Pricing complaints - Aus/Can etc

[Crumpet]

So I always hear on youtube or in forums Australians and Canadians complaining about how much they get stiffed on hardware prices.

I was talking about this with my wife so I decided to check some shops for price comparisons.

And holy cow...

Either i'm seeing some amazing deals or you guys don't buy anything in the UK!

i7 7700k
Australia - $464 aus
Canada - $460 cdn
Britain - £335 gbp

if we convert them that's £281, £275 and obviously £335.. GD that's 16-18% cheaper

Okay, lets check the R7 1800x
Australia - $669 aus
Canada - $620 cdn
Britain - £490

and conversion... £405, £371 and obviously £490.. What. The. HELL. 18-24% cheaper!

Am I missing something here, or does the UK withhold the rights to say "sorry boys, we get shafted more, quit your whining."

 

[Mr Evil]

Do the Canadian and Australian prices include tax?

In the UK we can get things cheaper by taking advantage of our EU membership*. For instance a quick look finds the 7700k at €351 (£298) and the 1800X at €510 (£432) from Germany. That's not quite parity, but I have picked up other things before that have been even cheaper than they are in the US.

* For the next two years anyway

 

[Crumpet]

Do the Canadian and Australian prices include tax?

In the UK we can get things cheaper by taking advantage of our EU membership*. For instance a quick look finds the 7700k at €351 (£298) and the 1800X at €510 (£432) from Germany. That's not quite parity, but I have picked up other things before that have been even cheaper than they are in the US.

* For the next two years anyway

Yeah that was with tax. Good comment with the EU sales though.

 

[Paperdoc]

One reason for complaints like this from my fellow Canadians is not paying attention to dollar exchange rates. Right now I can buy in the USA on-line an i7 7700K processor for US$ 350 - well, special deal reduced to US$ 330. Looks a LOT cheaper than C$ 460. But wait: if I go to my bank and buy US$ 330, they'll charge me C$ 453 today. On the first Canadian on-line seller I looked up, the price after a short-term promo reduction is C$ 450 - SAME PRICE! And probably shipping cost within Canada is less than cross-border.

 

[sandorski]

In Canada due to our proximity to the US it modifies our Prices, on lower priced Consumer goods anyway. When it comes to Autos that can change, although some Price differences there are because of different Regulations.

 

[Crumpet]

Even though the GBP- Dollar conversion rate is 1.28USD to every GBP, whenever something new comes out you normally take the US price and change the dollar sign for the pound sign.

And then sometimes you get the imaginary UK special tax where for completely unknown reasons they take the USD amount, change the symbol to a pound sign and then slap a premium on it.