When it comes to very financially well off countries why can things be so more expensive between countries?
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Mostly related to taxes as well as supply chain costs which could include a higher profit markup than is customary in the US hyper competitive markets.
As far as currency fluctuations, they don't normally adjust the price during the course of a year when talking about currency fluctuations between major currencies like the USD. GBP, Euro, Aussie Dollar because the % changes are usually not so severe that they will change their marketing strategy during a given year, they usually adjust yearly to account for currency fluctuations in the major currencies....for highly flammable currencies like Venezuela, this is not applicable, they adjust daily.
Here in the USA, price of gasoline varies between states. Should that all be the same? Price of gasoline varies between gas stations within the same city - should that be the same also? If you think those examples should be the same, then you are advocating for a centrally planned economy which was a core part of Marxist-Leninism and which has been rejected almost everywhere (Cuba is an exception).
If you think prices should be the same globally, it won't happen unless there is a single, centrally planned government for the entire planet. That may occur in 1000 or 2000 years, but I would not count on it.
I suggest you take some courses in macro-economics.
I was just asking because on another forum a lot of people were saying things like "Well, I'm in Canada so this will be more like $400" "I am from Australia and we get charged insane prices so this will be closer to $600" etc.
I mean Canada isn't that terribly drastic, but unless one is wealthy if one from the U.S moved to Australia wouldn't it really suck?
Try buying a laptop computer, Kindle reader, etc. in somewhere like Thailand or Panama. Way more expensive than the United States for comparable model, and I can assure you neither retail wages or cost of living are lower than in the United States.
The only advantage is cell phones if you want a used one. New one will cost more than back in US but there is a lot more retail availability of used phones in malls.
That is not true. I bought a new Samsung Galaxy in Bangkok 2 years ago and it was way cheaper than in the US. Apparently the import tax into Thailand is less than it is into the US.
It took some fiddling with it to get all the Thai language features switched to English.
Last edited by TwoByFour; 01-17-2017 at 05:36 AM..
I was just asking because on another forum a lot of people were saying things like "Well, I'm in Canada so this will be more like $400" "I am from Australia and we get charged insane prices so this will be closer to $600" etc.
I mean Canada isn't that terribly drastic, but unless one is wealthy if one from the U.S moved to Australia wouldn't it really suck?
I agree, it would suck. I have been wanting to travel to Australia but haven't partly because of high costs there. Actually I wanted to go to Western Australia and I thought the prices were just high there, but I guess it is all Australia?
It cannot be all due to import taxes because I believe even your own products (like beer) are expensive, yes? I am not sure what is going on, how economies can be so different regionally. As I said, I suggest taking some courses.
That is not true. I bought a new Samsung Galaxy in Bangkok 2 years ago and it was way cheaper than in the US. Apparently the import tax into Thailand is less than it is into the US.
It took some fiddling with it to get all the Thai language features switched to English.
Nope. Electronics like computers, TVs, cell phones, etc. are not cheaper in Thailand. Cars are expensive too, especially relative to income.
You might have gotten a lucky deal, you might have a knockoff or used sold as new, who knows but brand new cell phones are not cheaper in Thailand. What they do have is a lot more options on the low-end cell phone market that aren't as common in retail in the US, plenty of $30 brand X phones at MBK.
If you want I'll swing by the Samsung store tomorrow, take some pictures of their prices in THB, and we can compare the cost to same models selling brand in the United States. We once had a laptop forwarded to us in Chiang Mai because that with shipping and import duties was cheaper than buying same here. We also confirmed much cheaper to buy on Amazon and pay shipping/import on a new Kindle than you could buy them here at bookstores in Thailand retail. We didn't end up getting the Kindle, instead living with a cracked screen for now.
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