Rip off Ireland

challengemaster

And Apple seem to have joined in..

Prices in Ireland for Apple products are ridiculous compared to US prices.

The new 13" Macbook for example.
US - $1299
IE - €1199

Going by todays exchange rate.. $1299 = €933

So where's the justification in charging an extra 266€ for the same product? Why should we have to pay more because we're Irish? Why is Apple, whose prices are already fairly high in comparison to other companies, ripping us off even more for no reason?

I was considering getting macbook, because I like the look and OS, but tbh, if I'm going to be ripped off for no reason, stuff it.

heggie

there have been bigger differences before, and it's not a new thing, but before apple would have charged the same numeric value, atleast now there is a difference. And in this case, VAT makes up the difference. The Irish government slap on 21.5 % to almost every consumer product, surely you knew this?

Kid Nothing

Do you really expect a company to rearrange price in accordance with exchange rate changes that often? Should they change them again tomorrow if the dollar gains $0.05? That's a different price, for a different country with different living standards, different average incomes, different benefits, difference disadvantages, etc.... We're in Ireland, that's the price set for Ireland, accept it, it's not going to change.

johnk123

amull87 wrote: »

Do you really expect a company to rearrange price in accordance with exchange rate changes that often? Should they change them again tomorrow if the dollar gains $0.05? That's a different price, for a different country with different living standards, different average incomes, different benefits, difference disadvantages, etc.... We're in Ireland, that's the price set for Ireland, accept it, it's not going to change.

Well said! Very good point

Sad Professor

Yeah, VAT accounts for pretty much all of the €266 difference at the moment. But you can make a saving of about €200 by going up north — provided you don't mind being, eh, unpatriotic of course.

J-blk

heggie wrote: »

before apple would have charged the same numeric value, atleast now there is a difference.

+1 - up to quite recently, Apple was using the exact same number around the world, just changing the currency symbol from $ to € to £ accordingly. At least now the prices do indeed reflect some adjustment, surely you've noticed that? It still doesn't mean we get the best price around, far from it in fact, but it's not quite the rip off you may think.

Richard

J-blk wrote: »

+1 - up to quite recently, Apple was using the exact same number around the world, just changing the currency symbol from $ to € to £ accordingly.

Maybe they did with $ and € but not with £. That would have been particularly stupid during the time that a pound was worth 2 dollars. Even when the Canadian Dollar was worth more than USD, Canadian prices were still more.

What I wonder about is given the fact they the EU ruled that apple should reduce their iTunes songs from 79p to 75p to match the 99c price in the Eurozone, will they now raise the UK price?

K.O.Kiki

Do you like bathing in blood*?

Of course they won't UPP the price unless they want a week-long scandal.


(*sorry, just got done watching Beowulf)

Sad Professor

betafrog wrote: »

Also the US price listed on the Apple website is exclusive of sales tax so you can expect to pay an extra 6-7% on top of the price for the actual product if you bought it in the states.... ($1,389,93)

Yeah I meant to say this in my post. It's an important point. I think we sometimes forget over here that sales tax is added on at the checkout in the states.

mgadget

Be lazy, pay €1199.
Shop around and save ~€200
www.dabs.ie

FWIW I was in the states last week and with the UK exchange rate giving the price above, the savings were not significant enough in the US to justify making the purchase over there at $1299 + 8.25% tax.

challengemaster

mgadget wrote: »

Be lazy, pay €1199.
Shop around and save ~€200
www.dabs.ie

Nice find

FWIW I was in the states last week and with the UK exchange rate giving the price above, the savings were not significant enough in the US to justify making the purchase over there at $1299 + 8.25% tax.

That's still just about €1000. €200 isn't something to be thrown away these days in fairness.

thecommander

Same price across the Eurozone isnt it?

mgadget

Well when I compared Besy Buy instore price to what I could get from dabs last week, the diffence was about €35 in favour of Best Buy which in my opinion was not worth it. A marginal chance of being pulled at customs would add 21.5% to the price, making it somewhat more expensive.

challengemaster wrote: »

...

