iTunes Music Pricing

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Reply # 589316 2-Mar-2012 11:45

NZ prices are usually quoted *including* the sales tax of 15% GST
US prices are usually quoted *excluding* any sales tax (which varies depending on the state)

whilst GST wont explain all the difference in the above album, it is something that people nearly always forget when comparing US prices with NZ prices.

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Reply # 589332 2-Mar-2012 12:23

Kyanar: What was the markup on the eBay card? I get mine from a fellow who has made a full time business of selling iTunes cards so us dirty foreigners can buy content, but the markup is about $6 on most cards which is pretty rough.

I bought only one, it cost less than the nominal value/sticker price. They are often offered at a discount in the U.S. If I need another one I'll try Best Buy based on the advice above.

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Reply # 589376 2-Mar-2012 13:25

NonprayingMantis:
NZ prices are usually quoted *including* the sales tax of 15% GST
US prices are usually quoted *excluding* any sales tax (which varies depending on the state)

whilst GST wont explain all the difference in the above album, it is something that people nearly always forget when comparing US prices with NZ prices.

GST is not cjharged on iTunes Store purchases, as iTunes purchases are sold to you by Apple Australia Pty Ltd. GST is not relevant to iTunes music prices at all.

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 589402 2-Mar-2012 14:08

Kyanar:
NonprayingMantis:
NZ prices are usually quoted *including* the sales tax of 15% GST
US prices are usually quoted *excluding* any sales tax (which varies depending on the state)

whilst GST wont explain all the difference in the above album, it is something that people nearly always forget when comparing US prices with NZ prices.

GST is not cjharged on iTunes Store purchases, as iTunes purchases are sold to you by Apple Australia Pty Ltd. GST is not relevant to iTunes music prices at all.

Are you sure? It's quite hard to find anything that says that.
best I can find is this
http://www.apple.com/nz/pr/library/2011/05/31Apple-iWork-Now-Available-For-iPhone-iPod-touch-Users.html

"iWork apps are available on the App Store™ for NZ$13.99 inc GST "
. does that make a difference?

or (few years out of date)
http://www.apple.com/nz/pr/library/2008/08/14Apple-Premieres-Movies-on-the-iTunes-Store-in-Australia-New-Zealand.html
"iTunes movies in New Zealand start at recommended retail price NZ$9.99 inc GST for catalogue title purchases, RRP NZ$17.99 inc GST for recent releases and RRP NZ$24.99 inc GST for new releases."

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Reply # 589516 2-Mar-2012 18:12

NonprayingMantis:
Kyanar:
NonprayingMantis:
NZ prices are usually quoted *including* the sales tax of 15% GST
US prices are usually quoted *excluding* any sales tax (which varies depending on the state)

whilst GST wont explain all the difference in the above album, it is something that people nearly always forget when comparing US prices with NZ prices.

GST is not cjharged on iTunes Store purchases, as iTunes purchases are sold to you by Apple Australia Pty Ltd. GST is not relevant to iTunes music prices at all.

Are you sure? It's quite hard to find anything that says that.

Absolutely certain, it's in the Terms of Sale.

The iTunes Store is provided by Apple Pty Limited ("Apple").

About us: Our ABN is 46 002 510 054 and our registered office is at Level 13, Capital Centre, 255 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.

It also asserts that services transactions may be subject to GST, but the IRD has always held that purchasing licensed content (music, software) from overseas counts as a service derived at the point of origin of the seller, therefore making it GST exempt.

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Reply # 589520 2-Mar-2012 18:14

btw, warehouse has itunes gift cards at 20% off.

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Reply # 589567 2-Mar-2012 20:38

Thanks everyone for the very useful info here. Just the sort of practical advice many of us need.

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Reply # 589576 2-Mar-2012 21:02

Random (though not particularly useful) thought: You'd be charged GST on a gift card purchased at retail in NZ, so a $17.39 + GST gift card gets you $20 worth of songs!

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Reply # 589579 2-Mar-2012 21:13

Anyone able to comment about the legal nature of digirama or able to tell me what bitrates songs from itunes are ?

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Reply # 589584 2-Mar-2012 21:19

256Kbps VBR mp3 usually (for iTunes purchased music).

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Reply # 589673 3-Mar-2012 08:16

Music from iTunes is 256 kb/s AAC, not MP3. Digirama is licensed.

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Reply # 589678 3-Mar-2012 08:51

Check out this thread for a way to get a US iTunes account without having to purchase gift cards.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=96286

You will have to read it a bit but basically you get or use a Onesmart card from AirNZ (which you can get if you sign up for Airpoints). It's a Mastercard debit card that you load up with USD at a rate you choose. But for many US services that want a US credit card, this card looks like a US credit card.

Has been successfully tested on iTunes and other services.

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Reply # 589679 3-Mar-2012 08:53

networkn: Anyone able to comment about the legal nature of digirama or able to tell me what bitrates songs from itunes are ?

Digirama is a legal distributor, unlike any of those Russian sites people find and think are legal just because they say so in their FAQ (also, who would give a credit card number to a Russian web site anyway?)

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Reply # 589685 3-Mar-2012 09:07

gzt: btw, warehouse has itunes gift cards at 20% off.

Might have to go take advantage of this!

this is a slap in the face!

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Reply # 589718 3-Mar-2012 10:01

lchiu7: Check out this thread for a way to get a US iTunes account without having to purchase gift cards.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=96286

You will have to read it a bit but basically you get or use a Onesmart card from AirNZ (which you can get if you sign up for Airpoints). It's a Mastercard debit card that you load up with USD at a rate you choose. But for many US services that want a US credit card, this card looks like a US credit card.

Has been successfully tested on iTunes and other services.

Hi, Actually I found an easier way so long as you don't want a USA CC to be used (USA Gift Cards instead).

Log out of Itunes, change the country to USA by clicking the flag at the bottom right of the main window, go to the itunes store, "buy" a free app, and when it asks for a login, create a new apple ID, when it asks for a credit card select none, type a usa address ( I used Best Buy HQ) and then Voila!

Having said that, I found a guy on trademe selling his $100 itunes card for $75 so I used the "discount" to cover the higher cost of the music in this instance until I can find a cheap source of itunes cards in the USA.

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