Vista Pricing

[Unicorn]

Could someone please explain why Vista ultimate is apparently worth more
than 40% more in Australia than in the USA.

Example
Vista Ultimate Amazon.com $US 379 ($AU 478.54)
City Software citysoftware.com.au ($AU 688.01)

Come on Microsoft. You claim that the WOW starts now. Perhaps you
could explain the WOW in that price variance. 40% variation between
countries that both speak English is not reasonable. But please for use
ignorant Aussies please say something other than blame exchange rates
and try and blame us because you run a huge office in Sydney that really
has very little to do with the price of manufacturing a product which
always comes in a box from Singapore.

Matt

 

[johnm]

Could someone please explain why Vista ultimate is apparently worth more
than 40% more in Australia than in the USA.

Example
Vista Ultimate Amazon.com $US 379 ($AU 478.54)
City Software citysoftware.com.au ($AU 688.01)

Come on Microsoft. You claim that the WOW starts now. Perhaps you could
explain the WOW in that price variance. 40% variation between countries
that both speak English is not reasonable. But please for use ignorant
Aussies please say something other than blame exchange rates and try and
blame us because you run a huge office in Sydney that really has very
little to do with the price of manufacturing a product which always comes
in a box from Singapore.

Matt

It's nothing personal mate, it's just how Microsoft pays for all their
anti-trust legal entanglements

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Could someone please explain why Vista ultimate is apparently worth more
than 40% more in Australia than in the USA.

Example
Vista Ultimate Amazon.com $US 379 ($AU 478.54)
City Software citysoftware.com.au ($AU 688.01)

Come on Microsoft. You claim that the WOW starts now. Perhaps you could
explain the WOW in that price variance. 40% variation between countries
that both speak English is not reasonable. But please for use ignorant
Aussies please say something other than blame exchange rates and try and
blame us because you run a huge office in Sydney that really has very
little to do with the price of manufacturing a product which always comes
in a box from Singapore.

Matt

The economics are more complex then just looking at the US price and doing a
conversion at the current exchange rate into your currency. (for example
look at your job and then find the identical one in the US - that person
doing it is probably paid less then you.)
If you want to go down this route then pretty much any consumer good from
jeans to Pepsi is cheaper in the US then in Europe, UK, Australia etc.
This discussion has been done to death in this group - please just read all
the other responses.
If you do not like your local store pricing buy elsewhere - the internet
gives you the power to buy where ever you want.

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

The US price does NOT include Federal or State taxes.. is that true of the
Australian price?

Could someone please explain why Vista ultimate is apparently worth more
than 40% more in Australia than in the USA.

Example
Vista Ultimate Amazon.com $US 379 ($AU 478.54)
City Software citysoftware.com.au ($AU 688.01)

Come on Microsoft. You claim that the WOW starts now. Perhaps you could
explain the WOW in that price variance. 40% variation between countries
that both speak English is not reasonable. But please for use ignorant
Aussies please say something other than blame exchange rates and try and
blame us because you run a huge office in Sydney that really has very
little to do with the price of manufacturing a product which always comes
in a box from Singapore.

Matt

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

 

[Unicorn]

The US price does NOT include Federal or State taxes.. is that true of
the Australian price?

Now there is a possibility.... a big one. What are the US taxes like?
Whilst I am whining, I really do want to understand.

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

US taxes vary from around 4% up to maybe 9%, and some states also administer
a 'state' tax too.. here in Canada, taking into account the exchange rate
and Provincial taxes of anything between 8 and 17% makes Vista an expensive
proposition much as in other countries..

Now there is a possibility.... a big one. What are the US taxes like?
Whilst I am whining, I really do want to understand.

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

 

[Unicorn]

US taxes vary from around 4% up to maybe 9%, and some states also
administer a 'state' tax too.. here in Canada, taking into account the
exchange rate and Provincial taxes of anything between 8 and 17% makes
Vista an expensive proposition much as in other countries..

Thanks for that Mike.... It partially explains the difference.

Now if I could only order my copy from Amazon. But it would appear that
it is only available for US delivery

Perhaps Mr Brannigan would like to explain that his assumption "the
internet gives you the power to buy where ever you want" as this is
clearly NOT the case.

Matt

 

[Alias]

US taxes vary from around 4% up to maybe 9%, and some states also
administer a 'state' tax too.. here in Canada, taking into account the
exchange rate and Provincial taxes of anything between 8 and 17% makes
Vista an expensive proposition much as in other countries..

Um, the USA has no federal sales tax or VAT and state retail taxes vary
from zero in Texas to 7% in California, none of which explain why Vista
is SO much more expensive in Europe than in the USA. The explanation is
greed and the assumption that the paying customer is stupid. And it
isn't just MS that does it. Check the prices of a Mini Mac in the USA
and then check it in Europe.

Alias

 

[Alias]

Thanks for that Mike.... It partially explains the difference.

Now if I could only order my copy from Amazon. But it would appear that
it is only available for US delivery

Perhaps Mr Brannigan would like to explain that his assumption "the
internet gives you the power to buy where ever you want" as this is
clearly NOT the case.

Matt

I had a friend in the USA buy me a copy of XP Pro from NewEgg. Including
the shipping, it came out cheaper for me that way.

Alias

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Thanks for that Mike.... It partially explains the difference.

Now if I could only order my copy from Amazon. But it would appear that
it is only available for US delivery

Perhaps Mr Brannigan would like to explain that his assumption "the
internet gives you the power to buy where ever you want" as this is
clearly NOT the case.

Matt

There are more places to buy online then Amazon.
After about 10 mins I located a number of US and other companies in other
locations that would sell Vista AND ship internationally.


One of the best prices was Vista Ultimate OEM at $195 USD with shipping to
UK for example (since there is a lot of heat about UK pricing in here) of
$11 USD
So total price including insurance to UK was $207 USD = £105 UK

Same site shipping to Australia again approx $11 USD for the slowest method
and upwards for more
total again $207 USD which I believe is about 260 AUS

Other sites in the US -- Ultimate OEM for $206 USD intl shipping on request
and so on.
Just shop around

 

[Pipboy]

It's nothing personal mate, it's just how Microsoft pays for all their
anti-trust legal entanglements

Yea, and if Microsoft really does have to pay 1.53b for MP3 patent
infringement (even though they already paid 13m for a license to use it)
then expect to pay even more for Vista, Office etc,.

 

[Pipboy]

US taxes vary from around 4% up to maybe 9%, and some states also administer
a 'state' tax too.. here in Canada, taking into account the exchange rate
and Provincial taxes of anything between 8 and 17% makes Vista an expensive
proposition much as in other countries..

Not in Canada. Vista Home Premium Upgrade cost me $165.00 CAD, XP Home
Upgrade cost me $159.00 CAD so that's only six bucks more than XP cost me
five years ago. It's the UK that is getting ripped off on Vista pricing.

 

[Loopy]

(snip) Come on Microsoft. You claim that the WOW starts now. > Matt

I'll bet when you saw the prices you said "WOW".

 

[Squibbly]

i think its something to do with the weak dollar, and the fact that the
iraqis started dealing in euros when it came to dealing with oil

 

[johnm]

I'll bet when you saw the prices you said "WOW".

That's because "The OH SHIT! starts now" didn't have quite the same ring to
it.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

What do you mean? There is no US federal sales tax,
only state taxes. Even the state taxes can be avoided
by ordering online from an out-of-state company.

Gary VanderMolen