Multiple country Apple price comparision

[eddyg]

I thought I'd through together a chart in Excel showing the various prices that you may pay for an Apple powerbook 15" superdrive, and an dual G5.

The results show that as expected it is almost cheaper to fly to the USA to buy a Powerbook, no matter where in the world you live. This is a viable option given that Apple offer world wide warranties on portable equipment.

On the Dual G5's if you're outside of the USA you're in trouble. Obviously Apple are taking into account that flying to the USA for purchase is no longer an option, and therefore the US price vs the rest of the world is even more out of whack.

Australia and NZ are closer to the point of manufacture than either the USA or the UK and that the average salary in Aus and NZ is a *lot* less than in the USA or UK (about half, making the effective price even higher!). So I don't know what Apple is thinking.

 

[Bhennies]

Please come to New York and have a great vacation! We neeeeed money in our shoddy economy (even though Republicans say it's growing- liars).

 

[abc123]

the plane ticket (return) alone to the US is about the same price as a powerbook bought in australia. so not a better deal at all
i guess they can afford to sell them for less in america because the market is so much bigger.

 

[Doebldodl]

Don't forget customs, taxes, and warranty, though

Does your research include taxes and customs? If you import a powerbook from the US to the European Union, you have to pay taxes (in Germany: 16% VAT) as well as custom fees (another 10%?).

Also, if you buy a powerbook in the EU, the law grants you a two-year "warranty" which entitles you to free repair if the defect was present at time of sale. Of course, Apple has to account for this "warranty", too - and the customer pays for it. Given that Apple USA grants you only a year of warranty, you should also add another 200$ for half an AppleCare plan to get EU-like status.

All of this easily explains the extra costs - in the EU, that is.

Why is french cheese so expensive in the US? Taxes and customs...

 

[takao]

Does your research include taxes and customs? If you import a powerbook from the US to the European Union, you have to pay taxes (in Germany: 16% VAT) as well as custom fees (another 10%?).

Also, if you buy a powerbook in the EU, the law grants you a two-year "warranty" which entitles you to free repair if the defect was present at time of sale. Of course, Apple has to account for this "warranty", too - and the customer pays for it. Given that Apple USA grants you only a year of warranty, you should also add another 200$ for half an AppleCare plan to get EU-like status.

All of this easily explains the extra costs - in the EU, that is.

Why is french cheese so expensive in the US? Taxes and customs...

1. no import/export custom fees for computers in the EU.period.
2. the eu wide "gewährleistungsfrist" is _no_ warranty this will only protect the customer from things like the ibook logical board problem which means the defect was present at point of sale which _you_ as a customer has to proof it
funny why other computer/electronic manufacturer don't had to increase prices because of this
3.for a 2 ghz dual powermac you have to pay 335 dollar more.... (when i first take away the VAT of the european price of course) ...thats a ipod difference or a few ram sticks

sure on some products (2-3 out of 20+) the difference is only 7-9% percent but that is still a lot .. and some o nthe other hand are over 25 more expensive...
and of course in the UK and UAS they are even more expensive i think

 

[aus_dave]

The results show that as expected it is almost cheaper to fly to the USA to buy a Powerbook, no matter where in the world you live.

Not sure where you are getting your $400 US return ticket to the US and back to Australia, but I'll have one too .

I remember researching this and finding some US-based stores prepared to ship a G5 to Australia for around $200 or so. The customs duty is an added extra so the landed cost in Australia would be pretty close to the Apple store price anyway. Most Australian retailers are prepared to offer a slight discount too (maybe $100-$200), depending on what you purchase.

Australian-made goods are relatively expensive in London or New York so it all works out in the end .

 

[DGFan]

This isn't limited to Apple. A Dell 8300 that I just configured in the US store and UK store came out to:

US: $1717 which converts today to 961 pounds
UK: 1102 pounds excluding VAT

That's 14% more. I am guessing something is going on here that people just aren't aware of. Either that or the US companies have decided to band together to rape the citizens of other countries.

 

[yamabushi]

Costs are often higher for US businesses when operating in foreign countries. Economies of scale can be reduced in addition to the added costs for running a multinational operation. Currency risks are often managed in ways that reduce risk but increase exchange costs. Pricing is considered to be part of the marketing of a product lineup and could result in a variety of prices and profit margins depending on the target market. All of this makes it pretty pointless to debate the fairness of a particular price for a particular product in a particular area.

Of course shrewd consumers can and should compare prices including tax and shipping costs for an identical product and warranty that they can receive form various laocations and vendors. Get the best deal you can find but be wary of a deal that seems to good to be true.

 

[DGFan]

Pricing like this often even happens in the US. There are people who hunt for bargain used cars in the midwest and then drive them down south to be sold (or is it the other way around??). Anyway, it's not just an international phenomenom. It happens in the good-old-U-S-of-A too.

 

[Mantat]

When apple release a product, the price is fixed until the next revision. Apple never adjust the price according to the economy. So even if the canadian economy fall down and 1$ US = 100$ CAN, Apple wont lose a single buck.

Why? Because they use brokers who can fix a certain exchange rate for the futur x months. So no mater the variation of the exchange rate, apple always make the same amount of profit on every sale. This is a common business pratice when you are dealing in other countries and you dont what to take any financial risk related to exchange rate.

 

[yamabushi]

Such hedging actions are rarely in the exact amount that would have been required and almost always involve extra costs beyond what would be experienced without a currency exchange. Also, even with these methods it is common to realize a loss or gain on the currency transactions at the end of the fiscal year.