Kind of angry at apple's prices..

Hey Guys..

I just wanted to tell you something i learnt that kind of put me off..

For those of you who don't know (which is probably all of you) i live in New Zealand. Not many people in New Zealand have MacBooks or iMacs, because there are no commercials for them on T.V and there are no (that's right, none) 'physical' Apple stores (only online). But today I found out another reason for this.

I always thought that apple products were a bit pricy, but I didn't care cos they were still awesome. But today I realised it was much more pricy in New Zealand than in America. And it's not even a minor difference, in fact a MacBook Pro with the exact same specs from the apple store website, is $600 US Dollars more expensive in New Zealand than in America.

A 15" 2.4 Ghz Santa Rosa MacBook Pro in America (with student discount) is around $2290 in America, The same MacBook Pro, in New Zealand is (with student discount) around $2890!!! (All of this is in US dollars, I converted the price to US dollars with the latest exchange rates)

I was quite angry when I saw this... And it nearly put me off buying a MacBook Pro, but I am still going to anyway. I just thought I would point out that Apple should do something aobut this.

Know what you mean Mate, they have us by the 'two things in a bag that we have'
Just as bad here too

Don't forget to take off the 12.5% GST. Also the US prices quoted do not include the various States sales tax paid in many areas there.
Like it or lump it we live in a Country with the population of a city in many parts of the world.

The Mac using percentage of 4 Million people isn't worth bothering about or Apple would have updated the OS to take into account our changed Daylight saving dates. They didn't bother which should tell you something. We will just have to put up with the wrong time, download a 3rd party fix or change the time manually.

I prefer using a Mac which is why I do, the cost is saved for. My first Mac was a 1984 model used by many Kiwi Universities at that time.

Just a reminder for the Aussie... some of us are female..

Prices are inclusive of GST

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US Pricing does not include state sales tax (if any.)

torchy said:

Don't forget to take off the 12.5% GST. Also the US prices quoted do not include the various States sales tax paid in many areas there.
Like it or lump it we live in a Country with the population of a city in many parts of the world.

The Mac using percentage of 4 Million people isn't worth bothering about or Apple would have updated the OS to take into account our changed Daylight saving dates. They didn't bother which should tell you something. We will just have to put up with the wrong time, download a 3rd party fix or change the time manually.

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I guess so. I worked out the price with out GST and there is still a $325 US dollar difference..

If apple was smart enough to advertise MacBooks and iMacs in NewZealand, they'd make much more money, I mean, have you seen a person in New Zealand without an iPod? (cos they advertised iPods)

Some of my friends dont even know what OS X is..

Some of my friends don't know and don't want to know about OSX either and others prefer Linux or go with the Windows crowd.
Many don't even know which Windows OS they are using. The fact that many believe that they can delete the internet by trashing the IE icon tells me that Windows can keep them...... I wish I was joking

Everyone is different but the most important thing is having a choice ..... sometimes that costs a bit.

I hear great things from both Apple Support and their prodcuts from the friends that own certain Apple things so paying a little extra for a quality product and service is fine with me.

torchy said:

Just a reminder for the Aussie... some of us are female..

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Here we call some of our female friends mates too. I think it's a little rude as you should respect females more. But that's just how our country is.

And yeah things in the apple store are a little more expensive then the prices on the US store converted to Aussie dollars. But I'm ok with that. Though it's less distance from China where they are assembled I think to Australia then the US. Strange.

But I'm happy I'm not paying premium dollar for something that is obviously premium quality. (though I think the mac pros are a little pricey but the rest of their line is quite resonable).

And to you US people. To buy something from the apple store there you have to add on the various taxes to the shown price to get the price you have to pay. Is that right?

*Just a reminder for the Aussie... some of us are female..*

"For my next trick I'll attempt to read peoples minds and nics'

*As the 'Aussie' crosses legs in case a swift kick comes his way from an upset Kiwi*;D

the8thark said:

And to you US people. To buy something from the apple store there you have to add on the various taxes to the shown price to get the price you have to pay. Is that right?

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Yes. If you go to the store itself you will pay sales tax in most states (though not all). And, at least in California, if you order something online from a company that has a physical presence in California (or a store/warehouse, at least... not sure if it applies if they just have their corporate office here), and that item is then shipped to somewhere in California, you will be charged sales tax. The tax varies from state to state and county to county; a handful of states charge no sales tax at all. The average where I am seems to be around 8%

Actually Geeky, I was confused by having to pay sales tax, because I live in Ohio and bought the computer online. However, when I called Apple and asked them about it, the rep told me that they are registered in all 50 states and collect sales tax in any state that has a sales tax.

to ChaePod,

I am sorry to hear that the price of apple products in NZ is more expensive than in US. But I think in NZ the apple products is still cheaper in Denmark. I am living in DK and purchased a MBP one month ago, it cost me 18129dkk is about 3439 usd with student discounted.

So you should not complain man. hehe

Yeah Chae it does suck that macs are a little more expensive in NZ than in the US. But it seems a little better when you look at the other computers you can get for the same price (*cough* dell *cough*) and see how crappy they are.

Thread derail incoming: world cup results make me cry.

stevegate said:

to ChaePod,

I am sorry to hear that the price of apple products in NZ is more expensive than in US. But I think in NZ the apple products is still cheaper in Denmark. I am living in DK and purchased a MBP one month ago, it cost me 18129dkk is about 3439 usd with student discounted.

So you should not complain man. hehe

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18,129.00 DKK = 3,437.46 USD

Umm... yeah nice work buddy. Next time, think ;D


I'm so glad there's been price drops recently... makes me hopeful for when the next model MBP comes out... whenever that may be...

@ stevegate

Sorry man, i didnt know it was even worse in other countries.
I'm still gonna get the laptop, since it's the best laptop in the market

@muso

Yeah, my cousin got a dell inspiron, and it is truly crap. This was before i got interested in macs, and i thought vista was kool, even when i wasn't biased to macs, i still thought vista was crap.

Hopefully they'll reduce the prices for the macbook pro with the release of leopard, causing purchasers to get angry, then Steve Jobs will give them $100 store credit .

I do understand your anger but...well...it's the same in Europe...here apple products are sold at the same Euro price as the US $ price.
with the current exchange rates you see how exaggerated the pricing is.
guess you have to live with it.

kuchiki

ChaePod said:

Hopefully they'll reduce the prices for the macbook pro with the release of leopard, causing purchasers to get angry, then Steve Jobs will give them $100 store credit .

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If they don't release a new MBP sometime after the Leopard release (sometime meaning during the 6 months following...) I'm going to buy one... but I'm hoping there will be because they don't really excite me that much for the price.

iPods and iMacs (and possibly iPhones too... we don't have them here in Aus so Iuno) have all been updated to new generation models with massive price drops... lets hope the MPB follow suit!

That would really make me mad. Wow that sucks man. Someone should buy it for you and ship it over (you pay all expenses of course). Save you like $500 ;D

CL33Zero said:

That would really make me mad. Wow that sucks man. Someone should buy it for you and ship it over (you pay all expenses of course). Save you like $500 ;D

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Unless they decide to heavily tax it when it comes through customs.