That's still just about €1000. €200 isn't something to be thrown away these days in fairness.

Stench Blossoms

The $1299 excludes VAT aswell. I just came back from New York and paid $1799 for my 13' MacBook.

thecommander

orla wrote: »

The $1299 excludes VAT aswell. I just came back from New York and paid $1799 for my 13' MacBook.

$500 tax? I'd look at that again. Should only be a maximum of 10% tax. America doesn't have a VAT system.

swingking

Talk about rip off:

I was Harvey Norman today and they were selling the 13" Macbook Unibody 2.0 Ghz for €1299.00 now Apple themselves don't even charge that much but there will be some unfortunate who won't realise that and HN bag themselves 100 euro profit plus probably more cause they don't buy from apple at the retail price. Just makes my blood boil :mad::mad:

thecommander

swingking wrote: »

Talk about rip off:

I was Harvey Norman today and they were selling the 13" Macbook Unibody 2.0 Ghz for €1299.00 now Apple themselves don't even charge that much but there will be some unfortunate who won't realise that and HN bag themselves 100 euro profit plus probably more cause they don't buy from apple at the retail price. Just makes my blood boil :mad::mad:

You'd want to be a gob****e not to have checked around first. Its not like its not hard to find out how much things are.

Sad Professor

orla wrote: »

The $1299 excludes VAT aswell. I just came back from New York and paid $1799 for my 13' MacBook.

I assume you got the 2.4 GHz Macbook? It's $1600 before tax. The 2.0 GHz is $1300 pre-tax.

Breezer

swingking wrote: »

Talk about rip off:

I was Harvey Norman today and they were selling the 13" Macbook Unibody 2.0 Ghz for €1299.00 now Apple themselves don't even charge that much but there will be some unfortunate who won't realise that and HN bag themselves 100 euro profit plus probably more cause they don't buy from apple at the retail price. Just makes my blood boil :mad::mad:

Harvey Norman charges more for absolutely everything so that it can channel the profit into producing quality radio advertisements... :rolleyes:

On topic, Ireland is a rip off for absolutely everything, even without the Harvey tax. I'm so so tempted to be unpatriotic right now and grab a MacBook up North (then use it to email Brian Lenihan informing him of this). I'd prefer to wait for the first revision because, well, I don't trust Apple's first gen products, but they're just so cheap and they keep looking at me everywhere I go...

Sad Professor

Breezer wrote: »

I'd prefer to wait for the first revision because, well, I don't trust Apple's first gen products, but they're just so cheap and they keep looking at me everywhere I go...

Yeah I'm in the same boat. I won't REALLY need a new notebook until next September. But with the current sterling rate I'm very tempted to get one now.

I'm gonna try and hold out for the next update though.

thecommander

Sad Professor wrote: »

But with the current sterling rate I'm very tempted to get one now.

If the Sterling rate starts to go unfavourable for us, then convert you money then, rather than waiting until Sept.

Breezer

thecommander wrote: »

If the Sterling rate starts to go unfavourable for us, then convert you money then, rather than waiting until Sept.

They pay you to think Although I'm not sure I want that much cash lying around in a drawer. Might be worth it though.

maggy_thatcher

orla wrote: »

The $1299 excludes VAT aswell. I just came back from New York and paid $1799 for my 13' MacBook.

I hope you remembered to go through the Red channel and pay duty on it

You should be paying an extra €277 VAT on that import you just made + duty charges (not sure what those are).

Ham'nd'egger

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

I hope you remembered to go through the Red channel and pay duty on it

You should be paying an extra €277 VAT on that import you just made + duty charges (not sure what those are).

