Iphones a fair price?

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WittySparrow

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Topic # 109212 14-Sep-2012 21:59

For the purpose of this thread all prices have been converted to NZD as of current exchange rate at 14/September/2012

USA

Iphone5 - $778.4
No contract term
Cheapest plan - $42/m

New Zealand (based of Iphone4S prices, As Iphone5 prices have yet to finalized)

Iphone4S - $1029
No Contract Term
Cheapest contract - $40/m (or prepaid)

More countries to come.

My question is, How can they justify a $250 price difference? Simply simply because its in another country.
Aren't we supposed to be covered by the consumer guaranties act that goods must "Be a reasonable price, if no price or pricing formula has been previously agreed"?
If I was to make a compliant with apple do you think I would have any grounds?
It may be that they have a totally illegitimate reason, If so that's fine I was just wondering.

Thoughts welcome! :P

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Reply # 686198 14-Sep-2012 22:04

The local prices are not even announced so the comparison is pointless at the moment.

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corksta

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Reply # 686201 14-Sep-2012 22:09

You haven't added tax to the US price. Sales tax isn't included in pricing and varies from state to state.

If you use California as an example it makes the price difference about $200.

Considering the exchange rate, shipping costs, etc, I don't consider a $200 difference to be too unreasonable.

You have zero grounds for making a complaint under the CGA.

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WittySparrow

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Reply # 686203 14-Sep-2012 22:10

I am aware of that. That's why I compared it to the current 4S price locally in New Zealand and for that to be more expensive then the top of the line current model (Iphone5) in the USA, Still indicates where getting ripped of.
Dose it not?

I will update the 4S price in america in a second to getting a better comparison.

nigelj

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Reply # 686214 14-Sep-2012 22:16

WittySparrow: For the purpose of this thread all prices have been converted to NZD as of current exchange rate at 14/September/2012

USA

Iphone5 - $778.4
No contract term
Cheapest plan - $42/m

New Zealand (based of Iphone4S prices, As Iphone5 prices have yet to finalized)

Iphone4S - $1029
No Contract Term
Cheapest contract - $40/m (or prepaid)
More countries to come.

My question is, How can they justify a $250 price difference? Simply simply because its in another country.

You forgot to add GST (15%, so ~110NZD extra - $900), and as freitasm pointed out NZ Pricing not confirmed, lastly Apple seem to choose a fair price and seem to lock it in until at least the next product launch, or foreign exchange goes really out-of-whack one way or the other, like many other manufacturer/importers. $120 is a bit, I agree but that is the price they've set (likely also includes a healthy retail margin for the two official telcos too).

Edit: Whoops

nakedmolerat

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Reply # 686215 14-Sep-2012 22:16

WittySparrow: I am aware of that. That's why I compared it to the current 4S price locally in New Zealand and for that to be more expensive then the top of the line current model (Iphone5) in the USA, Still indicates where getting ripped of.
Dose it not?

Ventura

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Reply # 686218 14-Sep-2012 22:19

Remember US phones are all locked and unlocked phones like the ones here in NZ cost a premium, not the standard price.

mattwnz

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Reply # 686230 14-Sep-2012 22:21

nigelj:
WittySparrow: For the?purpose?of this thread all prices have been?converted?to NZD as of current exchange rate at 14/September/2012

USA

Iphone5 - $778.4
No contract term
Cheapest plan - $42/m

New Zealand (based of Iphone4S prices, As Iphone5 prices have yet to?finalized)

Iphone4S - ?$1029
No Contract Term
Cheapest contract - $40/m (or prepaid)
More?countries?to come.

My question is, How can they justify a $250 price?difference? Simply simply?because?its in another country.

You forgot to add GST (15%, so ~110NZD extra - $900), and as freitasm pointed out NZ Pricing not confirmed, lastly Apple seem to choose a fair price and seem to lock it in until at least the next product launch, or foreign exchange goes really out-of-whack one way or the other, like many other manufacturer/importers.? $120 is a bit, I agree but that is the price they've set (likely also includes a healthy retail margin for the two official telcos too).

Edit: Whoops

With all the money printing that is going on in the USA, I wouldnt be surprised if the NZ dollar gets to parity with the USD. That should mean cheaper apple products in the future. But they do seem to lock in the prices to a historic rate. I would rather the price fluctuate, as that is more fair I think.

macuser

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Reply # 686233 14-Sep-2012 22:25

On top of the exchange rates ( a constantly changing value - they pick one and take the risk of it changing to their disadvantage or advantage ).

There are expenses such as the cost of making the stock available in NZ (the plane that goes to America carrying 50,000,000 iPhones isn't the same plane that drops off 500,000 to NZ, so to pull smaller amount of stock to us probably costs more per unit.

Marketing the items costs more due to the fact in the US they get huge economies of scale with their marketing campaigns, NZ is a smaller market so the cost per unit of marketing $$ is probably more - not to mention any NZ centric campaigns ).

They have Australasian phone support, this is a different call centre that probably has a larger cost per unit to maintain.

They also have to have services available to honor our consumer guarantees act, GST any other NZ specific legal obligations.

Apple also likes to make lots of money by selling things to people. If people still buy the phone in huge amounts, why would they stop selling it for a high price.

joutei

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Reply # 686234 14-Sep-2012 22:26

I have been to the USA recently and it is cheaper.

The prices however dont have state tax added to them as mentioned by @corksta.

And if you do compare it with AUS, there's not much difference.

