John

Brit price with no tax is UKBP315 against US$379..

Tax rates in the US range between 4 and 9%, I believe, and into double
figures in Ontario and Quebec in Canada, 14 and 16% respectively

Profit margins are smaller in North America generally, and none of us have
any idea how much is paid by the retailers on either continent.. the fact
that the Brit price is so high in the UK does not necessarily reflect the
price paid from the manufacturer..

The UK, along with one or two other member countries, have failed to adopt
the Euro as regular currency, and as such is prone to varying exchange rates
in a way that other member countries may not be..

While I accept that the price difference is large, it is not right to quote
a price without tax against a price with tax, especially where the tax rate
is so high as in the UK..

Something else that is not taken into account is UK import duty for goods
manufactured from outside of the EU.. that can range from between 5 and
85%..

Then there are shipping, handling and insurance costs..

I fail to see why MS are being blamed for all of this..

"John John" wrote in message
...
Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User wrote:


I really can't believe what the problem is with MS and pricing.. why do
people expect to get the top Vista for nothing?

No one said that they wanted it for nothing. The starting information for
this thread was that Vista Ultimate would be priced at about US$378.99 in
the United states and at £369.99 in the UK. (Amazon numbers supplied by
Shenan)

US378.99 = 192.52 U.K. pounds

Add the 17.5% VAT that another poster mentioned (£33.69)and the final
straight converted advertised price would be £226.21 VAT included. The
spread of £143.78 ($283.03 US dollars) cannot be simply explained with
shipping costs or that the the UK economy is that much more inefficient
than the US or that the UK market is that uncompetitive.

It isn't mere spin or simple BS from Microsoft... it's more to the PhD
level... BS that is just Piled Higher and Deeper!

John