It needn’t be Microsoft, but because I’ve just bought Windows XP it seems relevant.
The cost of XP at Amazon.co.uk is £161, whereas at Amazon.com it’s $99.99. My calculator tells me that $100 is approximately £52.
Now how does that work? Why is there such a large differential, it cost 3 times as much to buy in the UK as in the States. It’s not as if shipping costs are that high even if XP came from America (which it probably doesn’t, it might even be produced here in the UK)
Is there anything stopping me buying from Amazon.com (or any retailer in the States)paying the shipping costs and saving myself at least 50% of the price. Are there import taxes to consider? Has anyone in the UK done this?
What is the cost of XP in your part of the world? Are we being ripped off (again) here in Blighty.
Sorry about getting carried away with all those questions.
Are you sure that you’re comparing the same thing? The fully licensed version is more money than the upgrade version, and Windows XP Professional is more than Windows XP Home Edition.
When I looked for Windows XP Home Edition, the results included Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 for $189.99. So I think the one you found might be a clearance price on the version without SP2. (You can freely download SP2, so it’s not a problem.)
Because of the Windows Media Player, the recently pass a new regulation that requires MicroSoft to write a special version of their XP OS. Whether it has a higher retail on the continent then it does here is unclear.
It’s always been that expensive in the UK - and they certainly won’t be allowed to get away with increasing prices because of the new version. In general, we’re familiar with pound=dollar markups, which matches the SP2 version Dewey Finn found.
You can buy an OEM version from EBuyer.com for £59. Being an OEM version you must also buy some non-peripheral hardware with it, but since that includes keyboards & mice and the same outfit sells mice for < £2, that doesn’t seem to big a problem.
I guess Microsoft figures that since every Britisher is a multi-millionaire with Old Money, thirty live-in servants, and a Bentley, they can afford to pay more for their software. Is it true you people wipe your butts with American money?
…and of course be aware that buying OEM software can make it harder/more expensive to get tech support from MS (not that this is all that likely to be a problem).
That’s actually what I did do (not ebuyer but similiar) in the end, it came the next day and it was the SP2 version. The cost totalled £64 including postage. I am relying on either my son or son in law to provide any technical know how necessary.
Even comparing the price Dewey Finn quoted above it’s still only approx £100 and still a huge price differential that seems to have little justification.
No one has come up with an answer whether any duty or tax has to be paid if I was to buy something abroad -has anyone in the UK had any experience of this? I’m just thinking of something like software for personal use which doesn’t attract prohibitive shipping costs.
I believe the servants in the east wing of the house use American money, I’m a little fussier than that however.
Take a look.