Huge price differential - Acronis backup UK / vs USA

[jimbo45]

Hi there

Seems the UK is quite an expensive place to get software -- I'm at a loss to understand why there is a HUGE difference in price considering the product is DOWNLOADABLE from a central server -- no shipping / packaging costs etc etc.


Here's an image comparing the USA and UK price of Acronis 2011 True image home including the addon pack.

At today's currency market 1 GBP is approx 1.6 USD


Mid-market rates: 2011-05-20 09:20 UTC 1.00 GBP =1.62543 USD British Pound US Dollar1 GBP = 1.62543 USD 1 USD = 0.615223 GBP



So look at this and "go figure" at approx 15 USD difference in price - what gives here -- any financial experts available for comment.

I got the product via a US proxy but a lot of people can't do this from Europe BTW.


Cheers
jimbo

 

[kado897]

I don't know what the sales tax is in the US but the equivalent in the UK (VAT) is 20%. This could account for some of it. They have to advertise tax included BTW.

 

[Hopalong X]

No VAT here and sales tax if and when applicable is added on at checkout State side.
State tax would also depend on which State you live in so it is not a flat fee.
0-10% accordingly. Average if any is 6-8%.

Mike

 

[severedsolo]

VAT actually is probably about right....

£39.95 - 20% VAT = £33.29
33.29*1.62 (Jimbo's figures, rounded)= $53.93 before tax.

Admittedly, it's not quite even, but only $3-4 out, before VAT anyway.

 

[Hopalong X]

The most it would cost here is $54.99 w/tax.

The posted quid price has to include VAT. Which is about $64.

It makes no sense to me. I could see a +/- $2 but not $9-10.

 

[marsmimar]

A lot of things in the EU have always been more expensive than in the US. Just one example, even in the early '70s when I was stationed in Germany, gas in the US was less than 50 cents/gallon while I was paying almost $3.00/gallon through the military post exchange. So a $15 -$20 price difference in software doesn't surprise me. Seems like European countries have always been getting the short end of the stick. The same economic factors that affected gas prices in the early '70s are still affecting most prices today.

 

[kado897]

Hardcopy books are bad also they tend to transate as 1$=1£ or worse and there is no VAT on them here. There is VAT on e-books however.

 

[SIW2]

That is a much smaller price differential than most products carry.

Usually there is a straight $ to £ .

E.G an item in US for $49.99 will often be charged at £49.99 in the UK - that is about 60% more.

It has been that way for as long as I can remember.

Not just software - everything is like that.

You wonder who is pocketing all those billions.


@Jimbo,

Acronis should give you their products - the amount of publicity they get from your posts.


Seriously, there are some valid reasons for higher prices here - nevertheless there is still an additional mark up on top.

In addition to the hated 20% tax which is included - evrything is expensive here.

If they are physical goods - the cost of transpost is much higher - road taxes and fuel duty in particular are enormous here. Storing products is expensive, warehouse and shop rents and, in particular rates ( rates are an annual tax on property ) are vastly greater, too.

That does not account for all of the difference - it gives an excuse to add an additional mark up - and disuise that as part of the higher costs.

There is no reason for non physial goods to be priced higher. They do it because they can.

The poor consumer is so used to being ripped off - they don't even question it.

There was a government campaign a while ago to try to address the issue. They termed it "Rip off Britain ".

It was quietly dropped when they realised part of it is due to higher taxes.

 

[tw33k]

It worse here in Aus. $AU69.99 = $USD74.54 & £45.94

 

[SIW2]

That includes the plus pack, tho, mate.

Normally it is $30 extra.

I don't know how they get away with that.

You have to pay extra for Acronis version of Adaptive restore ( most Paragon products include that - no extra charge ).

You also have to pay extra to get a winpe cd ( Paragon and macrium include that - no extra charge ).

Then - you have to download 1.9GB WAIK and make it yourself - unbelievable :shock:

I expect that saves Acronis having to pay the license fee to MS.

 

[whs]

In most EU countries the consumers are being milked by the companies and the goverments. When I order something from Newegg in Florida, I pay no sales tax. When I order the same item in Germany from a comparable mail order house, I pay 19% VAT plus the item is a lot more expensive to start with. That is why I lug most of my equipment from the US - including laptops. Since my wife is a US citizen, there is no issue with customs and I can bring $500 worth of goods free of tax also.

But a real scandal is the other way around. In Germany, I live 10 miles from the Mercedes plant where the cars come off the assembly line. But if I were to buy one of those cars in Florida (provided one day I could afford it), I could buy them 40% cheaper than from my local German dealer (5 miles from the plant). The same goes for a lot of products that come from EU countries. A Cerutti dinner jacket I bought in Florida was 4 times cheaper than in a German store - exact same jacket. Go figure.

 

[mickey megabyte]

the phenomenon is locally known as 'rip-off britain'

(first time i'm used the word 'phenomenon' in a long time - phenomenal! )

 

[jimbo45]

Hi all
Thanks guys for the various explanations.

Physical goods I can understand -- transport / fuel / warehouse costs are ENORMOUS in UK / Europe (W.) compared with the US -- but downloading a piece of software from a CENTRAL SERVER that could be located on one of the moons of Jupiter for all I care ---- where's the extra cost.

Even if VAT were chargeable the price is still higher than it need be - and in any case "Educational Products" and similar carry no VAT in GB -- you CAN import loads of stuff into GB without paying VAT --it's a bit of a hassle but perfectly "doable" if you can take the time to hunt out the forms - a lot of computer software can be classed as "educational" - hence no VAT is chargeable - and fill in the Customs declaration - when I'm working in the UKI always try and get back the VAT -- it works in 90% of the time.

Perhaps Internet consumers need to get more savvy and get this sort of stuff sorted out. With an International market now its easy to compare prices so the consumer SHOULD be able to source stuff in the cheapest market.

In theory this should drive both PRICES and EXHORBITANT taxataion down.

Cheers

jimbo

 

[tw33k]

That includes the plus pack, tho, mate.

Normally it is $30 extra.

I don't know how they get away with that.

You have to pay extra for Acronis version of Adaptive restore ( most Paragon products include that - no extra charge ).

You also have to pay extra to get a winpe cd ( Paragon and macrium include that - no extra charge ).

Then - you have to download 1.9GB WAIK and make it yourself - unbelievable :shock:

I expect that saves Acronis having to pay the license fee to MS.

If you look at the OP, those prices also include the Plus Pack

 

[SIW2]

That's me not reading properly then.

You are right Jimbo - we should vote with our wallets.

Not always so easy - some overseas sites don't take our payments ( there are workarounds - but I don't see the masses being able to do that )

It is also the case some things won't work cross border - an example in mickey's link :

HP print cartridges have been regionalised since 2004; as such, they not work in printers with a different RC. Canon print cartridges for the Pixma MP 480 will not work in printers of that type with a different RC either (even when listed on the packaging of the Canon printer cartridges in question).