Apple pricing?!

[BiotechBen]

2 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Would probably be slightly cheaper for me to take 4 hours to travel down south the border to buy one at the closest US best buy.

New Hampshire and Oregon are near the border and have no sales tax (Oregon is a stretch, but it's very pretty)

[Mark Kaine]

4 hours ago, tomatensaftliebhaber027 said:

The iPhone 15/Plus prices even got higher by 100EUR, last year it was 849/949EUR, but now it's 949/1049EUR, but therefore the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max prices were dropped from lats years's 1299EUR to 1199EUR...

ok, hear me out. buy an iPhone 14 = problem solved!?

 

3 hours ago, tomatensaftliebhaber027 said:

I think it's funny how much the Apple website evolved over time. Look at that picture from archive.org. Isn't it kinda crazy? Imagine Apple would market the 15" MacBook Air as the Big Help for Small Biz. Or Apple having ads and sweepstakes on their website xd. (Edit: This picture is from 1997 btw)

 

Are you using windows 98 or something, what is this website? 

 

edit: oh, hahah

[TetraSky]

3 hours ago, BiotechBen said:

New Hampshire and Oregon are near the border and have no sales tax (Oregon is a stretch, but it's very pretty)

Yeah, from where I live, it was indeed New Hampshire that I was thinking of where that Best Buy is located. Just need to go through Vermont. 

[BiotechBen]

2 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Yeah, from where I live, it was indeed New Hampshire that I was thinking of where that Best Buy is located. Just need to go through Vermont. 

Pretty nice drive, but very poor cell reception along the land near the lake.

(Strictly speaking it's an item with enough value that legally you would have to declare it, but if you switch it over while in the states it's a somewhat grey area)

[Obioban]

On 9/24/2023 at 5:25 AM, BiotechBen said:

Yes, US sales tax is quite annoying because the way US tax law is setup, it's the Federal tax law, and then also 50 separate tax laws, and then if you have a large metropolitan area it gets even worse because they can have their own tax laws. Pennsylvania sales tax is 6%, except in Philadelphia where it's (8%?, 10%?) And then also (Allegheny?)county which is (7%?).

Or Virginia, where you have sales tax(6%?), and then entertainment tax (10%), and then if you are on Chincoteague island, you also have 12% island tax. 

And it's not like trying to read the tax code helps because it's a thome that's written like that scene in Shrek where they are asking Pinocchio where Shrek is. Please can we just have price-as-is

I live 10 min from DE, where sales tax is 0%. Lots of trips to the Apple store or Best Buy in DE, to avoid all sales tax

[maplepants]

1 hour ago, Obioban said:

I live 10 min from DE, where sales tax is 0%. Lots of trips to the Apple store or Best Buy in DE, to avoid all sales tax

TIL DE can mean Delaware which is apparently a US state, and not just Germany. I was checking to see if there really was a Best Buy here in Germany. I had been to one when I lived in Canada.

[maplepants]

On 9/24/2023 at 2:14 PM, tomatensaftliebhaber027 said:

Imagine Apple would market the 15" MacBook Air as the Big Help for Small Biz

[Obioban]

24 minutes ago, maplepants said:

TIL DE can mean Delaware which is apparently a US state, and not just Germany. I was checking to see if there really was a Best Buy here in Germany. I had been to one when I lived in Canada.

Sorry... I assumed that would be clear in the context of replying to a post about sales tax in various states.

[ToboRobot]

On 9/24/2023 at 3:09 AM, manikyath said:

 

 

also, iphones dont ship "from" the US. they arrive in europe from china just the same as they arrive in the US from china, so us isnt cheaper "because shipping".

China to EU ports are about double the distance than China to LA, so there actually can be greater shipping costs to the EU that USA.

[maplepants]

5 minutes ago, Obioban said:

Sorry... I assumed that would be clear in the context of replying to a post about sales tax in various states.

