Rip off Britannica....

**AtW** · 13 August 2006, 19:15

Pricing is probably the most interesting area of economics, perhaps NL should look into it since it has got nothing to do with fairness whatsoever.

**expat** · 13 August 2006, 20:02

Originally posted by mcquiggd

I was considering getting the DVD version of the Encylopedia Britannica for a friend who has a kid who is at school.. until I saw the US price versus the UK price...

US price: $39.95 (about £22).
UK price: £32.99.

No wonder people use P2P..... or order overseas....

That's cheap. Normally the conversion from dollars to pounds is done by replacing the currency symbol while keeping the figures constant.

It's not just vs the US. Check out iTunes: one price for EU minus UK, another price for the UK.

Frits Bolkestein, the European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, said: "Cross-border shopping is a fundamental right under EU law"

**mcquiggd** · 13 August 2006, 20:18

Just checked out iTunes (don't normally use it) and I had not noticed that before...

I remember being in the States and finding the same DVDs that sell here for £19.99 are often $14.99 over there.

I also seem to remember a story about cars that were built in the UK (going back maybe 4-5 years) - and it was cheaper for a couple living near the manufacturing plant to travel to Holland, buy the car that was produced near their home, and travel back to the UK, than it was to buy it at the local dealership.... my understanding is that there was a big investigation into price fixing.

**AtW** · 13 August 2006, 20:25

A lot of things are more expensive in the UK than in the USA - this has got knock on effect on pricing of new goods and services. Just compare what kind of house you can buy in the USA for £400,000 - and what can you get in London for that kind of money?

**mcquiggd** · 13 August 2006, 20:33

Alexei - my original point was more that 'even the things we do actually create here, cost more than they do overseas'..... I can understand certain things can be cheaper in the US - land price is a good example, which makes up a fair percentage of the price of property.

And I did look at US property a couple of years ago - for the price of a 4 bedroom house in London you could buy - quite literally - a small island, only about 750 yards wide, with an amazing house, in Florida.

**AtW** · 13 August 2006, 20:40

Originally posted by mcquiggd

Alexei - my original point was more that 'even the things we do actually create here, cost more than they do overseas'.....

The cost of something is product of demand and supply, you simply won't sell any books in the USA if you convert £33 into dollars - on the other hand since current pricing of books in the UK is such, then its stupid to sell it for less, its as simple as this: no fairness of course (for this you need to go into NL office), just business.

**mcquiggd** · 13 August 2006, 20:44

But how will the immigrants afford DVDs?

I think it is racist to charge more for products in the UK

**AtW** · 13 August 2006, 20:46

But you sure do realise that because product does not sell well, they just jack up the price to make up for small sales with higher margin?

**mcquiggd** · 13 August 2006, 20:47

So is it coz we is thick that it costs more in the UK...?

As an aside, the most profitable part of Oxford University Press (OUP) was English Language Teaching (ELT).

Rip off Britannica....