Brits are mugs... official

[jamie_m_]

As a UK resident I've almost got used to paying a bit more for technology than either US or EU customers.... although I've never really accepted the currency hedging/smaller market excuses we are usually fobbed off with.

I had hoped that there had been sufficient backlash at the CS3 rip-off perpetrated by Adobe to cause multi-nationals to be more considerate, but it seems that Canon are determined to rip us off too.

At $8000 for a 1Ds3... I'd dreamed of a £4000 price tag, although I'd expect £5000, maybe even £5500 from looking at the euro price, but £6000

Do we all have MUG printed on our foreheads?

[Quentin]

As a UK resident I've almost got used to paying a bit more for technology than either US or EU customers.... although I've never really accepted the currency hedging/smaller market excuses we are usually fobbed off with.

I had hoped that there had been sufficient backlash at the CS3 rip-off perpetrated by Adobe to cause multi-nationals to be more considerate, but it seems that Canon are determined to rip us off too.

At $8000 for a 1Ds3... I'd dreamed of a £4000 price tag, although I'd expect £5000, maybe even £5500 from looking at the euro price, but £6000

Do we all have MUG printed on our foreheads?
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Sometimes it works the other way, as has happened in the past with Mamiya equipment, and its not just the UK, Europe as a whole often suffers.  But I agree, the UK pricing of Photoshop CS3, and the preposterous excuses given for it, set a new benchmark in disingenuity.  I don't own Canon kit and I have not the slightest intention of buying the 1Ds III.

Quentin

[Tobben]

In Norway the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III is listed at nok. 74000,- = £ 6279,16. Don't bay it here!

[feppe]

Vote with your pounds.

I bought my 30D along with an extra lens and bunch of extras from B&H in NYC on my trip there. Even after paying import duties and VAT, I came up on top. This was a year ago, and the dollar is even weaker, so you should be fine. You can always contact your customs to ask what kind of duties are put on camera gear to be sure. Warranty is not an issue, as Canon has an international warranty, and B&H offers very affordable extended global warranties on backs and lenses from mackcam.com. Of course if you're a pro and need to have a camera with you 24/7, long turnaround times might be a problem.

You can of course order online from reputable USian dealers. But if you buy enough gear you _will_ pay for the price of a weekend trip just by the savings. And I'd much rather pay KLM, Hilton and NYC taxi drivers than grab my ankles and take it like a champ as my government steals more of my money than they already get from my incom... GRRRRRRR I need to calm down.

And when you do that, let Canon, your local dealer, your elected representative, us and your friends know what you did, so that there's more pressure to bring prices to parity.

[pobrien3]

Seriously mate, buy a cheap air ticket to NY or Hong Kong and you'll save a packet and perhaps get a decent weekend away into the bargain.  The pices charged in the UK for camera gear is nothing sort of criminal.

[John Camp]

What about prices in other non EC places like Switzerland or Monaco or Malta? Are they high, too? If not, it'd be a quick train trip (or train and ferry.)

JC

[feppe]

What about prices in other non EC places like Switzerland or Monaco or Malta? Are they high, too? If not, it'd be a quick train trip (or train and ferry.)

JC
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I believe you're supposed to pay import duties from those countries, so any price advantage might become a disadvantage at a random border check.

[mahleu]

I believe you're supposed to pay import duties from those countries, so any price advantage might become a disadvantage at a random border check.
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It all depends. You can claim tax back when you leave a country, but if you use the camera in transit, then you no longer have a new camera, so you don't pay import duty. I did this the last time I went to the uk (3 years ago) when I got my first dslr.

[Morris Taub]

Do we all have MUG printed on our foreheads?
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Somebody's gotta pay for that 'royal' family...no?

 

M

[rvanr]

Do we all have MUG printed on our foreheads?
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Isn't capitalism annoying (amongst other things). I bought my Canon iPF5000 November last year for just over £1,500 (about $3,000). Now they are offered for $999 in the US, that's less than I would have to pay for a set of new inks!!!

Anyway as someone said elsewhere: we all vote with our wallets, it's all a question of supply and demand (still very happy with the output of the printer!)

[francois]

What about prices in other non EC places like Switzerland or Monaco or Malta? Are they high, too? If not, it'd be a quick train trip (or train and ferry.)

JC
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I believe the main issue lies in import taxes & duties. In Switzerland, Canon bodies are about the same prices as B&H (it depends on the local store). VAT in Switzerland is only 7.6% but importing equipment from Switzerland to Europe can be painfully expensive.

[KAP]

As a UK resident I've almost got used to paying a bit more for technology than either US or EU customers.... although I've never really accepted the currency hedging/smaller market excuses we are usually fobbed off with.

I had hoped that there had been sufficient backlash at the CS3 rip-off perpetrated by Adobe to cause multi-nationals to be more considerate, but it seems that Canon are determined to rip us off too.

At $8000 for a 1Ds3... I'd dreamed of a £4000 price tag, although I'd expect £5000, maybe even £5500 from looking at the euro price, but £6000

Do we all have MUG printed on our foreheads?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=134835\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Adobe has always ripped us off in the UK. I don't have CS3. I think it was about Photoshop 4 I bought outright and payed for all the upgrades. After a few miss'haps I've lost my codes for the original. I've tried getting it back numorous ways, I've even contacted Adobe, I'm shure I on-line registered the program, but I can't get the codes needed for the upgrade. OK I thought bite the bullett and buy it again, I looked at the dollar price then the pound price and decided no way. That's plain mugging, no shipping no packaging so no excuse and a bloody insult. If a Pirate copy ever fell my way (I'm not looking for one) I'd install it and consider it a two fingered salute to the corporate *iss takers at Adobe. Since Aperture I hardly ever go near Photoshop so not such a big lose.
As for Canon, I would ignore the price, after Nikons announcement they will seriously need to rethink their pricing stratergy.

