Anybody can explain this strange policy followed by Apple in their stores?
Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
1–10 of 98 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#2If I had to guess (and I guess I don't /have/ to), I'd say it's strictly psychological pricing, and is not intended to reflect some sort of idealized exchange rate or the like.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#3I don't think it's that strange. Let's compare the cost of the same MacBook Air in the US and France.
1. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in US is $999.
2. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in France is €1,049
3. $1 = €0.80 at the current time.
So you might think the MacBook Air should be €800 (999 * 0.80). So why it is €249 more? France levies 19.6% TVA (sales tax) on goods and the tax is included in the display price; the US levies sales taxes by state and these are not shown in the displayed prices (sales tax calculated based on destination).
So, what you need to compare is the pre-tax price on both machine. The pre-tax price of the MacBook Air in France is €877. Thus Apple is charging €77 more for the MacBook Air in France than in the US.
The issue is tax rates not Apple.
If you look at the UK you'll find that
4. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB is £849
5. $1 = £0.65
So, the £ equivalent of the $999 machine is £650. UK VAT (sales tax) is 20% and thus the pre-tax price of the machine is £707. So Apple is charging £57 more in the UK than in the US.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#4Don't forget sales taxes as well. Depending upon where you are you are probably paying something like 20% VAT (TAV or whatever) - quoted in the consumer price.
In the USA, they have the annoying habit of excluding sales tax (presumably on the grounds that it varies wildly from place to place) and that is only added at the checkout.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#5I don't think it's that strange. Let's compare the cost of the same MacBook Air in the US and France. 1. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in US is $999. 2. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in France is €1,049 3. $1 = €0.80 at the current time. So you might think the MacBook Air should be €800 (999 * 0.80). So why it is €249 more? France levies 19.6% TVA (sales tax) on goods and the tax is included in the display price; the US le…
> US levies sales taxes by state
Or, in the cases of Oregon and New Hampshire, does not levy it at at all.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#6In Europe you are forced to give your customer 2 years of warranty on certain products. E.g. computer hardware or electronics.
Apple refused to in the past (and still had their crazy EUR prices then). But now, after being dragged to court about it in Italy, and loosing, they at least have a good reason to charge more in Europe. ;)
This is the case for most vendors. E.g. my Panasonic GH2 camera did cost a bit more in Europe than it would have in the US. But I get 24 months of warranty.
See:
http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/apple-increases-product-w... http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#7I don't think it's that strange. Let's compare the cost of the same MacBook Air in the US and France. 1. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in US is $999. 2. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in France is €1,049 3. $1 = €0.80 at the current time. So you might think the MacBook Air should be €800 (999 * 0.80). So why it is €249 more? France levies 19.6% TVA (sales tax) on goods and the tax is included in the display price; the US le…
Although not as massive as it looks in the first place, there is still a discrepancy.
The new MBP-Retina top config is 2799 USD -> 1805 GBP.
In the UK store, it's 2299 GBP, less 20% vat -> 1916 GBP.
So they're taking more than a 100 quid extra from each UK customer, "just because".
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#8I don't think it's that strange. Let's compare the cost of the same MacBook Air in the US and France. 1. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in US is $999. 2. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in France is €1,049 3. $1 = €0.80 at the current time. So you might think the MacBook Air should be €800 (999 * 0.80). So why it is €249 more? France levies 19.6% TVA (sales tax) on goods and the tax is included in the display price; the US le…
The euro is doing really poorly vs the dollar now,
it was the same difference when 1 eur got you 1.4-1.5 USD.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#9I don't think it's that strange. Let's compare the cost of the same MacBook Air in the US and France. 1. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in US is $999. 2. MacBook Air 11-inch : 64GB in France is €1,049 3. $1 = €0.80 at the current time. So you might think the MacBook Air should be €800 (999 * 0.80). So why it is €249 more? France levies 19.6% TVA (sales tax) on goods and the tax is included in the display price; the US le…
Although not as massive as it looks in the first place, there is still a discrepancy. The new MBP-Retina top config is 2799 USD -> 1805 GBP. In the UK store, it's 2299 GBP, less 20% vat -> 1916 GBP. So they're taking more than a 100 quid extra from each UK customer, "just because".
Well, don't forget our lovely European regulations. The costs of hiring employees and handling business in Europe is higher than in US if I'm not mistaken.
Finally, I'd guess that Apple pays its contractors in USD. So if today 1 USD = 0.8 EUR, Apple needs to consider the fact that tomorrow it may be 1 USD = 0.9 EUR, and the price needs to reflect this scenario as well (they cannot change the price every single month to reflect the current USD/EUR conversion ratios).
These are details, but add them together, and you'll arrive at that 10% price difference (I guess)
Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$
#10If I had to guess (and I guess I don't /have/ to), I'd say it's strictly psychological pricing, and is not intended to reflect some sort of idealized exchange rate or the like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing
Agreed.
I think it's not just that though - there's the sales tax and the extra warranty mentioned elsewhere in thread, plus there's a bit more overhead of doing business in Europe. More languages, different rules, etc.
Adding all of that up, I can totally understand that Apple just slap on the same EUR/USD amount and call it a day.