UK VS USA Prices
Discussion
Because we pay those prices...
You can't use economy of scale, the UK is big enough for that not to be a problem (and if it were true, how come so many things are cheaper in NZ as well?). Last time I was in the 'States I bought 3 mountain biking jerseys for about £30 total, cost for one over here... £40.
I blame the commercial mentality you have in the UK. In the 'States, NZ and the like you get companies that want to offer a good service, good prices, good consumer experience, all in the hope you'll buy products and services of said company again and make them a success. Over here it's much more like, 'well we'll rip you off now and offer the worst service we can get away with because we have your money and couldn't give a rat's arse if we never see you again'. I did find it funny that the problem is so endemic that when the thread about Richer Sounds started so many people posted positive things about them, other people actually didn't believe it was possible they could be that good...
You can't use economy of scale, the UK is big enough for that not to be a problem (and if it were true, how come so many things are cheaper in NZ as well?). Last time I was in the 'States I bought 3 mountain biking jerseys for about £30 total, cost for one over here... £40.
I blame the commercial mentality you have in the UK. In the 'States, NZ and the like you get companies that want to offer a good service, good prices, good consumer experience, all in the hope you'll buy products and services of said company again and make them a success. Over here it's much more like, 'well we'll rip you off now and offer the worst service we can get away with because we have your money and couldn't give a rat's arse if we never see you again'. I did find it funny that the problem is so endemic that when the thread about Richer Sounds started so many people posted positive things about them, other people actually didn't believe it was possible they could be that good...
Uriel said:
It's shocking. I've been looking at getting a new pair of headphones and was thinking of Grado RS-1s. Full UK price seems to be around £750. US price is around $690.
im sorry you typed 'headphones' here. clearly you must have meant to type 'a new head' for that kind of money.
Jay GTI said:
Because we pay those prices...
Exactly, how many things do you see with a price tag 29.99 say...
Except it is $29.99 usd when in USA
€29.99 euro when over there wherever it is across the Great Divide
and £29.99 gbp in uk.
Not just larger things, same applies to $/€/£0.99 burgers etc in Maccy Ds.
Use of the net can close the gap somewhat, I bought a Canon digital camera cheaper from amazon than I could get anywhere else, even duty free in Pacific Rim, never mind USA high street/discount.
They charge these prices because we in Britain are daft enough to pay these prices. Not necessarily just down to exchange rate.
>> Edited by Flat in Fifth on Thursday 9th February 13:15
US prices are also quoted net of sales tax whearas UK prices are inclusive of VAT. (or use to be I assume it's still that way)
Sales tax in the US is a "State thing" mostly around the 6% mark, with some states like Delaware having no sales tax.
Anything that is a volume item will always be cheaper in the US because of compertition, but if you want something that is not a volume item you will pay more than UK. Example; one of those stainless multi hole power shower thingies was 40% more in the US a few years ago.
Just a note to cheer you up, in the US we pay more for Utilities, real estate Taxes, cable, telephone. They are all monthly bills that really take a slice of ones income.
Sales tax in the US is a "State thing" mostly around the 6% mark, with some states like Delaware having no sales tax.
Anything that is a volume item will always be cheaper in the US because of compertition, but if you want something that is not a volume item you will pay more than UK. Example; one of those stainless multi hole power shower thingies was 40% more in the US a few years ago.
Just a note to cheer you up, in the US we pay more for Utilities, real estate Taxes, cable, telephone. They are all monthly bills that really take a slice of ones income.
nervous said:
It's shocking. I've been looking at getting a new pair of headphones and was thinking of Grado RS-1s. Full UK price seems to be around £750. US price is around $690.
im sorry you typed 'headphones' here. clearly you must have meant to type 'a new head' for that kind of money.
Cruel, but each to their own. The point raised about piss-poor-service in the UK is equally valid. The last time I was on the continent shopping for clothes, TWO sales girls approached just to talk, and were so friendly, intimate, helpful, smiling... I thought they were going to rape me.
Jay GTI said:
Because we pay those prices...
You can't use economy of scale, the UK is big enough for that not to be a problem (and if it were true, how come so many things are cheaper in NZ as well?).
I found some consumer goods MUCH more expensive in NZ - outdoor / climbing gear and boots were 2x to 3x the price in the UK ( $600+ for decent boots
- thats about £250 ) - mainly sourced from the US or Europe. Although cameras were similarly priced as closer to their source in Asia ?
I'd agree the commercial mentality partly drives the high prices in the UK - another MAJOR factor has to be planning restricitons and the price of land which makes retailing freehold costs or rent many times more expensive than USA , Europe or NZ.
It has next to f@ck all to do with resellers 'ripping people off' and everything to do with - as has been highlighted above - the UK's perception as a 'milk it' zone by most, if not all mass manufacturers. This is the case for many product groups you may imagine.
The actual environment that businesses have to operate in, in the UK, does not help, either, this much is true.
The whole of the taxation system is completely repressive and chronically disincentivising (for employees and shareholders) whilst the operational balancing act of not falling foul of the communists' latest scheme covering companies' liability to bring all female, Slovenian hod carriers to orgasm at least twice a day without recourse to punitive damages via tribunal means in effect, that the most productive thing many private enterprises can achieve in any 24 hour working cycle is a passable cup of tea.
