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Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

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Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#61

Post by personlurking »

ricardobeat wrote: post #32

I feel obliged to repost this. Updated prices in Brazil: Air 11": R$2699 -> R$3699 (1849 USD) MBP 13": R$3599 -> R$3999 (2000 USD) New MBP: R$9999 (4500 USD - WHAT??) New MBP maxed out: R$15973 (~8000 USD...) Import tax is 60% for individuals, around 40%, maybe less for importers. $2199 * 1.4 * 2.06 (today's USD, predicted to go Now, what were you saying about being ripped off? [edit] just for kicks I maxed out a Mac…

I came here to post on Brazilian prices, too. Luckily, it's not like buying a(n imported) car, in which case I would basically never buy one. To the point that I'm leaning on the side of buying an MBA here, it's not the end of the world if I have to pay 500US more (entry-level MBA here is actually R$3000/US$1500, according to Apple's Brazil site). It sucks...but everyone travels with their own computers these days so getting someone to bring one for me from the States is not likely.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#63

Post by personlurking »

swah wrote: post #50
ricardobeat wrote: post #32

I feel obliged to repost this. Updated prices in Brazil: Air 11": R$2699 -> R$3699 (1849 USD) MBP 13": R$3599 -> R$3999 (2000 USD) New MBP: R$9999 (4500 USD - WHAT??) New MBP maxed out: R$15973 (~8000 USD...) Import tax is 60% for individuals, around 40%, maybe less for importers. $2199 * 1.4 * 2.06 (today's USD, predicted to go Now, what were you saying about being ripped off? [edit] just for kicks I maxed out a Mac…

Could also compare to car prices or average monthly income... At least if we could buy the used ones that will appear on eBay... We do have AWS in Brazil now, though.

If, for some reason, you are using AWS as shorthand for Amazon's general site, they haven't landed here yet, but I'm very interested to see their entrance into the market and how they perform against Ponto Frio, Submarino, MercadoLivre, etc.

Brazil really needs centralized sites (Amazon, CL, etc) because having to check dozens of sites and services just to maybe find something similar to what you need, it can get tedious...and I'm sure I'm not the only one. At least there's Estante Virtual for used books. That's a great service.

As long as we're on the subject, it'd be really nice if there was a way for non-Brazilians to buy things online here. This would be solved if PayPal upped their marketing and really made themselves known on the Brazilian market.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#64

Post by swah »

sjwright wrote: post #53
ricardobeat wrote: post #32

I feel obliged to repost this. Updated prices in Brazil: Air 11": R$2699 -> R$3699 (1849 USD) MBP 13": R$3599 -> R$3999 (2000 USD) New MBP: R$9999 (4500 USD - WHAT??) New MBP maxed out: R$15973 (~8000 USD...) Import tax is 60% for individuals, around 40%, maybe less for importers. $2199 * 1.4 * 2.06 (today's USD, predicted to go Now, what were you saying about being ripped off? [edit] just for kicks I maxed out a Mac…

How do other brands compare? For example, how much would a similar Dell or Lenovo laptop cost?

You pretty much can't buy Lenovo in Brazil (I mean the Thinkpads).

Dell is established, affordable, good customer service. Competes here with Acer, HP, Toshiba and even cheaper brands probably assembled in Brazil (like Positivo). Sony Vaios are normally a little bit higher priced, closer to Apple.

The lower end Dells start around R$ 1700 (820 USD): Core i5, 4GB Ram and 1 TB HD. The higher end (gaming or slim) ones, my guess would probably be around R$ 3500 (1700 USD).

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#65

Post by swah »

personlurking wrote: post #63
swah wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could also compare to car prices or average monthly income... At least if we could buy the used ones that will appear on eBay... We do have AWS in Brazil now, though.

If, for some reason, you are using AWS as shorthand for Amazon's general site, they haven't landed here yet, but I'm very interested to see their entrance into the market and how they perform against Ponto Frio, Submarino, MercadoLivre, etc. Brazil really needs centralized sites (Amazon, CL, etc) because having to check dozens of sites and services just to maybe find something similar to what you need, it can get ted…

No, I mean't the webservices. If Amazon came to Brazil I really wish they'd disrupt the market in terms of customer service. Americanas/Submarino are lousy in customer service sometimes.

Estante Virtual is really great - the moment I found out about them I stopped going downtown to hunt for books (the good thing is that they're just "forcing" owners to index their collections, and they get to be the middle man).

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#66

Post by jakeonthemove »

Yeah, pretty much because they can. The average buyer doesn't compare USD to EURO - they just see the price in EURO and it seems normal. Keep in mind that the salaries are also similar in both countries USD=EURO (so technically US workers are paid less if you convert).

Running a company in the EU is also harder than the US, at least for smaller businesses and startups - that may account for something...

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#67

Post by icebraining »

netcan wrote: post #51
maigret wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why there is the Euro also ;) Still missing a big manufacturer in there tho.

Theoretically, but setting up a business in Greece doesn't get you the same degree of market access to the EU as setting up a business in New Mexico gets you to the US. You still have to deal with a lot of very different sovereign states, languages and mentalities. A Swedish customer is not going to feel much different about dealing with Greek business than dealing with a Russian one. Imagine you want to start a busi…

As a citizen of a country in the EU, I certainly feel different about dealing with a Greek business than a Russian one. For one, I know they are required to provide me with a two year warranty by law. Likewise, there are other community directives that I know Greece was required to implement and that apply to them.

I also feel more confident about my ability to influence consumer protection entities in case something goes wrong, 'though I'm not sure if that's actually true.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#68

Post by jakeonthemove »

icegreentea wrote: post #47

Just to echo the sentiments here, it's certainly partly just because they can. If you want a hilarious example, look at Canada. I'm going to use Lenovo here as an example (but applies equally to other retailers). Baseline T420 on the US site? $1365.00. Baseline T420 in Canada? $1520.00. The exchange rate? Been within 5% of parity (either direction) for the last several years. Taxes? Canadian sale prices must be shown…

IT IS lower! I've been buying stuff from the US for years now - even accounting for VAT, certain IT products are cheaper, not to mention there are a lot of products you can only find in the US or online...

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#69

Post by jakeonthemove »

nodata wrote: post #42
clneagu wrote: post #24

It's simpler than that. They do it because they can. Apple could charge allot less for everything they sell but they don't just because they can get away with it. I'm sure nobody here really believes that the difference in price between countries has anything to do with keeping the profit margin the same everywhere :)

If the difference was high enough, people would import.

Most people don't want to deal with the extra waiting time and warranty issues to save $100-200, though...

Re: Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

#70

Post by icebraining »

mkup wrote: post #34

It's not Apple ripping off users, it's a price of state-sponsored healthcare and education. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

As opposed to the $769 Billion the US Federal government spends on Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP ($2500 per capita, way more than e.g. France). And of course, the US doesn't have state-sponsored education, it's all private, right?
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