Can any one explain to me why I can buy the latest Mini Mac Computer, the latest thing to join the IPod craze, in a retail shop in the United States or Hong Kong for less than 500 US Dollars.

This is reccomeded retail price so a little shopping around will get it even cheaper

Today I enquired with 6 Resellers in Bangkok and they qouted me a retail price of $609.00 US before tax, so add on Thai Vat and the price rises to 651 US dollars

Okay forget bout the tax because we have no control over this

But why a difference of over 100 US dollars to buy in Thailand

As the computers are built in Asia right next door to Thailand expensive frieght is not the answer

Are we being ripped off here in Thailand by another giant US company

And we blame Thais for ripping of farlang

Seems Thais have a good teacher in US companies

Like to hear your opinion and complain like I am doing

maybe someone will listen

Me I'll buy one next time back in the US or in Hong Kong where they don't stand for being ripped off it seems

Dear Sir,

the beauty of thai PC (and other) market is you can sell anything at any price you decided to.

Not only PC stuff though - my fish book says "Super Save price $19.95" so I bought it at WTC for 1100 Baht.

DVDs from US with sticker $9.95 sold for 600-700 Baht, Japanese magazines for 1000yen (some 9US$) are sold for double markup and guess what ?

It's legal and ok!

Welcome.

Don't blame the US... I dare say its the Thai(s) marking up prices for extra profit!

As the computers are built in Asia right next door to Thailand expensive frieght is not the answer

Umm, maybe different handling charges for different countries ???

But why a difference of over 100 US dollars to buy in Thailand

As the computers are built in Asia right next door to Thailand expensive frieght is not the answer

Are we being ripped off here in Thailand by another giant US company

And we blame Thais for ripping of farlang

Prices of electronics in Australia are routinely 30% more than in the US (even for small things like PDAs). Thailand is comparatively cheap. I guess the other way of looking at it is that the US prices are among the cheapest in the world.

One thing that did make me raise my eyebrows was the Nikon D70 digital camera - it is significantly cheaper in the US - even though its made in Thailand...

Can any one explain to me why I can buy the latest Mini Mac Computer, the latest thing to join the IPod craze,  in a retail shop in the United States or Hong Kong for less than 500 US Dollars.

This is reccomeded retail price so a little shopping around will get it even cheaper

Today I enquired with 6 Resellers in Bangkok and they qouted me a retail price of $609.00 US before tax, so add on Thai Vat and the price rises to 651 US dollars

Okay forget bout the tax because we have no control over this

But why a difference of over 100 US dollars to buy in Thailand

As the computers are built in Asia right next door to Thailand expensive frieght is not the answer

Are we being ripped off here in Thailand by another giant US company

And we blame Thais for ripping of farlang

Seems Thais have a good teacher in US companies

Like to hear your opinion and complain like I am doing

maybe someone will listen

Me I'll buy one next time back in the US or in Hong Kong where they don't stand for being ripped off it seems

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In two words: market forces.

High Thai import duties are likely to blame.

hi'

or a bit greedy in there?

francois

Weren't Macs always a bit overpriced anywhere already?

they are exported and the imported again into thailand. standard trick to highten cost. I once drove toghether with a truck driver who picked up containers from germany to the uk and back. several times he brought a container from germany to the uk to the wholesaler only to bring the exact same one back to another place in germany a few days later. That way the customer thinks the merchandise comes from another country and is therefore expensive. whilest it's being made in another province in germany. if they shipped it direct there would be to much negotitation in price.

You miss the point this is not a Thai shop price but the official price from the manufacturer

And guess what you can actually buy this computer in Australia cheaper than Thailand

Maybe some one can get some quotes and see if they can gett them cheaper

interested

Nothing new in this.

Microsoft products have been sold here for years at way over the US list prices,

then they come and complain about software piracy..........

These companies are their own worst enemies!!

ive compare prices in Thailand USA and Singapore to be honest Thailand sold their good in elotronics higer prices then in Singapore or USA...

Thats why Lots of Thai people buys eletronic from Singapore and USA

I think there were complaints from the EU not too long ago along the same lines, that the Mac Mini was more expensive (about $100 more) there than in the US.

The US certainly has the cheapest prices on most computer-related things. You can usually get a good printer there for nearly half the price of Thailand. Just going to see Newegg's prices can give most people a real shock.

Hong Kong is *supposedly* a nice place to get cheap electronics. However, you have to be a pretty savvy buyer to actually get what you want, since the shop owners there use every trick imaginable. I've seen people get supposedly new merchandise at low cost... but missing a battery, accessories, warranty, etc. etc. I've seen people getting misled into buying refurbished products. Not only that, you can't expect any amount of service, since they don't care if you buy or not. There's a continuous flow of tourists, so they can afford to be rude or kick you out of their shop.

I'm telling you, it's the Thai government's ludicrously protective import duties.

Yes...many things are manufactured here, exported, and then re-imported. That is because the manufacturers receive BOI privileges, but must export 100% of their production.

It's the Thai government that's greedy.

I'm telling you, it's the Thai government's ludicrously protective import duties.

Yes...many things are manufactured here, exported, and then re-imported.  That is because the manufacturers receive BOI privileges, but must export 100% of their production.

It's the Thai government that's greedy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

P.I. Dick isn't called P.I. Dick for no reason at all. Listen to him. He has the answer.

Do a little research, Burrito, and get back to me if you disagree. Start off by checking the import duties on electronics items for the US, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

I agree with the protectionist duties thing, but since the locally assembled stuff isn't much cheaper there's some local price gouging as well I imagine.

Just about anything electronic is cheaper in Canada than Thailand. Now if we could only start doing that with more things.....

In otherwords, don't jump to conclusions about any certain company trying to rip you off.

Everyone is try to rip you off.

cv

Prices outside of the US and Hong Kong do seem to be more.

This is the situation in most parts of Europe, as well as here in Thailand.

Unlike the generic hardware / Pc market, there is not much undercutting done on MAc prices, since they are all bought by the retailer / reseller from Apple, and therefore there is pretty stringent price fixing going on.

Beware any super-cheap prices, especially online and at eBay. Scams are getting more common.

One more thing to bear in mind when comparing prices with the US/HK is that both are quoted with no tax. OK, HK does not have tax, but for most US states is it not around the 7-8% mark?

The UK is 17.5%, which is a right bugger.