Live data from Hacker News

iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

indiatoday.in

131–140 of 259 posts

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#131
A lot of people in here are saying - oh I had to do this is Germany or Denmark or USA as well. Which is fair, but what irks me is that in India which has pretty high taxation in all departments (see Petrol/Gasoline) the tax you pay gives you ZERO benefit. No healthcare, education or unemployment benefits etc. Also on top of this, due to the corrupt system, if you need anything from any govt. agency you will need to pay a bribe anyways (e.g. registering an apartment, even getting a passport).

TBH, I am a big fan of taxes, I am happy to pay even 50-60% in taxes if that means my fellow human is not left hungry or without healthcare or without a roof on their head. In India this is not the case, high taxes, with no benefits to anyone (except the government and their friends).

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#132
post #92

On a much smaller scale, this is achieved in the US by going to a no sales tax state like Oregon or Delaware. With the sales tax in Los Angeles at 10.25%, I’ve ended up queuing up large purchases together, buying a round trip ticket to Portland ($200-300) and hitting up the Apple Store, Target, Best Buy there. And get a free trip to Portland! I’ve read the Christiana Mall in Delaware is especially popular for people…

The Salem NH Apple store sees a lot of visitors from MA for the same reason.

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#133
The price difference are huge, even when you compare from Germany, however, it’s important to note that iMessage and FaceTime are most likely disabled on iPhones bought from UAE. At least that was the case back in the time.

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/943iql/i_think_the_u...

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#134
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but they often put stipulations on it. I know for Singapore, you had to have owned the item for at least 3 months. Otherwise it was considered to be a new item imported and duty needed to be paid. I have no idea how that was actually enforced.

Same, I believe, for Switzerland - you need to have (and be able to demonstrate if asked) owned the item for a set period of time before entering.

6 months in Switzerland.

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#135
I don't know how I never knew this before, but I was confused with the number "1,19,000" in the article and found this explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system

Basically commas only separate 2 digits after the first group of three. TIL

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#136
post #131

A lot of people in here are saying - oh I had to do this is Germany or Denmark or USA as well. Which is fair, but what irks me is that in India which has pretty high taxation in all departments (see Petrol/Gasoline) the tax you pay gives you ZERO benefit. No healthcare, education or unemployment benefits etc. Also on top of this, due to the corrupt system, if you need anything from any govt. agency you will need to p…

> No healthcare, education or unemployment benefits

India has a massive welfare state. Just because it doesn't benefit iPhone 12 buyers doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Is the welfare state 100% effective? No. But it's disingenuous to say welfare doesn't play a role for millions of families.

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#137
post #135

I don't know how I never knew this before, but I was confused with the number "1,19,000" in the article and found this explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system Basically commas only separate 2 digits after the first group of three. TIL

Yep! That's why you might hear of Lakhs or Crores in Indian forex contexts.

  1 Lakh: 10,00,000
  1 Crore: 10,00,00,000

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#138
Across the board, companies seem to be willing to accept lower margins in the US (perhaps it doesn't matter as much because of scale and competition).

And on the other hand, other countries tend to have higher corporate taxes and higher cost of doing business, and that gets passed on to customers in the form of higher prices.

Note that the UAE restricts most VoIP, so devices purchased in Dubai will not have FaceTime.

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#139
post #6

Since the article lists prices in INR: The price of the iPhone 12 Pro in India in USD today is $1,615.22, and the price in Dubai is $1,140.15. So it must be possible to fly round-trip to Dubai for less than about $475, which seems plausible.

Quick check on google flights shows flights less than $200 for BOM-DXB most days next week.

Re: iPhone 12 Pro so costly in India, you can fly to Dubai to buy it and save money

#140
post #131

A lot of people in here are saying - oh I had to do this is Germany or Denmark or USA as well. Which is fair, but what irks me is that in India which has pretty high taxation in all departments (see Petrol/Gasoline) the tax you pay gives you ZERO benefit. No healthcare, education or unemployment benefits etc. Also on top of this, due to the corrupt system, if you need anything from any govt. agency you will need to p…

> No healthcare, education or unemployment benefits India has a massive welfare state. Just because it doesn't benefit iPhone 12 buyers doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Is the welfare state 100% effective? No. But it's disingenuous to say welfare doesn't play a role for millions of families.

I wonder if the GP is complaining about the delivery of said welfare because at least on paper that welfare should be happening. Yet GP believes there are nearly zero benefits. Therefore, I wonder if there is a "disconnect" between what is suppose to happen and what actually happens on the ground.
Post reply on HN