Definitely no need to be sorry, it should have been clear but the thread started about Germany so it's just where my head was at.  

[Donut417]

On 9/24/2023 at 3:09 AM, tomatensaftliebhaber027 said:

No, you aren't. I din't know that with the US taxes. That sounds really annoying xd.

Thats because sales tax which is what we have in the US is collected by states and in some cases local governments. Some states have sales tax and some dont. Some items might even be exempt from sales tax like Food. Sales tax rates differ state to state. Michigan is 6% for example. 

[Spindel]

49 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

*snip*…Some items might even be exempt from sales tax like Food…*snip*

Of all the argument why it is like it is in USA this part of your argument is just nonsense.

 

We also have different VAT rates on different things (none are exempt) and some times these things are sold in the same store and over here they have no problems to put what you pay on the sticker despite this.

 

Most of the other arguments I understand, from a USA context, but I still feel that they benefit corporations more than consumers.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

On 9/24/2023 at 2:09 AM, tomatensaftliebhaber027 said:

No, you aren't. I din't know that with the US taxes. That sounds really annoying xd.

its how its gotta be, since every reigon has different taxes. Each state takes a cut, each county, and each city all get their own peice, and its not standard who gets what %

[BiotechBen]

4 hours ago, Obioban said:

I live 10 min from DE, where sales tax is 0%. Lots of trips to the Apple store or Best Buy in DE, to avoid all sales tax

If I was 10 min from DE instead of 1:10 from DE, I would as well

[Donut417]

22 minutes ago, Spindel said:

ve no problems to put what you pay on the sticker despite this.

Except VAT is more of a Federal Tax. The price I pay in Michigan for an iPhone is going to be different then what I pay in California. Apple's advertised price is throughout the US. They are not going to have an ad campaign for each states different tax rate. Also sales tax can be collected by counties and cities which just adds on to the sales tax owed.

[Spindel]

5 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Except VAT is more of a Federal Tax. The price I pay in Michigan for an iPhone is going to be different then what I pay in California. Apple's advertised price is throughout the US. They are not going to have an ad campaign for each states different tax rate. Also sales tax can be collected by counties and cities which just adds on to the sales tax owed.

Yeah I as I said that I do understand why. My comment on your post was mor aimed at only one of your arguments (the one quoted) that I find to be a nonsense argument.

[Donut417]

2 minutes ago, Spindel said:

Yeah I as I said that I do understand why. My comment on your post was mor aimed at only one of your arguments (the one quoted) that I find to be a nonsense argument.

You talking about food being tax free? By food Im talking unprepared food. Like raw food you get at the store, not shit from restaurants. I was just pointed out that some stuff is tax except. Would you be pissed to here some business are tax exempt for buying stuff? Resellers and Non profits are generally tax exempt. Resellers will collect sales tax at the final point of sale, but when they buy stuff to sell they dont pay sales tax. 

[Rocketdog2112]

People gotta be idiots to pay that much for a cell phone that's always playing catchup to an android. 

[Donut417]

6 minutes ago, Rocketdog2112 said:

People gotta be idiots to pay that much for a cell phone that's always playing catchup to an android. 

Every Android device I ever got had issues with in 2 years and at the time support ended about 2 years. I have had an iPhone for 4 years and probably going to keep the same phone for at least an additional year at because Apple still provided the latest iOS update and the battery is still in relatively good shape. 

[tellmemore]

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

Every Android device I ever got had issues with in 2 years and at the time support ended about 2 years. I have had an iPhone for 4 years and probably going to keep the same phone for at least an additional year at because Apple still provided the latest iOS update and the battery is still in relatively good shape. 

Yo I'm using the iPhone 7 from September 16th 2016, at least it got announced around that time

[Issac Zachary]

1 hour ago, Rocketdog2112 said:

People gotta be idiots to pay that much for a cell phone that's always playing catchup to an android. 

Or is it Android that plays catchup to iPhone (in getting rid of features)?