Excise is 12.5% of the sale price plus carriage. VAT is calculated after Excise is added. If you get caught having not declared, you won't get your goodies:D

maggy_thatcher

Hamndegger wrote: »

Excise is 12.5% of the sale price plus carriage. VAT is calculated after Excise is added. If you get caught having not declared, you won't get your goodies:D

Okay - using that, a 2.4GHz MacBook costs $1732.92 inc tax in NYC. 12.5% of that is $216.62, leaving you with $1949.54. 21.5% of that is $419.15, leaving you a total cost of $2368.69 (€1698.23). Or you could pay £1125 (€1192.27) up north (vs €1499 from Apple IE).

Why would anybody buy the American version?

Kid Nothing

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

Why would anybody buy the American version?

For obvious, although quite illegal reasons!

thecommander

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

Why would anybody buy the American version?

Its only in the last few months that its made more sense to buy from UK rather than from US becuase of the currency markets. I bought a MBP last year and saved about €500 at the time due to currency.

You're also assuming people pay the import tax and VAT when they land in Dublin!

babypink

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

Okay - using that, a 2.4GHz MacBook costs $1732.92 inc tax in NYC. 12.5% of that is $216.62, leaving you with $1949.54. 21.5% of that is $419.15, leaving you a total cost of $2368.69 (€1698.23). Or you could pay £1125 (€1192.27) up north (vs €1499 from Apple IE).

Why would anybody buy the American version?

lets not forget that customs also charge you VAT on the carriage cost - which is taken to be your airfare!

double whammy!

thecommander

babypink wrote: »

lets not forget that customs also charge you VAT on the carriage cost - which is taken to be your airfare!

double whammy!

But you'd want to be a thicko to get caught bringing back a laptop thru customs.

kevteljeur

thecommander wrote: »

But you'd want to be a thicko to get caught bringing back a laptop thru customs.

I believe they are much more stringent and careful these days, and a notebook isn't such a small item to hide... In Schiphol in Amsterdam they actually perform roaming random checks throughout the airport on your kit if they think you might have brought stuff in from outside the EU.

RichyX

kevteljeur wrote: »

I believe they are much more stringent and careful these days, and a notebook isn't such a small item to hide... In Schiphol in Amsterdam they actually perform roaming random checks throughout the airport on your kit if they think you might have brought stuff in from outside the EU.

I'd say it depends on the time your flight arrives.
The flights from NY to Shannon land at around 6 am.
I was there about 3 weeks ago and there was no sign of any customs officials.
Everyone just strolled by the unmanned desk, laptops etc. in their bags.

Bought my MBP in Belfast on Monday.
Not much over €1200 including a laptop sleeve

challengemaster

kevteljeur wrote: »

I believe they are much more stringent and careful these days, and a notebook isn't such a small item to hide... In Schiphol in Amsterdam they actually perform roaming random checks throughout the airport on your kit if they think you might have brought stuff in from outside the EU.

Whats to stop you pretending you already owned it and had it going over? How're they going to know?

RichyX

challengemaster wrote: »

Whats to stop you pretending you already owned it and had it going over? How're they going to know?

Exactly.
Just chuck away the boxes and hide the receipts

Ham'nd'egger

challengemaster wrote: »

Whats to stop you pretending you already owned it and had it going over? How're they going to know?

The onus is on you to prove that it is legit and not for the Excise to prove their case.

kevteljeur

Hamndegger wrote: »

The onus is on you to prove that it is legit and not for the Excise to prove their case.

I'm afraid so - I'm no expert but at the end of the day, Customs have final say. If it looks brand new, and you have nothing which proves that you had it when leaving the country, then it's new as far as they're concerned and they have final say. Customs have that power, and it works like that in most states.

J-blk

On the flip side of this, if I was traveling outside the EU and wanted to take my MacBook with me, how exactly would I prove I had it on the way out upon return? Would I have to keep the receipt on me at all times then, to establish it was purchased in the EU?

