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I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
101–110 of 141 posts
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#102It's a long time ago but I once made a business trip to Brazil where local colleagues attempted to explain the reason behind these high prices. I don't remember everything but one example stuck with me: the government forcing the shipment of the incoming goods into a particular harbor that is far away from the end destination, as an attempt to provide them work, and perhaps apply local tariffs. Next, this product needs to be shipped again, probably by air, to the place it needs to be. So it's the distribution of work for the sake of work, keeping each other busy I guess.
The other odd thing I noticed back then is electronics that exist nowhere else. For example, an electronics company you may only know for their TVs suddenly also has laptops and phones. But only in Brazil. I guess they are white label products that are rebranded, as part of the "wealth signaling" the author talked about.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's the same when you try to buy a house in the US and you have to pay a realtor to represent you, who takes 3% of sell price as commission. You'd then bargain "I already found the house myself, I just need you to draft the offer, can you do it for less", and they'll reply "no, but don't worry, you only pay for the house, and our commission is paid by the seller".
The way houses in the US are sold looks insane from outside. When I last sold a house in the UK I paid the estate agent 1.5%, there were no buyers fees.
OP is full or crap or misinformed. Buyers almost never pay any fees for realtors in my area of the US. Unless the seller is trying to rip you off or something. Maybe it’s different on the west coast.
Everyone I know who has bought a house (not selling) has the seller pay the commission. I bought a house 2 years ago and the seller didn’t have a realtor, he paid 3% to my realtor. It’s baked into the price, you don’t pay $500k for a house and then add on 6% or 3% percent commission to pay the realtors. The commission comes out of the sale price.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
The new iphone SE starts at $429.00
Not in India, that's the point: https://www.apple.com/in/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-se/ It is INR 43900, or around USD 570. ETA: In Brazil, it is BRL 4199 or USD 825. https://www.apple.com/br/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-se/ And that's at market exchange rates. Adjusted for purchasing power or wages it would be even more expensive, I assume.
A few years ago Apple used to "only" charge the same price in Euros as they did in USD. Well, not anymore! The German prices of the iPhone SE start at 519 € - around 571 USD (source: https://www.apple.com/de/iphone-se/). So India definitely isn't alone with the inflated prices...
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
My dad had the same reaction when I told him that we'd pay the extra credit card fees. He said "the merchant pays those" and didn't seem to get my "where do you think the merchant gets the money from?" reply.
It's the same when you try to buy a house in the US and you have to pay a realtor to represent you, who takes 3% of sell price as commission. You'd then bargain "I already found the house myself, I just need you to draft the offer, can you do it for less", and they'll reply "no, but don't worry, you only pay for the house, and our commission is paid by the seller".
I completely disagree unless your state has some specific details that forced the buyer to pay commission. A buyer should not be paying the commission of any realtor. The seller should have it baked into the price, or they should be fine with losing 3-6% of the sale price after the sale.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#106My Brazilian friend asked me to recommend her a laptop given her budget. It was certainly an interesting experience. Not only the laptops were much more expensive than they would be in other parts of the world, but also they were older models, with HDDs and 4GB of RAM instead of more up to date models going with SSDs and 8GB of RAM (or more).
Did you consider buying one in the US (or wherever you are/online) and then mailing it to them? I recently was going to mail a new Mac M1 to a university student in a foreign country. I found services that specialized in it that would do it for $99, FWIW
... $99 plus all applicable taxes and duties on the item you're importing.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
That assumes that the situation will last 50 years. Cuba has been embargoed by the US for so long because its oligarchs all moved to Florida and Texas and took their money with them and have bought themselves some American democracy with it. My cynical side thinks that the worst case scenario (short of nukes or full-scale WWIII) where Russia essentially annexes Ukraine like China did Tibet will eventually lead to rou…
Cuba has survived for 50 year by leaching off from other countries, USSR until its fall, then Venezuela with two puppet regimes and when that also failed, Obama threw them Oxygen by opening up.
They have the advantage that the embargo is unilateral by the US. They're cut off from their closest and largest potential trading partner, but there are still relations with the rest of the world. If anything, the embargo strengthened the regime by creating a convenient scapegoat for all of its failures.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
That assumes that the situation will last 50 years. Cuba has been embargoed by the US for so long because its oligarchs all moved to Florida and Texas and took their money with them and have bought themselves some American democracy with it. My cynical side thinks that the worst case scenario (short of nukes or full-scale WWIII) where Russia essentially annexes Ukraine like China did Tibet will eventually lead to rou…
To be fair, the annexation of Tibet happened at a time where China was irrelevant on the world stage having come out of WW2 and a civil war almost completely ruined. Tibet wasn't recognised internationally as a country at the time because of the KMT claims to it. That's not to say that the CCP's invasion, annexation and suppression should have happened or was moral in any way, but Ukraine today has much more politica…
Reasonably point. I don't think (or at the very least I hope) that my worst-case non-Armageddon scenario will happen, but I suspect that the only thing that will end the Russian occupation of Ukraine will be the fall of Putin from power. But then I'm just some schmuck who doesn't know much more than anyone else.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#109A few comments on this from an Indian perspective. Apple products are quite expensive here too, when compared against U.S. prices (plus sales tax). It may seem as if this is because of customs duties, but that’s not the entire story. Many companies tend to have geographically differentiated pricing to expand their market and make more money. Even if the prices aren’t completely matching the local currency equivalent…
This is a huge market in south america too.
In many countries with high tarriffs, there are literally open "luggages" advertised in FB and IG, to bring stuff from the US into X.
Buyer gives a heads up and asks if there is enough space for X goods. If yes, buyer routes amazon orders to travaler's residence, and presto.
The charge is usually 7-9 USD per pound, although there are flat rates for lightweight items like SD cards and phones.
It has gotten so bad that there are people boarding planes just to do this.
Somehow custom authorities are not making a fuss. Although quantities are low enough and varied enough (no one is foolish enough to load 3 luggages full of prada handbags) that anyone caught at airport can make a legitimate argument they are bringing presents for extended family.
The importers in south america have therefore more or less gone out of business.
Re: I live in the country with the most expensive Apple products on the planet
#110The last thing I'd want to do when out and about in Brazil is "wealth signal."