Kevin.

[Jim White]

As for Canon, I would ignore the price, after Nikons announcement they will seriously need to rethink their pricing stratergy.
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Actually, it looks as tho' Nikon are learning from Canon.  
Or perhaps they didn't need to learn anyway and we _are_ just MUGs!  

From DP Review:
D300, 1800 USD; 1200Pounds Stlg; 1980 Euros.
D3, 5000 USD; 3400 Pounds; 5180 Euros.

The only thing stopping me from booking my ticket to the States is the queuing at Thiefrow.

You don't suppose that Canon, Nikon and Adobe have any pull with BAA, do you?  

There's one for the conspiracy theorists.

[DiaAzul]

Somebody's gotta pay for that 'royal' family...no?

 

M
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Debatable question - the Royal Family have there own independent income from investments, land, etc...

Yes they do receive payments from the British Taxpayer, though this is tied to their official duties. Whilst this amount may seem large it does have to cover a reasonable sized staff associated with executing these duties. Pound for pound they are far better value that a president would be (Queen versus Bush - which delivers better value Royalty or President?). Even if the UK was converted to a republic the royal family would still exist and still enjoy the same standard of living, they in such a situation, they could actually speak their mind about what they really think of the government.

Where this debate really lies is that the European Union (European Free Trade Area) has failed to deliver any benefit to the general population in Europe in respect of lower commodity prices. The 'single' European market still remains fragmented and we end up paying vast sums of money for an ineffective unelected bloated bureaucracy stifling innovation and competition which benefits establishment and politicians and completely fails the man on the street.

Forget Iraq and Afghanistan - the American Army is welcome in Europe to bring peace and democracy (and lower prices for Photoshop, Canon and Nikon products). NB you don't have to send any troops or tanks - just put a PX on every high street so we can get cheap prices will do  

And if I haven't managed to inflame the thread - we know that in reality, it's all the fault of the French  

[ARD]

If non of us the UK bought Canon then the prices would drop. Thing is they make good cameras, lenses etc so we buy them.

It would be great if no one buys an EOS 1Ds MKIII in the uk when they are released, the price would fall drastically I would imagine.

Other problem we have here is the government and the way they tax us to the maximum.

An example is, every £10 spent of petrol, £8.50 is tax.

[feppe]

From DP Review:
D300, 1800 USD; 1200Pounds Stlg; 1980 Euros.
D3, 5000 USD; 3400 Pounds; 5180 Euros.
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If the quoted prices are correct, all of us Europeans are mugs: USD price higher than EUR price - at today's exchange rate the D3 costs €3707 if bought in the US, so the actual price of €5180 includes a 40% (forty percent) Europe-premium. Let's not forget you pay the same premium on lenses. VAT in Europe is generally around 20%, plus import duties which depend on goods - this means there's still a hefty premium on cameras in Europe well beyond what the government steals from us.

I really need to stop thinking about these issues to save my sanity.

[pobrien3]

Somebody's gotta pay for that 'royal' family...no?
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No, it's the upkeep of the castles we all live in.  Those arrow slits are very draughty but at lease we get the serfs free.

[wakeboy]

ok i did the research a while ago and

vat is average of 20 percent in Europe, if you want to be legal land in luxemborg  (then get the train home to uk) and declare it there and you will pay only 15 percent vat inside eu so no other taxes to pay. import duty on lenses is 8.5 percent, so we pay 28 percent in tax,

buy the lens in the states and add sales tax of 3-8 percent....

on small ticket items you wont save much flying there, the way to save is on the big ticket items, 8000 dollars, to 12000 a tthe current exchange rate is a huge difference, so a flight and hotel for one night go buy the camera and then fly home.... is worth it.  take the camera out of the packaging and post the box to yourself or a friend, and then take the camera home in you hand luggage, etc, most import stuff will not be paid on it, as border guards really don't know what they are looking at....

use it a bit where you are and it becomes used for sure but officially even 2nd hand items etc attract a duty charge.

[Rob C]

I´ve been away a little while, but last time I looked UK VAT was 17.5%; here in Spain it´s 16% and as somebody wrote, the whole thing is bullshit.

Yes, we pay through the nose to keep tax-free salaries for Euro MPs going. The Royals are not a liability, they represent the only worthwhile establishment left in Britain. Every politician has his nose in the public trough; his eye on the US lecture tour after he gets thrown out of office for some form of corruption or another. Where else can somebody be kicked out of office three times then go on to become a Euro bigshot? Yes, in Britain, innit, Mandy baby?

As for the US? Who can tell - there seems to be as much confusion there between religion and politics as there is in Afghanistan or Iraq, with fundamentalists killing doctors and other people they disagree with. Difference between US and the middle-eastern ones? You tell me. Wrap the argument, any argument,  up in religious clothes and you confuse people´s minds. Not new science, been done since the early middle-ages. It´s called mind control; it requires ignorance and poverty to thrive.

So buy your cameras where you are - it´s not worth the hassle going shopping worldwide, something in the small print will blow you off once again.

[Kevin W Smith]

I believe the main issue lies in import taxes & duties. In Switzerland, Canon bodies are about the same prices as B&H (it depends on the local store). VAT in Switzerland is only 7.6% but importing equipment from Switzerland to Europe can be painfully expensive.

Simple enough solution: hop a train or a cheap flight to Switzerland with an empty camera bag. Buy your gear and put it in the bag. Put the receipts in an envelope and mail it to yourself, and pack up the empty boxes, manuals, etc. and ship them home.

They can't charge import duties on empty boxes, and sending the receipts via a different path would make it impossible to catch on to what you're up to.

 Kevin