Posts: 1370 from 2003/2/15
From: Central Europe
@ Raf_MegaByte
Quote:
It is 139 Euro over USA value, 40 Euro over reasonable price including taxes, 30 Euro more than Germany and Spain, and finally 20 Euro more than Italy and France.
Sigh. As explained before, Germany has a lower VAT than Italy (16%, not 20%). Roughly 5% difference of the VAT for a 500EUR computer would usually result in about 25EUR price difference... Funnily enough, the Mac Mini is only _10EUR_ cheaper in Germany than it is in Italy, even though the Italian VAT is quite a bit higher.
Who in his right mind would dare to complain about this? (Apart from Germans maybe.)
As for the price difference between the US and Europe, please note that ALL products sold in the European Union must include a warranty of 2 years. This is not case in the United States. If you buy a Mac Mini at $499, you get only 1 (read: one!) year of warranty. For 3 years of warranty, Apple charges an additional $149!
So, in order to compare prices between Mac Mini in Europe and the US, we have to add an additional $75 to the US price (50% of $149) which would be theoretically required to get a 2 year warranty in the US as well. $574 equal nearly 432EUR _without_ VAT.
Now, let's add 20% of the Italian VAT on-top. 20% of 432EUR are 86EUR. So, the total price in Italy should be 518EUR... According to the Italian Apple store (www.apple.com), it only costs 499EUR, however. Strange, isn't it?
The Mac Mini actually costs LESS money (19EUR to be exact) than it would in the US if you figure in the same amount of warranty and an identical VAT.
Better check your facts next time...
