What taxes are these? Aren't these backs mostly made in Europe anyway? I know we have to pay 17.5% VAT in the UK, but I could fly to the USA and get one much cheaper. Except they wouldn't sell one to me if they knew I came from the UK. I presume American importers have to pay duty to get the stuff into their country as well as charge their state purchase tax on top.
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Not so simple. Almost all taxes are higher in Europe. That means that not only are we paying for higher VAT (~ 15-22% in Europe, compared to sales taxes of ~ 0-5% in US IIRC), but we are paying higher taxes on wages, raw materials, transportation, energy, etc. etc., in addition to higher social security costs, higher labor costs, higher financing costs, labor market rigidities, fewer working hours, less efficient financial markets, etc. etc. All of this compounds - snowballs - into the outrageous price differentials we see in cameras and other goods, differentials which can't be explained away by mere import duties or exchange rate differentials.
I wouldn't be surprised if Europeans pay higher margins on goods just because we're used to outrageous prices. But the main reason why everything is so expensive here is to pay for all the public goods through taxes. So, the next time you pay 100% more on a camera you can dwell on the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from the knowledge of providing for a public opera house, or the replacement liver for the guy who's dying due to 30 years of alcoholism.