Hi,

I just want to buy a Mac mini in spain.
If you visit http://www.apple.com/es/macmini/, you find that it costs
489€
And if you visit http://www.apple.com/macmini/, you find that it costs
499$
But 1 € = 1.3 $ (aprox). So it has to cost 499/1.3 = 384.61 €. I could
understand that with transportation costs, it could increase, but not
104. So what's happens?

I would like to ask to Apple, but they has not direct email. At least,
I could not find.

Can you explain me these differences?

Xan.

Xan wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just want to buy a Mac mini in spain.
> If you visit http://www.apple.com/es/macmini/, you find that it costs
> 489€
> And if you visit http://www.apple.com/macmini/, you find that it costs
> 499$
> But 1 € = 1.3 $ (aprox). So it has to cost 499/1.3 = 384.61 €. I could
> understand that with transportation costs, it could increase, but not
> 104. So what's happens?
>
> I would like to ask to Apple, but they has not direct email. At least,
> I could not find.
>
> Can you explain me these differences?

There may be a small increase in price for infrastructure costs in
getting the mini to you, import duties into spain (which from what I
hear Apple US doesn't pay, as they're considered a US manufacturer even
when Macs themselves are made overseas), and local taxes. As far as I
know the US apple store shows untaxed amounts, with the final value
depending on the particular US state. A $499 Mac mini may cost a
resident of a state with 7% sales tax a total of $533, for example.

Depending on the situation in Spain, the €489 price may already include
sales tax and an import duty into the country, where the US $499 doesn't
include either. That wouldn't explain the entire price difference which
would be marketing based, but it may make for a smaller disparity.

That's my take on a situation I haven't read deeply into. I'm sure
others will correct me if I'm wrong.

On 3/6/05 4:45 PM, in article 422b880a$1@duster.adelaide.on.net, "lee doran"
<lkdoran@solace.unsw.edu.au> wrote:

> Xan wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I just want to buy a Mac mini in spain.
>> If you visit http://www.apple.com/es/macmini/, you find that it costs
>> 489€
>> And if you visit http://www.apple.com/macmini/, you find that it costs
>> 499$
>> But 1 € = 1.3 $ (aprox). So it has to cost 499/1.3 = 384.61 €. I could
>> understand that with transportation costs, it could increase, but not
>> 104. So what's happens?
>>
>> I would like to ask to Apple, but they has not direct email. At least,
>> I could not find.
>>
>> Can you explain me these differences?
>
> There may be a small increase in price for infrastructure costs in
> getting the mini to you, import duties into spain (which from what I
> hear Apple US doesn't pay, as they're considered a US manufacturer even
> when Macs themselves are made overseas), and local taxes. As far as I
> know the US apple store shows untaxed amounts, with the final value
> depending on the particular US state. A $499 Mac mini may cost a
> resident of a state with 7% sales tax a total of $533, for example.
>
> Depending on the situation in Spain, the €489 price may already include
> sales tax and an import duty into the country, where the US $499 doesn't
> include either. That wouldn't explain the entire price difference which
> would be marketing based, but it may make for a smaller disparity.
>
> That's my take on a situation I haven't read deeply into. I'm sure
> others will correct me if I'm wrong.

Having spent 3 years in Germany, I can tell you Value Added Tax (VAT) can be
a lot!
--
Brian Ehni