• Say no to FM radio.
• Get rid of SD card.
• No more 3.5mm phone jack.

But seriously, Android isn't for everyone, nor is iPhone for everyone. It's good if we all thought outside our own boxes once in a while. I personally consider both iPhone and Android phones as potential phones I would buy. The reason I've stuck with Android thus far is that it makes sense for me personally. That's the only reason. If an iPhone makes better sense for me personally the next time around, I will get an iPhone.

[tomatensaftliebhaber027]

9 minutes ago, Issac Zachary said:

Or is it Android that plays catchup to iPhone (in getting rid of features)?

• Say no to FM radio.
• Get rid of SD card.
• No more 3.5mm phone jack.

But seriously, Android isn't for everyone, nor is iPhone for everyone. It's good if we all thought outside our own boxes once in a while. I personally consider both iPhone and Android phones as potential phones I would buy. The reason I've stuck with Android thus far is that it makes sense for me personally. That's the only reason. If an iPhone makes better sense for me personally the next time around, I will get an iPhone.

I think it’s kinda both

[Kisai]

On 9/24/2023 at 12:09 AM, manikyath said:

there's two things:

 

1: costs differ per region: shipping costs are different, handling costs differ as staff wages differ, shelf space value differs based on land value (for example, a hangar for stock costs more in belgium than in the american midwest), etc.

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-added_tax is legally required to be included on the sticker price here.

 

also, iphones dont ship "from" the US. they arrive in europe from china just the same as they arrive in the US from china, so us isnt cheaper "because shipping".

In the US and Canada, sticker prices do not include VAT/GST/PST/etc, this is largely because there are federal, provincial/state, and even city level taxes that differ between states. Where as EU and AU, the tax is required to be included in the price, and thus it's localized at that point.

 

To put this another way, US and Canada tax you based on where you ship to, or claim to live. This is why there is a grey market of people living in tax-free places, who will buy things and then walk it across the next state/province's border. In the case of phones, and ONLY phones, there can be quite a few silly taxes. For example NYC residents pay sometimes 5 different taxes on a device, and phones sold in California are required to be taxed based on the wholesale value of the device (so there is literately no way to "sell something at 0$")

 

Go down to table 2

https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/wireless-taxes-cell-phone-tax-rates-by-state-2020/

Illinois you pay 32.20% in taxes.

Oregon you pay 12.82% in taxes.

You can save nearly 17% by having a friend in Oregon buy your phone and then walking 5 miles to Washington state and sell it to your friend who lives there and would have to pay 29.66%. Your Washington friend is not escaping the service taxes unless they want to have an Oregon phone number.

 

These are "Service" taxes I'm mentioning, but the state taxes are charged on the phones themselves, so it still matters where you ship it.

 

Now, that said, It's very hard for big companies and small companies alike to actually maintain sufficient reserves to operate in all the different currencies, so usually the price of something is "set" by the US retail price, and buying the phone locally in EU, AU, etc is still the "US" dollar price after conversion rounded to end in 9.99, and when the exchange rate escapes the 9.99 wiggle room it goes up/down $10 over time. Apple, or any company for that matter, is not going to sell a device at a loss if the exchange rate suddenly plummets, even though those physical devices have ALREADY been shipped to that country. So once that inventory is gone, those prices are going to quickly align.

[IkeaGnome]

Imagine having different tax rates based on time of the year too. 

[StarsMars]

On 9/24/2023 at 2:58 AM, tomatensaftliebhaber027 said:

Hey, I realised there is something wrong with Apple's pricing here in Germany. Take the iPhone 15 Pro for example. In the US, it costs 999USD (936EUR as of right now). In the German store, they are selling it for 1199EUR!!!! (1279USD) I don't know why that is (maybe you do?) but I assume it has partially to do with the shipping. Did you know that tere was a 280USD uplift in other countries?

Home field advantage.

Assuming it has to do with tariffs, VAT and such.

Generally electronics have been cheaper in the US.