Europe sucks for prices

Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the photo
store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A full
frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the
light poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European 15
- 20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal
(CDN price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,
Alan.


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"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the photo
store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A full
frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the light
poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European 15 -
20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal (CDN
price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,
Alan,
You shouldn't be surprised.
I travelled for 30 years (twice a year) and I've given up on duty free since
the start ;-)
What you should know:
There's no duty, but the price is "suggested retail". In effect, large
companies (in USA / Canada, etc) will sell well below "suggested retail",
and even though you pay duty and taxes, chances are you pay LESS and
sometimes MUCH LESS. You also benefit a good warranty which you do not get
in other countries, even though they say it's "International".
Finally, known stores will offer great service shoyuld you have any problem.
Try that at a Duty Free...
Another thing to bear in mind, many items are less costly on "this side" of
the pond VS Europe.
Marcel

Alan Browne wrote:
Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the
photo store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A
full frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the
light poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European
15 - 20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal
(CDN price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,
Alan.

Typical UK price: GBP 1045 (including 17.5% tax) - about US $2050.

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/ph.../sonylens.html

Many Europeans consider the practice of typical American software firms
(such as Adobe and Microsoft) of making the UK pound price the same as the
US dollar price a rip-off as well.

Don't buy your Bowmore /before/ you go through security, in case bottles
with more than 100ml of liquid are confiscated!

Cheers,
David

Cheers,
Alan,
You shouldn't be surprised.
I travelled for 30 years (twice a year) and I've given up on duty free
since the start ;-)
What you should know:
There's no duty, but the price is "suggested retail". In effect, large
companies (in USA / Canada, etc) will sell well below "suggested retail",
and even though you pay duty and taxes, chances are you pay LESS and
sometimes MUCH LESS. You also benefit a good warranty which you do not get
in other countries, even though they say it's "International".
Finally, known stores will offer great service shoyuld you have any
problem. Try that at a Duty Free...
Another thing to bear in mind, many items are less costly on "this side"
of the pond VS Europe.
Marcel


Sound advice...my last experience of 'duty free' shopping at a store was at
heathrow terminal 4 where a Nintendo DS lite was £110 duty free, whereas it
was £99 in the retail stores.

couple this witht he fact that in the united states you pay anywhere
between 20% upto 75% LESS than us suckers do in the UK



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

I wouldn't be surprised to find that the higher prices somehow include some
hidden taxes to help pay for all the social programs in European countries.
Wouldn't be the first time governments pulled that kind of trick to try and
hide the taxes citizens pay.

"David J Taylor"
wrote in message ...
Alan Browne wrote:
Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the
photo store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A
full frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the
light poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European
15 - 20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal
(CDN price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,
Alan.

Typical UK price: GBP 1045 (including 17.5% tax) - about US $2050.

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/ph.../sonylens.html

Many Europeans consider the practice of typical American software firms
(such as Adobe and Microsoft) of making the UK pound price the same as the
US dollar price a rip-off as well.

Don't buy your Bowmore /before/ you go through security, in case bottles
with more than 100ml of liquid are confiscated!

Cheers,
David

David J Taylor wrote:
Alan Browne wrote:

Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the
photo store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A
full frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the
light poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European
15 - 20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal
(CDN price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,
Alan.


Typical UK price: GBP 1045 (including 17.5% tax) - about US $2050.

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/ph.../sonylens.html

Many Europeans consider the practice of typical American software firms
(such as Adobe and Microsoft) of making the UK pound price the same as the
US dollar price a rip-off as well.

Don't buy your Bowmore /before/ you go through security, in case bottles
with more than 100ml of liquid are confiscated!

At Schiphol security is at each gate. So the duty-free booze is sealed
in the store after you show your boarding pass (if you're flying to an
EC country, the price is higher too).

--
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-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

Celcius wrote:
"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...

Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the photo
store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A full
frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the light
poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European 15 -
20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal (CDN
price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,

Alan,
You shouldn't be surprised.
I travelled for 30 years (twice a year) and I've given up on duty free since
the start ;-)
What you should know:
There's no duty, but the price is "suggested retail". In effect, large
companies (in USA / Canada, etc) will sell well below "suggested retail",
and even though you pay duty and taxes, chances are you pay LESS and
sometimes MUCH LESS. You also benefit a good warranty which you do not get
in other countries, even though they say it's "International".
Finally, known stores will offer great service shoyuld you have any problem.
Try that at a Duty Free...
Another thing to bear in mind, many items are less costly on "this side" of
the pond VS Europe.

As I'm an all too frequent flyer, I'm quite aware of that... but posting
this is a good thing to do to keep the notion floating.

I usually refer to "duty free" as "profit high". The only real savings
are in booze (and I guess smokes but I don't smoke).

In the Duty Free area at Montreal last Feb, I negotiated for a new
leather brifcase (as my trusty old Samsonite hard case with 13 years of
service was really becoming a risk to use...) and saved about 18%... as
well as the usual 15% sales taxes. In a downtown store I could have
probably gotten 20 - 25% off, but would have had to pay the 15%.

In Frankfurt some years ago I asked if a price for a lens was negotiable
and I was YELLED out of the store by the clerk (manager? concession
owner?).

I did ask the Schiphol clerk (who knew photography and cameras very
well, which was a pleasant surprise) if the CZ lens price could be
negotiated and he replied, "not any more" ... although to my
recollection I've never gotten a positive reply for a negotiation...
maybe he meant a sale price was no longer offered...

Ah well, I'll check local prices v. B&H and order from whichever... and
admonish B&H to pack carefully if that's the best price (with shipping).

Cheers,
Alan.

--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

David J Taylor wrote:
Alan Browne wrote:

Wasting some time at Schiphol airport yesterday and walk into the
photo store. (duty free)

There was a Sony-CarlZeiz 135mm f/1.8 lens (for the Alpha line). A
full frame lens.

I asked to see it. Wonderful. Holding the aperture wide open, the
light poured through the lens... mighty tempting.

Price: Euros: 1,398 = US$1,868

As I walked in the door last night, the new B&H catalog was in.

Price for the same lens: US$1349 = Euros 1009

And that's the "duty free" price... imagine with the typical European
15 - 20% or so VAT...

OTOH, the Bowmore 12 yr was Eur 26 for a litre... now there's a deal
(CDN price is $53/0.75 litre)

Cheers,
Alan.


Typical UK price: GBP 1045 (including 17.5% tax) - about US $2050.

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/ph.../sonylens.html

Many Europeans consider the practice of typical American software firms
(such as Adobe and Microsoft) of making the UK pound price the same as the
US dollar price a rip-off as well.

What I found bizarre recently is I committed to buy CS3 from Adobe's US
site and when the final tally was presented there was an Irish 21% VAT
on part of the price as that's where the Adobe DL site was...

I notified them of the problem and didn't pay for the DL ... but the 30
day trial version runs out today...

--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

Alan Browne wrote:
In Frankfurt some years ago I asked if a price for a lens was
negotiable and I was YELLED out of the store by the clerk (manager?
concession owner?).

Well, what do you expect, you asked him to commit a crime. Until a few years
ago the marked price was the end price and retailers were not allowed by
German law to bargain or reduce that price for individual customers.
Actually I liked that law because it surely helped those who did not grow up
next to an oriental basar.

jue

(jhthurman) wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised to find that the higher prices somehow
include some hidden taxes

It's not hidden at all, that's why they call it tax and not 'stealing
when you're not looking'. :-) If you take healthcare out of the equation
I think Europe and the USA aren't so far apart. Healthcare costs a
fortune however you raise the money, through redistributive taxation or
individual insurance.

Andrew McP