Stench Blossoms

Sad Professor wrote: »

I assume you got the 2.4 GHz Macbook? It's $1600 before tax. The 2.0 GHz is $1300 pre-tax.

Yeh sorry forgot to say. I got the 2.4 GHz Macbook.

Ham'nd'egger

J-blk wrote: »

On the flip side of this, if I was traveling outside the EU and wanted to take my MacBook with me, how exactly would I prove I had it on the way out upon return? Would I have to keep the receipt on me at all times then, to establish it was purchased in the EU?

If you have ordered the Mac from Apple, the confirmation e mail of order could be inside your iMail, assuming the e mail account is set up.

Otherwise, one simple and bulletproof way is to go into About This Mac and enter into the Power section; it will show Battery Charge Cycles.

Also, go into About This Mac; try the Software section, then Applications. This date stamps applications fitted to the Mac so your base apps will show up ahead of items like MSN Messenger etc.

J-blk

Hamndegger wrote: »

If you have ordered the Mac from Apple, the confirmation e mail of order could be inside your iMail, assuming the e mail account is set up.

Fair enough. I can see this working - they shouldn't care if you have a soft copy of the invoice on you...

Hamndegger wrote: »

Otherwise, one simple and bulletproof way is to go into About This Mac and enter into the Power section; it will show Battery Charge Cycles.

Also, go into About This Mac; try the Software section, then Applications. This date stamps applications fitted to the Mac so your base apps will show up ahead of items like MSN Messenger etc.

Good ideas but are customs officials really that technically minded that they would accept any of these as valid ways of telling the age of the system?

Ham'nd'egger

J-blk wrote: »

Good ideas but are customs officials really that technically minded that they would accept any of these as valid ways of telling the age of the system?

I don't know if they do or not but a Mac owner can use these ways to help his/her case. Personally, I can't see the average tourist needing a laptop on a short holiday so be warned;)

thecommander

Hamndegger wrote: »

I don't know if they do or not but a Mac owner can use these ways to help his/her case. Personally, I can't see the average tourist needing a laptop on a short holiday so be warned;)

I travel a good bit and bring my laptop with me for work. 30 flights last year and have never been asked about laptop.

hatful

RichyX wrote: »

Bought my MBP in Belfast on Monday.
Not much over €1200 including a laptop sleeve

Where in Belfast?! It was a new one right?

RichyX

hatful wrote: »

Where in Belfast?! It was a new one right?

Yup, the new one.
Bought it from the Apple store at Victoria square.
5 minutes from Belfast central train station.

ScabbyLeg

RichyX wrote: »

Yup, the new one.
Bought it from the Apple store at Victoria square.
5 minutes from Belfast central train station.

The best price I can see is £1,259.25 from the Education store- did you find some further discount?? That works out at approx. 1320 euro.

Is there any way to check stock at the Belfast store? I just spent 40 mins on hold before I gave up... I don't want to make the trip and find that they have no stock!

Also did you have any trouble getting the Edu discount if you used it? Anyone know what they require if you're a teacher as opposed to a student?

Thanks!

RichyX

ScabbyLeg wrote: »

The best price I can see is £1,259.25 from the Education store- did you find some further discount?? That works out at approx. 1320 euro.

Is there any way to check stock at the Belfast store? I just spent 40 mins on hold before I gave up... I don't want to make the trip and find that they have no stock!

Also did you have any trouble getting the Edu discount if you used it? Anyone know what they require if you're a teacher as opposed to a student?

Thanks!

The price I was given in the store was lower again than the online edu price. I'm not aware of any promotion that would have dropped the price, so I'm guessing the in store price is just lower.
I wasn't asking any questions when I heard the in store price!

I rang them the day before I went up and got through straight away.

Edu discount was no bother, provided you're a student.
He had a look at my student card and had to take the name of the institution in question.

rom

How about you go onto http://www.pcworld.co.uk and type macbook
£928.78 which is 972 euro. Free shipping to anywhere is the UK.