said:
What has that got to do with what I said? If something is being ordered and dispatched from Taiwan, then why should one country have to pay more than another for the same item? Also, I doubt that the difference in price has an effect on how much the people who make the product get paid. They don't get paid extra for making a machine which is being sent to the UK!

Back to the original topic...
A number of reasons. Overheads - it's more expensive to do business here than, say, France due to population density. You have more people here per area then the price of renting or buying a store goes up. That's why houses are more expensive here, generally, than France.
Taxes - VAT here is 17.5%. In New York it's 8.5%. Some states are 0%. Is Apple supposed to drop their prices by 17.5%?.
Market size. The US has a population of what? 300 million. The UK has 60 million. If the percentage of people who want iPods (or anything else) is roughly the same that's still a market 5 times bigger. Buying (and importing in bulk) reduces costs.
There are many areas in the UK where rip off Britain is alive and well but this isn't one of them. Having said that I've bought most of my portable electronic gear in the States because it's cheaper :D
 

mpw

Guest
Jun 18, 2004
6,363
1
ijustin said:
How exactly are the costs of business higher here when we order something which is delivered from Taiwan?

As for being ripped off, if we pay more than somewhere else for the same stuff then we are being ripped off!

The delivery costs in the UK and Europe are higher than in the US for one thing so the last part of the journey costs more. The US store has a market many times the size of the individual european stores so again the operating cost will be higher.

As for being ripped off we're talking about less than 10% and as I said you'll find that difference between shops in the same town let alone any product compared internationally. Do you consider that you're being ripped off when Tesco sells beans for 12p when ASDA sells them 2p cheaper next door?
 

dotdotdot

macrumors 68020
Jan 23, 2005
2,391
44
If you really stop and think about it, every company rips people off...

How much money do you think Apple spends for anything??

They charge more in the UK than the US. If you go to Canada, they charge less there. Different places have different prices. If they sold by how much it costs to make the machines, a PowerMac Dual 2.5 w/ 4 gb ram fully loaded would cost at MOST $1,500.

Its amazing how far off topic this thread has gone, from HMV stopping iPods to Music Store by HMV to Money...

... something tells me this thread will be wastelanded... and if its not thats strange
 

watcher2001

macrumors 6502a
dotdotdot said:
Its amazing how far off topic this thread has gone, from HMV stopping iPods to Music Store by HMV to Money...

... something tells me this thread will be wastelanded... and if its not thats strange

I now what you mean. I am almost sorry I asked the question. It is interesting however to see the diverse perspectives on the economic process.
 
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