UK Buyers....screwed again

[The_Handy_Andy]

Just been looking at the new 28 internet tablet...I see Archos are shafting the UK buyer by charging a lot more for the device than the Euro zone and the US.

UK = £100, Euro zone = £86 and US £62

Rip off Britain continues! especially when you can get a T-mobile Pulse Mini PAYG phone for less than £80

[CrowdAds]

[deadohiosky]

you can't just convert prices like that.

you need to take several things into account. average imcome of UK/US/EU citizens, taxes other costs, there's so much you need to consider before you can claim it overprized. it costs $100 in USA, €100 in EU (germany, at least) and it costs £100 in UK. That's how it works. they won't cut it down to £62 just because the pound/dollar exchange rate is so good right now.

[Greg_E]

Anything stopping you from going to France and buying one? Also is that the price with VAT and any other taxes/tariffs/whatevers added?

The 43 is going to cost me an extra $20 just in sales tax (roughly 8%), or $265-ish.

[Teun_2]

Have one shipped to to you from the euro-zone? There is no import tax when shipping inside the EU.

[The_Handy_Andy]

actually my comparison is fair.

1. the UK (at the moment) has a lower VAT rate than France 17.5% compared with 19.6%, the UK also has a lower corporate tax than France 21%-28% compared with 33.3%. In theory they could have priced the device slightly lower and still made money.

2. my comparison is also fair because most companies pay for things in USD to have them manufactured in china.

3. If the UK had gone into the Eurozone then we would be paying the lower price anyway

The REAL problem is the way archos have pitched the pricing as being cheaper than 100 whatever the currency

[deadohiosky]

Originally Posted by The_Handy_Andy

actually my comparison is fair.

1. the UK (at the moment) has a lower VAT rate than France 17.5% compared with 19.6%, the UK also has a lower corporate tax than France 21%-28% compared with 33.3%. In theory they could have priced the device slightly lower and still made money.

2. my comparison is also fair because most companies pay for things in USD to have them manufactured in china.

3. If the UK had gone into the Eurozone then we would be paying the lower price anyway

The REAL problem is the way archos have pitched the pricing as being cheaper than 100 whatever the currency

although i stated that taxes do have an impact what's more to consider is the average income and relative pricing in these countries. take the ipod touch 4g (8gb): in france the mrsp is €239, in uk it is £189 or around €222. and this is only converted with the current exchange rate.

but your logic is flawed anyway. although the eurozone countries share a currency, they do not share their economies. france is a very expensive country, it has high living expenses but also a high income rate.

check the prize differences at the different amazon sites .de, .fr., .co.uk

in germany the msrp is €229(apple.com/de), no msrp, stated at amazon.de, strangely), that's 10 euros less than france.

your second point is invalid, although USD is a global currency and is used as standard currency in the global economy, you can't just say everything is paid for in USD, that's not only factually wrong it is irrelevant.

msrp for ip t 32gb UK £249(€292), G 299, Fr €309

is a better comparison, i think as you can see that there is a €17 difference in msrp prizes