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Originally Posted by SMHarman
But would you be happy if the price fluctuated daily as the exchange rate moved? £312 today, £330 next week, £299 the following? When does the price fix? When the retailer buys it from apple, when they sell it to you?
Who pays to put it on a plane/boat over here? Who pays the import duties and customs clearance fees.
If you import from outside the EU you soon realise why a simple conversion never works.
You also need to remember that the $499 is the ex tax price in the US, most US customers (except those in New Hampshire) will pay sales tax on that price. This can easily be up to 8% these days.
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I realise the $499 is excluding sales tax, which is why I added on VAT after I did the conversion (it's not just those from New Hampshire who avoid the tax -- internet purchases are exempt, too).
And I'm not expecting to pay £312. I just used it as an example because, historically, Apple have used something like a £1=$1 exchange rate for their products in the UK, and so I was fully expecting the new Mac to start at £400. The fact that it's not is refreshing, to say the least!
(I don't think shipping fees are relevent, though: these things will almost certainly be assembled in the Far East, and so getting them to Europe will if anything be cheaper than getting them to the States.)