Right now on the Apple Store,

AUS Apple Store

iPhone 4S Unlocked = $679AUD = $862 NZD (XE quick convert)

NZD Apple Store

iPhone 4S Unlocked = $899 NZD

As you can see not much of a difference, and australia is quite a big country compared to us!

There is always a varriance, maybe due to tax, import, etc.

Alot of things come into account.

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WittySparrow

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Reply # 686239 14-Sep-2012 22:38

corksta: You haven't added tax to the US price. Sales tax isn't included in pricing and varies from state to state.

If you use California as an example it makes the price difference about $200.

Considering the exchange rate, shipping costs, etc, I don't consider a $200 difference to be too unreasonable.

You have zero grounds for making a complaint under the CGA.

Yes exchange rates fluctuate. So lets take the average for for the last 12 months (0.7995)
Source: http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/4/6/46fea200468bf6448230a266f62cbd7a/mid-month-currency-rates-2012.pdf
That works out to be a final difference of $211 then lets say - $50 as you did for the tax
so $161.
Now for shipping lets say the cost per unit to ship here is around $20 (per unit). Taking into account that they can probably fit a thousand or more units into a shipping container.
So $140?

That's still a reasonable difference,

WittySparrow

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Reply # 686240 14-Sep-2012 22:41

macuser: On top of the exchange rates ( a constantly changing value - they pick one and take the risk of it changing to their disadvantage or advantage ).

There are expenses such as the cost of making the stock available in NZ (the plane that goes to America carrying 50,000,000 iPhones isn't the same plane that drops off 500,000 to NZ, so to pull smaller amount of stock to us probably costs more per unit.

Marketing the items costs more due to the fact in the US they get huge economies of scale with their marketing campaigns, NZ is a smaller market so the cost per unit of marketing $$ is probably more - not to mention any NZ centric campaigns ).

They have Australasian phone support, this is a different call centre that probably has a larger cost per unit to maintain.

They also have to have services available to honor our consumer guarantees act, GST any other NZ specific legal obligations.

Apple also likes to make lots of money by selling things to people. If people still buy the phone in huge amounts, why would they stop selling it for a high price.

I would assume that would be cargo shipped? As that seems to be the standard form for shipping goods around the worlds. Cargo shipping is actually be quite affordable cost per unit wise as they could easily fit a thousand or more units into a container.

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 686241 14-Sep-2012 22:42

WittySparrow:
corksta: You haven't added tax to the US price. Sales tax isn't included in pricing and varies from state to state.

If you use California as an example it makes the price difference about $200.

Considering the exchange rate, shipping costs, etc, I don't consider a $200 difference to be too unreasonable.

You have zero grounds for making a complaint under the CGA.

Yes exchange rates fluctuate. So lets take the average for for the last 12 months (0.7995)
Source: http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/4/6/46fea200468bf6448230a266f62cbd7a/mid-month-currency-rates-2012.pdf
That works out to be a final difference of $211 then lets say - $50 as you did for the tax
so $161.
Now for shipping lets say the cost per unit to ship here is around $20 (per unit). Taking into account that they can probably fit a thousand or more units into a shipping container.
So $140?

That's still a reasonable difference,

Why $50 for sale tax?

We pay 15% GST in NZ (which, of course, sellers have no control over) so for a fair comparison you should add 15% (or rather, divide the NZ price by 1.15 to get the price excluding GST)

mattwnz

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Reply # 686242 14-Sep-2012 22:43

macuser: On top of the exchange rates ( a constantly changing value - they pick one and take the risk of it changing to their disadvantage or advantage ).

There are expenses such as the cost of making the stock available in NZ (the plane that goes to America carrying 50,000,000 iPhones isn't the same plane that drops off 500,000 to NZ, so to pull smaller amount of stock to us probably costs more per unit.

Although if you buy from the apple online store which tends to be the same or similar price to apple products in the stores in NZ, they often ship the product from the factories in China. At least all the things I have purchased online have come directly from china, which would be the same if you had purchased them online from the USA, as they also send from china direct according to someone I know over there.

WittySparrow

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Reply # 686244 14-Sep-2012 22:48

mattwnz:
macuser: On top of the exchange rates ( a constantly changing value - they pick one and take the risk of it changing to their disadvantage or advantage ).

There are expenses such as the cost of making the stock available in NZ (the plane that goes to America carrying 50,000,000 iPhones isn't the same plane that drops off 500,000 to NZ, so to pull smaller amount of stock to us probably costs more per unit.

Although if you buy from the apple online store which tends to be the same or similar price to apple products in the stores in NZ, they often ship the product from the factories in China. At least all the things I have purchased online have come directly from china, which would be the same if you had purchased them online from the USA, as they also send from china direct according to someone I know over there.

So if shipping prices are already considered in the final sale price of each product you shouldn't need to account for them when comparing the two?

WittySparrow

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Reply # 686251 14-Sep-2012 22:54

macuser:
WittySparrow:

I would assume that would be cargo shipped? As that seems to be the standard form for shipping goods around the worlds. Cargo shipping is actually be quite affordable cost per unit wise as they could easily fit a thousand or more units into a container.

This was just to give an example, but I do believe they fly the orders as it means the time between production and release can be greatly shortened. It is affordable, but it would be MORE affordable (per unit) due to economies of scale to ship millions of units to america, than 100,000-500,000 units here.

Fair enough. I wouldn't be surprised if they flew in the initial pre-order units and shipped the rest to fill there warehouses over time.

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