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Price Difference ipad2 UK - US

S

shavermcspud

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 25, 2008
41
0
Cambridge UK
Why is it in the UK the same 16GB wifi only ipad 2 is £100 more expensive than in the US?

Its $499 = £302 UK Pounds US apple store

Its £399 = $654 USD in the UK apple store

WTF

Please don't say import tax and VAT surely these should be priced the same across the board no, i know the exchange rate is fairly crap on the $ but that's a shed load different
 
Well it is VAT and import duty I'm afraid. Add 20% to £302 and you get £362, another £35 covers import duties, and the fact that apple UK have to pay more to operate here, things like employee benefits, NIC's etc.
 
US prices are shown without tax. US doesn't have uniform VAT. Instead, sales tax is added at the end. It ranges between around 0-10%. I'd guess 4% is about average.

$499 = £305

£399 = £332.50 without VAT.

The UK pays less than £30 more. No unreasonable.

Plus, we have other consumer advantages that make up for the difference in my opinion.
 
shavermcspud said:
Please don't say import tax and VAT surely these should be priced the same across the board no, i know the exchange rate is fairly crap on the $ but that's a shed load different
Click to expand...

There's no sales tax on the US prices, it's added at the point of sale.

Mind you, their sales taxes are a lot lower than ours.
 
Ah i forgot about the sales tax at the end in the us.

Vat and import tax thieving UK bastards ;)

UPDATE

I just went all the way through completing checkout on the US apple store site via my VPN connection right to the point of entering my card details and at no point was any tax added only $5 for shipping.
I entered my friends CA address which i believe is how tax is normally calculated but never showed anything

try it yourself! or am i really missing something here?
 
Last edited:
shavermcspud said:
Ah i forgot about the sales tax at the end in the us.

Vat and import tax thieving UK bastards ;)
Click to expand...

It's an even bigger joke for those who have Euros as their currency. Food and electronics are more expensive relative to in the UK with the pound. A PS3 game in France was selling for a ridiculous 70 euros, that's around £60! And £20 pounds more than I can find the same game in the UK in most retailers. Thing is, this isn't just limited to that particular store, almost the entirety of them are charging the same.

You also have to bear in mind that the average income in the UK is higher than many other western european countries. Living In the UK doesn't seem soo bad!
 
Last edited:
iStudentUK said:
US prices are shown without tax. US doesn't have uniform VAT. Instead, sales tax is added at the end. It ranges between around 0-10%. I'd guess 4% is about average.

$499 = £305

£399 = £332.50 without VAT.

The UK pays less than £30 more. No unreasonable.

Plus, we have other consumer advantages that make up for the difference in my opinion.
Click to expand...

This last point is often overlooked...
 
shavermcspud said:
or am i really missing something here
Click to expand...

Technically if Apple found out they could stop the order. But lots of people do it.

Buying from the US has big downsides- you have very few consumer rights in UK law. So you should purchase AppleCare or there is nothing you can really do if there is a fault.
 
Could we maybe sticky this for the next time someone rants on about uk / us prices and forgets UK prices include sales tax and the US doesn't, usually while going on a tear about Apple ripping off the UK Market?
 
MattZani said:
some states have 0% tax AFAIK
Click to expand...

And some plans with Apple don't pay shipping or tax like my iPad 2.

IPAD WI-FI 3G 32GB BLACK-USA $729.00
IPAD SMART COVER RED-US $69.00



SubTotal: $798.00
Tax: $0.00
Shipping Charge: $0.00
Total: $798.00
 
What's the warranty in the UK? I think you have mandatory warranties that exceed those that we get in the US.
 
OlgaJ said:
What's the warranty in the UK? I think you have mandatory warranties that exceed those that we get in the US.
Click to expand...

Apple's warranty is one year. This is in addition to the law that says all products must be of satisfactory quality and last a reasonable length of time. I'd say 2 years for an iPad reasonable? Takes a bit of persistence, but I have learned not to bother with extended warranties.
 
iStudentUK said:
Technically if Apple found out they could stop the order. But lots of people do it.

Buying from the US has big downsides- you have very few consumer rights in UK law. So you should purchase AppleCare or there is nothing you can really do if there is a fault.
Click to expand...

A lot of Apple products have international warranty.
 
ct2k7 said:
A lot of Apple products have international warranty.
Click to expand...

What I'm saying is you really have to have an Apple extended warranty if you buy outside the UK in case something goes wrong after 1 year. If you buy in the UK you don't necessarily need an extended warranty as the law can help you out after Apple's one year warranty is up.
 
You know you'll have to pay import duty, VAT and a handling fee if you buy it from the US store right?
 
iStudentUK said:
What I'm saying is you really have to have an Apple extended warranty if you buy outside the UK in case something goes wrong after 1 year. If you buy in the UK you don't necessarily need an extended warranty as the law can help you out after Apple's one year warranty is up.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the clarification.
 
Yes, and Apple pay the tax (unsure if they pay it at point of entering country or point of sale)
 
shavermcspud said:
UPDATE

I just went all the way through completing checkout on the US apple store site via my VPN connection right to the point of entering my card details and at no point was any tax added only $5 for shipping.
I entered my friends CA address which i believe is how tax is normally calculated but never showed anything

try it yourself! or am i really missing something here?
Click to expand...

Yes, you are missing something. You are probably using the Apple Store UK site. Try this: store.apple.com/us

In that site (which is the one that defaults for me because I live in the USA), you don't even need to put in your credit card to get estimated tax. Just add the item to your shopping card and as you go through checkout process but before entering billing information, it will ask you for your Zip code and once you input it, it will estimate the tax for you.

Depending on where you live, you don't only get State taxes but you will get County tax and even City tax. For example, if you enter the zip code 95060 you will get a difference tax calculated than if you entered 95064 even though both are zip codes in the city of Santa Cruz.
 
iStudentUK said:
US prices are shown without tax. US doesn't have uniform VAT. Instead, sales tax is added at the end. It ranges between around 0-10%. I'd guess 4% is about average.

$499 = £305

£399 = £332.50 without VAT.

The UK pays less than £30 more. No unreasonable.

Plus, we have other consumer advantages that make up for the difference in my opinion.
Click to expand...

If ordering through Apple, or other vendor online, as long as that vendor has a physical location or nexus within the state the order is placed, then tax is collected. Sales tax can also be avoided by ordering online where the vendor does not have a physical presence within the state the order is placed.

Source:
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-ar..._tax_on_the_internet_who_pays_it_who_doesnt-i

-C


Sent from my iPad
 
Charadis said:
If ordering through Apple, or other vendor online, as long as that vendor has a physical location or nexus within the state the order is placed, then tax is collected. Sales tax can also be avoided by ordering online where the vendor does not have a physical presence within the state the order is placed.

Source:
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-ar..._tax_on_the_internet_who_pays_it_who_doesnt-i

-C


Sent from my iPad
Click to expand...

You can still register to collect VAT if you don't have any assets in the EU/ or UK, though this is not mandatory.
 
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