So why are us Brits getting screwed over once again?

[Corralis]

I'm talking about the console prices here just so you all know and mainly about the PS4 because I couldn't care less about the Xbone. $399 or £349 I mean c'mon don't insult us Sony, $399 on a simple XE currency converter is £255.50 which means we are paying £93.50 or $145 more for our console then the guys are in the US. This is a huge difference, I wouldn't mind if it was maybe £20 or £30 more for the console as that could at least be explained with the additional logistics of shipping the consoles to us but nearly £100 more is quite frankly a joke. It's wrong that we are constantly being screwed over with prices when we don't earn any more money than you guys do in the States. It's a real shame cause I was actually looking forward to a couple of the titles that were shown off at their press conference.

 

[9thRequiem]

You can't simply currency convert, because you need to account for taxes.
I don't know exactly what applies and by how much, but that definitely closes the gap.

 

[CaptQuakers]

VAT my fellow Brit, We get shafted by it and so does anyone who wants to sell in out country, We have tax a hell of a lot more than the yanks do I am afraid

 

[luvd1]

Welcome to adulthood and the lovely thing called VAT and other tax. £50 alone is the vat. It's how it's always been, we have different tax system to the US so you can't do a straight price exchange. It's deflating to be reminded your a grown up.

 

[Corralis]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

 

[CaptQuakers]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

That's not really how import taxes work, IF you were to import one yourself then yes it would be a fee, But Sony already have the consoles in the US so you're not importing the,, The USA does have a sales tax which I think can be from 1% up to 10% which is added on a point of sale I believe

 

[Festus Moonbear]

It's taxes. VAT, import, fuel (for shipping) and the rest. If they raised VAT and other taxes in the US to the levels we have in the UK, there would be a revolution. Really.

 

[Corralis]

Welcome to adulthood and the lovely thing called VAT and other tax. £50 alone is the vat. It's how it's always been, we have different tax system to the US so you can't do a straight price exchange. It's deflating to be reminded your a grown up.

I'm gonna choose to ignore that little insult. Nothing I have wrote deserves to get me insulted.

 

[Corralis]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

That's not really how import taxes work, IF you were to import one yourself then yes it would be a fee, But Sony already have the consoles in the US so you're not importing the,, The USA does have a sales tax which I think can be from 1% up to 10% which is added on a point of sale I believe

OK so SONY already has the consoles in America and they need to be shipped at some stage to the UK. But no extra expense is levied on SONY for importing them from Asia (where I assume they are being made) to the US?

 

[Tom_green_day]

I'm just thankful it's a low price, but the thing that bugs me more is the game prices. From what I've heard, next-gen games will be $60 or £55. I haven't done any maths about it but that seems like we're paying way more for them. This is bad because (hopefully) I'll be spending much more money on games than on the console itself. Thank god for pre-owned games.

 

[CaptQuakers]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

That's not really how import taxes work, IF you were to import one yourself then yes it would be a fee, But Sony already have the consoles in the US so you're not importing the,, The USA does have a sales tax which I think can be from 1% up to 10% which is added on a point of sale I believe

OK so SONY already has the consoles in America and they need to be shipped at some stage to the UK. But no extra expense is levied on SONY for importing them from Asia (where I assume they are being made) to the US?

Of course but they would have been considered in the overall price by Sony themselves

 

[Corralis]

I'm just thankful it's a low price, but the thing that bugs me more is the game prices. From what I've heard, next-gen games will be $60 or £55. I haven't done any maths about it but that seems like we're paying way more for them. This is bad because (hopefully) I'll be spending much more money on games than on the console itself. Thank god for pre-owned games.

Well as I understand it $60 is the current standard cost for new video games in America and that equates to around £35 over here. Basically the games publishers are charging us more for... Nothing really considering that the games can be printed to disc in this country regardless of whether they are developed somewhere else. And even the games that are made here and shipped to the US still cost us and the US the exact same so how is that fair? Tax alone does not make up for the huge additional expense that we pay for our computer games in the UK.