Fuel tax is a real killer, also, throughout the economy and here, the grossest perpetration exists, bourne of successive governments, this appalling cash cow upon which huge great dollops of our public sector infrastructure rely and yet which contribute greatly to our individual and corporate senses of fiscal assualt.
After all, can you imagine the yanks meekly accepting the pure theft we suffer here?
Not in a million f@cking years.
The actual environment that businesses have to operate in, in the UK, does not help, either, this much is true.
The whole of the taxation system is completely repressive and chronically disincentivising (for employees and shareholders) whilst the operational balancing act of not falling foul of the communists' latest scheme covering companies' liability to bring all female, Slovenian hod carriers to orgasm at least twice a day without recourse to punitive damages via tribunal means in effect, that the most productive thing many private enterprises can achieve in any 24 hour working cycle is a passable cup of tea.
Fuel tax is a real killer, also, throughout the economy and here, the grossest perpetration exists, bourne of successive governments, this appalling cash cow upon which huge great dollops of our public sector infrastructure rely and yet which contribute greatly to our individual and corporate senses of fiscal assualt.
After all, can you imagine the yanks meekly accepting the pure theft we suffer here?
Not in a million f@cking years.
Cost of production is basically the reason.
Because of the higher costs of...well, everything in the UK, it costs more to produce and sell each good than in most other countries.
Imported products suffer from the same thing - for example, if you were to import an iPod from the US to the UK, you'd pay for the cost of manufacture in the US, then transport costs across the Atlantic, any import taxes that may apply to the product, transport to its destination - if it's a bricks-and-mortar store, the price needs to cover all the associated costs of a store, if it's an online store, the price needs to cover all the costs of storage and transport. Plus an unfavourable exchange rate can be ridiculously unhelpful, too. With the exception of the cost of manufacture, everything either adds cost to the product that is either unique to an export product, or is more expensive here than in the US.
Am sure someone with a better understanding of economics and logistics will pick this apart, but for now I stand by it...
Because of the higher costs of...well, everything in the UK, it costs more to produce and sell each good than in most other countries.
Imported products suffer from the same thing - for example, if you were to import an iPod from the US to the UK, you'd pay for the cost of manufacture in the US, then transport costs across the Atlantic, any import taxes that may apply to the product, transport to its destination - if it's a bricks-and-mortar store, the price needs to cover all the associated costs of a store, if it's an online store, the price needs to cover all the costs of storage and transport. Plus an unfavourable exchange rate can be ridiculously unhelpful, too. With the exception of the cost of manufacture, everything either adds cost to the product that is either unique to an export product, or is more expensive here than in the US.
Am sure someone with a better understanding of economics and logistics will pick this apart, but for now I stand by it...
derestrictor said:
It has next to f@ck all to do with resellers 'ripping people off' and everything to do with - as has been highlighted above - the UK's perception as a 'milk it' zone by most, if not all mass manufacturers. This is the case for many product groups you may imagine.
The actual environment that businesses have to operate in, in the UK, does not help, either, this much is true.
The whole of the taxation system is completely repressive and chronically disincentivising (for employees and shareholders) whilst the operational balancing act of not falling foul of the communists' latest scheme covering companies' liability to bring all female, Slovenian hod carriers to orgasm at least twice a day without recourse to punitive damages via tribunal means in effect, that the most productive thing many private enterprises can achieve in any 24 hour working cycle is a passable cup of tea.
Fuel tax is a real killer, also, throughout the economy and here, the grossest perpetration exists, bourne of successive governments, this appalling cash cow upon which huge great dollops of our public sector infrastructure rely and yet which contribute greatly to our individual and corporate senses of fiscal assualt.
After all, can you imagine the yanks meekly accepting the pure theft we suffer here?
Not in a million f@cking years.
I don't believe it!! I understood every word on only the first reading!
(and agree with what you say, the government are squeezing UK companies to extinction with ever increasing prohibitive taxes/rules.)
nervous said:
It's shocking. I've been looking at getting a new pair of headphones and was thinking of Grado RS-1s. Full UK price seems to be around £750. US price is around $690.
im sorry you typed 'headphones' here. clearly you must have meant to type 'a new head' for that kind of money.
Well, I'd not pay £750. The the fact I live in a first floor flat with grumpy neighbours had allowed me to talk myself into justifying daft money on headphones.
Jay GTI said:
Because we pay those prices...
You can't use economy of scale, the UK is big enough for that not to be a problem (and if it were true, how come so many things are cheaper in NZ as well?). Last time I was in the 'States I bought 3 mountain biking jerseys for about £30 total, cost for one over here... £40.
I blame the commercial mentality you have in the UK. In the 'States, NZ and the like you get companies that want to offer a good service, good prices, good consumer experience, all in the hope you'll buy products and services of said company again and make them a success. Over here it's much more like, 'well we'll rip you off now and offer the worst service we can get away with because we have your money and couldn't give a rat's arse if we never see you again'. I did find it funny that the problem is so endemic that when the thread about Richer Sounds started so many people posted positive things about them, other people actually didn't believe it was possible they could be that good...
I agree. A couple of years ago I met a "big-shot" from a US car manufacturer, over in the UK a on a business trip. His son had asked him to get a football shirt. He looked at the price and said "I'm not paying that" and walked out of the shop. He could have afforded a thousand of them if he'd wanted!
Slightly off topic, did anyone read the other day that for each car GM sells in the States they pay around 1,500 US dollars in employers medical insurance contributions?
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