OT - price of Vista in UK

[Paul Smith]

Hey! I thought that MVPs were supposed to be super-human!
Surely they should able to rise above this sort of petty sniping...

MVPs are just regular humans who can bite their tongues. <g>

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/
Get ready for Windows Vista: http://www.windowsvista.com/getready/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

 

[Brian W]

It may well be, but that's not the point, is it? Why should the cost be
almost DOUBLE for the same product when the only additional cost to the
producer is flying it accross the Atlantic?

Probably doesn't even come that far, I think XP discs were produced/packaged
in Ireland

 

[aspdgr2294]

It is about greed and billionaires Waltons, Gates etc.
No matter how much R&D they talk about the price is way too high for an
upgrade are prisoners of windows.

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

Still probably be cheaper...

Not if it comes by courier services like UPS FedEx etc -- many on-line
stores do not ship by USMail.

Courier services charge something like $30 - $40+ to prepare and file
customs documents plus of course you have to pay duty and VAT (17.5%
for those not familiar with "sales tax" in Europe/UK)

If you can get it by US Mail then there's a chance it will come through
with no charges and if not then the UK Post Office have a standard fee
for the clearance that is much less than the couriers.

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

If you look at prices in general then £1 = $1 has been the real
exchange rate for years and years across the trade.

Look at white goods -- cooker in the UK £200 similar in the US $200.
True for PCs, TVs cars and so on.

I never liked it when I lived in the UK but it's always been like that.

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

It may be worth studying this at Microsoft and the links from it.

http://www.microsoft.com/exporting/faq.htm

<< Windows Vista Export Authorization FAQs

Q: What is the Windows Vista U.S. export authorization?

A: Windows Vista is authorized for export, reexport, resale and
transfer worldwide, except to Country Group E:1 countries and to
parties denied export privileges, based on the Letter Authorization
from the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security
(BIS) effective October 13, 2006.


Q: What are Country Group E:1 countries?

A: See the Export Administration Regulations Supp. 1 to Part 740 >>

E1 coountries are "terrorist supporting" mentioned in the first link:

Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.

 

[Alias]

Not if it comes by courier services like UPS FedEx etc -- many on-line
stores do not ship by USMail.

Courier services charge something like $30 - $40+ to prepare and file
customs documents plus of course you have to pay duty and VAT (17.5%
for those not familiar with "sales tax" in Europe/UK)

If you can get it by US Mail then there's a chance it will come through
with no charges and if not then the UK Post Office have a standard fee
for the clearance that is much less than the couriers.

I just had a copy of XP Pro sent to me from the states by a friend. No
hassle and the postage was under $6.

Alias

 

[Paul-B]

Something tells me you should be bringing this up with your
government, rather than Microsoft.

Rather than boycotting Microsoft, boycott the EU's "tax" on things
imported from the US.

The import duty on software from the USA is very low... ISTR it used to
be around 1.7% or somesuch.

 

[Paul-B]

The import duty on software from the USA is very low... ISTR it used
to be around 1.7% or somesuch.

Further to this there is apparently no import duty on software. VAT
must be adde, which is applied to the whole cost, i.e. software cost
plus shipping charge.

http://www.iay.org.uk/euro-ink/dealers/us/index.html

It would be possible for, say, 20 or 30 people to bulk-order from the
USA, which would reduce the shipping cost, and obtain their software at
a very advantageous price.

 

[ChrisM]

In message (e-mail address removed),

Further to this there is apparently no import duty on software. VAT
must be adde, which is applied to the whole cost, i.e. software cost
plus shipping charge.

http://www.iay.org.uk/euro-ink/dealers/us/index.html

It would be possible for, say, 20 or 30 people to bulk-order from the
USA, which would reduce the shipping cost, and obtain their software
at a very advantageous price.

Does the law prevent you from buying a number of copies of Vista from USA,
then selling them on (say) eBay at a profit??

 

[Paul-B]

In message (e-mail address removed),


Does the law prevent you from buying a number of copies of Vista from
USA, then selling them on (say) eBay at a profit??

AFAIK it doesn't. "Gray" imports are allowed in the EC, and in fact a
number of the larger supermarket chains do exactly that with products
which the manufacturers won't supply them with... Nike shoes and Levis
jeans were a case in point, where Asda UK could not buy them from the
manufacturers so bought a load from other sources and resold them at
substantially lower prices in the UK.

The problem with eBay is that they tend to pull Microsoft software if
Microsoft ask them to, and that there are so many pirate/illegal copies
of Microsoft software on there that people don't trust the sellers.

I suspect some bright spark will start selling Retail gray imports
soon, the markup is massive.

 

[Kurt Heggelund]

I'd say we in Norway get ripped off. NOK 4695,- (US $745) for Ultimate.
$285 for Ultimate OEM. I'm buying from the US if possible.

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

Way to go .....

Did the British Post Office ask for duty or VAT?

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

And in the days when software came with printed manuals you could at
one time exclude those from the value under a UNESCO treaty <g>

 

[Alias]

Way to go .....

Did the British Post Office ask for duty or VAT?

I live in Spain and all the post office did was deliver it and ask me
for my signature and was off to his next delivery.

Alias

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

I didn't realize that -- good to know just the same.

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

I'd say we in Norway get ripped off. NOK 4695,- (US $745) for Ultimate.
$285 for Ultimate OEM. I'm buying from the US if possible.

You won't get much of a break by buying Ultimate OEM from the US. The
OEM prices here are pretty much the same.

Donald L McDaniel
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