 

[Corralis]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

That's not really how import taxes work, IF you were to import one yourself then yes it would be a fee, But Sony already have the consoles in the US so you're not importing the,, The USA does have a sales tax which I think can be from 1% up to 10% which is added on a point of sale I believe

OK so SONY already has the consoles in America and they need to be shipped at some stage to the UK. But no extra expense is levied on SONY for importing them from Asia (where I assume they are being made) to the US?

Of course but they would have been considered in the overall price by Sony themselves

Ahh so that means that we are also paying the US duty on the console as well as our own? We are getting screwed over somehow that much is obvious. Maybe I need to understand international tax law a little better to comment further.

 

[CaptQuakers]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

That's not really how import taxes work, IF you were to import one yourself then yes it would be a fee, But Sony already have the consoles in the US so you're not importing the,, The USA does have a sales tax which I think can be from 1% up to 10% which is added on a point of sale I believe

OK so SONY already has the consoles in America and they need to be shipped at some stage to the UK. But no extra expense is levied on SONY for importing them from Asia (where I assume they are being made) to the US?

Of course but they would have been considered in the overall price by Sony themselves

Ahh so that means that we are also paying the US duty on the console as well as our own? We are getting screwed over somehow that much is obvious. Maybe I need to understand international tax law a little better to comment further.

No we are paying our own import taxes.

 

[luvd1]

Welcome to adulthood and the lovely thing called VAT and other tax. £50 alone is the vat. It's how it's always been, we have different tax system to the US so you can't do a straight price exchange. It's deflating to be reminded your a grown up.

I'm gonna choose to ignore that little insult. Nothing I have wrote deserves to get me insulted.

No insult intended. Sorry if it read that way.

 

[BrotherRool]

When you take into account the average US sales tax (Which is not included in their pricing) and compare it even to the European pricing (which already has VAT included) the price difference is fairly small. I think the UK loses out more than the rest of Europe does for some reason

In the UK and Europe you have to display the price you're selling the product for. In the US it's a standard business practice that even inside the shop the products won't give you the price you actually pay for them

 

[Maximum Bert]

Just be grateful they didnt just swap the dollar sign for a pound one like they did back in the good ol days. I am going to look at importing this time though and weigh up all the costs see if I can get it cheaper somehow seeing as its region free. Then again I may just get a friend to buy me one with their work discount even 10% would be good.

 

[Auron]

It'll be over a thousand in brazil, probably two thousand. Not that I want a console but you're not that bad over there.

 

[Albino Boo]

OK I get that but VAT is 20% which is basically the entire additional cost of the console, does that mean that the Americans do not pay any form of import tax? Remember the consoles are not being made in America so they would have to pay those taxes same as us (maybe not the same as us but there must be some cost there).

That's not really how import taxes work, IF you were to import one yourself then yes it would be a fee, But Sony already have the consoles in the US so you're not importing the,, The USA does have a sales tax which I think can be from 1% up to 10% which is added on a point of sale I believe

OK so SONY already has the consoles in America and they need to be shipped at some stage to the UK. But no extra expense is levied on SONY for importing them from Asia (where I assume they are being made) to the US?

Of course but they would have been considered in the overall price by Sony themselves

Ahh so that means that we are also paying the US duty on the console as well as our own? We are getting screwed over somehow that much is obvious. Maybe I need to understand international tax law a little better to comment further.

If the goods are being transhipped they are said to be in bond and no import duty is levied. The reality is that the consoles are shipped from China direct to Rotterdam and then off loaded onto lorries for europe wide distribution. As has been said elsewhere sales tax varies from state to state and is not included in the headline price. In europe payroll taxes are higher so it costs more to employ people and there also weight limits on the size of lorries which again increases cost. There are other issues like the UK use 240v mains electricity and the rest of europe uses 220v so you have to have a different power supply and even a different plug.