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Why are Mac's so much more expensive in the UK?

hafr said:
I would assume most western expats reason more or less in the same way since we compare where we grew up today with when we moved, instead of with last year like you would if you'd stayed. The western society has been in a general decline for the past decades or so whilst other parts of the world is cleaning up quite nicely. It's like we're living on "old merits" in a way.

Fewer have more, more have nothing, those who claim to have more more often than not have a negative balance sheet due to credits/loans, politicians decide who can enter a country without wanting to listen to and solve the problems that arises which in turn creates a pressure boiler for xenophobia...

If I had more balls I would probably join those out protesting, but I've taken the decision to take care of me and my own instead, play by "their" rules until someone better than me makes sure it changes.
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Oh I'm not under any illusions, nor do I expect that things have changed for the better, some probably have, others for the worse. I can understand my friends urging me to return, they miss me, as I do them, and Britain is not the country it once was either. It's just a decision I will have to make for myself in due course. I wouldn't want to live in NYC again...Maybe out on Long Island, perhaps New England. It's just one of those "call of home" feelings I get from time to time. I suppose it's a six of one and half a dozen of the other type of thing.
 
Besides VAT, the dollar is weaker than the pound in relative terms or the dollars is "undervalued"/ pound "overvalued". So everything is cheaper in the states/everything costs more in the UK.
 
This is old thread but I want to contribute info.

I live in Bosnia and decided to spend 2500,00 KM = $1650,00

Top Line iMac in U.S cost $1.999, here in Bosnia it costs $3.100

This is the reason why I can't switch to mac for years.
 
I've just looked at the prices in Germany.

As an example, I took the MacBook Pro 15-inch model with a 2.3 GHz processor.

In the US, it costs $2,599 and in Germany €2,599. That's 37.8% more!

That's can't all be VAT.

Shocking.
 
* Apple does not match its prices to what people EXPECT to pay.

* without the VAT the prices are NOT the same. Most of the times, it's the same number as in the US price but in pounds or euro's.
 
hafr said:
There haven't been public uprising in the west for quite some time now, the elite is starting to act like back in the days again. Bankers will always do whatever they can to make as much money as possible as long as they can get away with it, and it's not like letting us (who get fudge packed by them in the first place) bail them out ("for our own good") is going to stop them from using our money to pay their own kind huge bonuses (because the bonuses are based on "earlier performance" and "only make up what's fair according to the contract").

If they weren't already working at the banks, they'd be laughing all the way there.

Why do the government hunt you down and make you pay if they think you've payed a hundred bucks too little in taxes, but give bankers not only carte blanches when they mess up, but also money to spend as they will? THEY JUST PROVED THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY, STOP GIVING THEM MORE OF IT!

Countries should be more like Switzerland...
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I'm a Swiss and I love my country, but there's still VAT here, although not as high. And everything's very fair and neutral here.

I make it a point to buy all my Apple products from Malaysia (I've got family there and go there frequently). A WSJ survey noted that Malaysia is the cheapest place in the world to buy Apple stuff.
 
All electronics are more expensive and so are many other things. Have you seen how the price difference for cars between the US and UK? (and I am talking abut cars made in Europe)
 
theSeb said:
All electronics are more expensive and so are many other things. Have you seen how the price difference for cars between the US and UK? (and I am talking abut cars made in Europe)
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I read about this only a few weeks ago. The price of a car in the UK is, if we remove all other variables such as year, make, mark, condition, taxes and so on, much higher than pretty much anywhere in the (developed) world (something like 1.5 compared to France or Germany). Apparently, the reason to this is the very high number of company cars. They (companies) are less price sensitive than private customers, meaning the resellers can increase the prices more in the UK than in other countries.
 
Besides the VAT issue, I believe that the EU/UK warranty laws inflates electronic places. Most people don't seem to be aware of it though.

http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

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Giev said:
AFAIK, importing electronic goods is only subject to VAT.
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Yes and no. It really depends...

Imports from outside the EU are treated differently:

You must make an import declaration to customs.
You generally have to pay import duty and import VAT (plus VAT on import duty), although use of some customs procedures may suspend or relieve you from these taxes.
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miniConvert said:
We're British. We love to get ripped off. Oh, and queue. We love to queue.
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But you're so polite about it! LOL.

While most people are pointing out VAT, it's actually a combination of VAT and the fact that you have extended Applecare baked in due to Euro laws.
 
If you look at that page about Consumer Laws in the EU, they say “Provided at no additional cost” and “Included at no additional cost”? What is the difference? If there are no additional charges, how come it is more expensive?

yjchua95 said:
I'm a Swiss and I love my country, but there's still VAT here, although not as high. And everything's very fair and neutral here.

