Boycott Vista in the UK!

And yet in Sept 98, the rate on software from outside of the EU was 25%..
Windows is US origin..


"John John" wrote in message
...
The European Union and its member countries are signatories to the WTO
Information Technology Agreement (ITA) concluded in December 1996, tariff
on software is 0%.

John

Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User wrote:
John

Read my second post re import duty..


"John John" wrote in message
...

Whichever way you calculate it Mike, it comes to about the same numbers
that I gave earlier and that Shenan gave us, 315 Pounds + 17.5 VAT =
370.13 Pounds, what amazon.uk sells it for. My understanding is that
advertized prices in the UK must include the VAT, so the Amazon price
follows the prices you gave.

Without the taxes using the numbers you gave, £315.00 = US$619.41, a
spread of US$240.41. To me, in these days of globalization and free
trade that price difference seems out of whack and difficult to justify.

John

Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User wrote:

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