Apple Irish Prices

wingnut

Base spec new macbook pro:

Apple store US: $1199
Apple sore Ireland: €1199
€330

With the international warranty it would nearly pay you to fly to the US to buy one!!

Oryx

People use this argument all the time. You cant compare prices between here and America. Im sure hamburgers are cheaper over there too. But we are a different economy with different duties, vat, and a dozen other factors to consider.

Try ordering it in, paying carriage, duty and vat yourself, and see how much of the price difference gets swallowed up.

wingnut

All valid points but on a c. €1000 machine this difference would make it worthwhile flying over to buy it. Making sure to ditch the box and throw a few stickers on it before heading back!

I compare Dell's US prices with Irish prices and they never vary as much as this.

91011

wingnut wrote: »

Base spec new macbook pro:

Apple store US: $1199
Apple sore Ireland: €1199
€330

With the international warranty it would nearly pay you to fly to the US to buy one!!

Apple store US $1199 + sales tax
Apple store Ireland €1199 including 21% vat.

Difference excluding sales tax is about €90. - about 8%. - Last week the difference would have been €75, next week it might be €95.

UK price is £999 - about €1190 at today consumer rate. So almost identical.

ejmaztec

wingnut wrote: »

All valid points but on a c. €1000 machine this difference would make it worthwhile flying over to buy it. Making sure to ditch the box and throw a few stickers on it before heading back!

I compare Dell's US prices with Irish prices and they never vary as much as this.

Apple have always been so far up themselves, that they assume that customers will always think it a privilege to pay over the odds for one of their products.

Seperate

wingnut wrote: »

All valid points but on a c. €1000 machine this difference would make it worthwhile flying over to buy it. Making sure to ditch the box and throw a few stickers on it before heading back!

Where in America are you going that you can get there and back for €330?

Almost everything is considerably cheaper in the USA. As the poster above said, by the time you add on sales tax it wouldn't be THAT much cheaper.

drunkmonkey

You don't have to fly to America to make the saving, just get it posted over from there. That's how I bought my MBP, saved a fortune.

91011

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You don't have to fly to America to make the saving, just get it posted over from there. That's how I bought my MBP, saved a fortune.

OK, so secure delivery will be about $55 (US Mail International Box rate up to 20lb.)

However if you are getting someone in US to buy it, they will have to pay sales tax (average 8%), Then this end you'll have to pay 21% vat.

Add in the $55 and you'll be paying about €50 more in total.

snubbleste

Some states have 0% sales tax

jack presley

You can get a footlong sub in Subway for $5 in the States!

Back on topic though, I think the Apple Store here is cheaper than the UKs

drunkmonkey

91011 wrote: »

Then this end you'll have to pay 21% vat.

That all depends on how you post it and what it's declared as. Not saying it's a fail safe but it has worked for me.

In relation to the UK site, sometimes there are better deals, to get one of them use a UK post code and when the order status turns to shipped call the courier and expalin it's for Ireland and they'll just re-direct it. Make sure the irish address is complete with a UK postcode stuck on the bottom.

91011

drunkmonkey wrote: »

That all depends on how you post it and what it's declared as. Not saying it's a fail safe but it has worked for me.

.

So you've to find a US state that has 0% sales tax on a $1199 item (I don't think there is - a couple of states on low value items).

Then that person has to package it and mail it to you via USPS and insure it too. - Total cost $83 (usps.com)

Then you have to hope that its not picked up by customs here - they've become very good at this these days.

And you might save about €200 if you manage to circumvent / evade the vat.

You could send in uninsured and put a $10 value on it, but then if it gets damaged / lost you have no comeback.

whippet

When I was living in New York about 10 years ago, I remember Tayto crisps were about $1.50 a bag .. they were only about 40p back in ireland.

RIP OFF STATES .. AVOID ..... ... oops wrong forum .... :rolleyes:

keithclancy

wingnut wrote: »

Base spec new macbook pro:

Apple store US: $1199
Apple sore Ireland: €1199
€330

With the international warranty it would nearly pay you to fly to the US to buy one!!

Your not comparing like for like.

Apple Store Germany/Netherlands/France/Italy/Belgium: €1149

Although I'd say the fifty euro is to cover the DHL shipment from Amsterdam to Ireland.

sonic.trip

I was thinking of buying the iphone4 at home before I went to oz and thought it was too expensive, now I wish I bought it at home. its $999 here which works out at nearly 770 quid for the 32gb if I convert it back to euro. tax in australia is only like 10% as well

Chaos Marine

Oryx wrote: »

People use this argument all the time. You cant compare prices between here and America. Im sure hamburgers are cheaper over there too. But we are a different economy with different duties, vat, and a dozen other factors to consider.

Try ordering it in, paying carriage, duty and vat yourself, and see how much of the price difference gets swallowed up.

I agree with this, after Christmas we got a lot of people being in American items that they got for cheaper over there and the stuff that they had to buy to get them working in Ireland would have made it a lot cheaper to buy it here in the first place.

testicle

91011 wrote: »

So you've to find a US state that has 0% sales tax on a $1199 item (I don't think there is - a couple of states on low value items).

Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire & Oregon have no Sales Tax.

sandin

testicle wrote: »

Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire & Oregon have no Sales Tax.

If there was 2.5% annual property tax in Ireland, (€8.5bn based on average price €191,000 & 1.8m dwellings) I'd reckon we could do away with VAT too:D