I make it a point to buy all my Apple products from Malaysia (I've got family there and go there frequently). A WSJ survey noted that Malaysia is the cheapest place in the world to buy Apple stuff.
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That is all very nice if you are buying a smaller device, but what happens if you want to buy a Mac Pro or a display?

In Malaysia, the Apple MacBook 15-inch, 2.3 GHz model costs 8,499 Malaysian riggits. That is $2,630.87. Slightly more than in the US.
 
If you think we get stitched up here you cross the Irish Sea and find out what they have to pay with Apple's European headquarters based there.

I buy Apple gear over here (and there are ways to get it cheaper) and ship to my two Dubliner friends. Sending one an iPad air on Tuesday funnily enough..
 
If you take VAT and everything else into consideration (ie. shipping on a large scale and import) then the price is actually pretty much the same. Some countries are worse than the UK for electrical product pricing. Pointless whinging about VAT and how it's unfair as well because it pays for infrastructure which other countries have to pay for in some other way.

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.:Aleph:. said:
If you look at that page about Consumer Laws in the EU, they say “Provided at no additional cost” and “Included at no additional cost”? What is the difference? If there are no additional charges, how come it is more expensive?
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Not sure how this is in anyway relevant to the topic. The Consumer Laws in the EU aren't the reason the products cost more. They also aren't offered at no additional cost as no company is going to charge people to something they have a right to by law. The reason Apple has to state what you are asking is due to the fact that they've been selling AppleCare as a "necessary" addition to all Apple hardware when it covers you less than the laws already do.
 
It's probably a bit unfair to blame Apple for the price difference. Other people have already mentioned exchange rates and taxes as reasons for the price difference but there's clearly more to it than that. Almost everything is cheaper in the US (one exception seems to be mobile phone contracts which are much more generous in the UK). The main reason is simply that the US economy is enormous compared to the UK and economies of scale become a big factor. There is no such thing as the EU economy as the EU is simply a group of 27 countries that, to be honest, hate each other :D. They all have their own economies.

I have US-built telescope (Meade...probably the Apple of telescopes!). In the US $1500, in the UK £1500 at 2005 prices! I tried to buy from a US dealer and was told it was more than their franchise was worth to ship one to me. I had a similar experience with a Specialized mountain bike.

I'm not sure that shipping costs make much difference. I've just ordered an rMBP and it's being shipped from China. I guess the cost of shipping to the UK or US must be about even.
 
.:Aleph:. said:
If you look at that page about Consumer Laws in the EU, they say “Provided at no additional cost” and “Included at no additional cost”? What is the difference? If there are no additional charges, how come it is more expensive?



That is all very nice if you are buying a smaller device, but what happens if you want to buy a Mac Pro or a display?

In Malaysia, the Apple MacBook 15-inch, 2.3 GHz model costs 8,499 Malaysian riggits. That is $2,630.87. Slightly more than in the US.
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I purchase them under Education discount.

For Mac Pros, I have my family ship it over to Geneva for me. Meanwhile for iMacs, I made a dedicated trolley bag, insulated all over (some others have done this to bring an iMac as check in luggage). Since I always fly business class (always redeemed from Amex points) luggage restrictions are very lax and so I just get a large trolley bag, insulated all over, and bring it on board the plane. The only caveat is that I've to prop the bag up at a slight angle in the overhead bin, but otherwise it's just fine and doesn't slip out.
 
scbond said:
Not sure how this is in anyway relevant to the topic. The Consumer Laws in the EU aren't the reason the products cost more. They also aren't offered at no additional cost as no company is going to charge people to something they have a right to by law. The reason Apple has to state what you are asking is due to the fact that they've been selling AppleCare as a "necessary" addition to all Apple hardware when it covers you less than the laws already do.
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Why are you citing my post? Don't look at me. EU was brought into discussion a long time ago.
 
macs are more expensive here because the government need to take the extra 40% and spend it on giving fat people free cosmetic surgery under the NHS

in america there are no fat people so this levy is not needed
 
it could also be because we have 3 times as many people in power politicians and they are talking about dementia running a country that is one tenth of the size and the extra ~$1000 we pay for a Mac pays for the rent on their second home NHS
 
miniConvert said:
We're British. We love to get ripped off. Oh, and queue. We love to queue.

But yeah, there's a lot to take into account, such as marketing budget for each region, support costs, shipping costs, maintenance costs. We're not paying horribly over the odds at the end of the day.
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Bitch please, you have never come to Portugal to see the real deal.
 
yjchua95 said:
Sou português também, mas eu emigrou a Suíça, porque:
1. Suja política portuguesa
2. Grande emprego na Suíça
3. Meu pai é um suíço.
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And you're not quite used to write in Portuguese. You should say "Eu emigrei para a Suíça".
Nevertheless you're absolutely right.
 
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