Why do Graphics card prices in UK suck so bad?

Surveyor · 1 Apr 2012 at 23:51

Mal X said:
the Yanks might not export to the U.K, it's too much hastle for a retailer to be bothered with, the best place is HONG KONG but you will deffo get clobbered by import duty etc, i think you have to pay this on your doorstep, along with the carriage and as said, their cheap stuff will come from China, so beware....

what ***** us up is the VAT, this should be reduced to 5%

EU law prevents a standard VAT rate lower than 15%.

Each Member State's national VAT legislation must comply with the provisions of EU VAT law as set out in Directive 2006/112/EC. This Directive sets out the basic framework for EU VAT, but does allow Member States some degree of flexibility in implementation of VAT legislation. For example different rates of VAT are allowed in different EU member states. However Directive 2006/112 requires Member states to have a minimum standard rate of VAT of 15% and one or two reduced rates not to be below 5%.

Standard VAT rates in the EU range from 15-27%.

Sasahara · 1 Apr 2012 at 23:53

Surveyor said:
China to the UK is approximately the same distance as China to the west coast of the USA.

The USA is also a massively larger country so no doubt internal distribution costs are higher.

I'm sure there are economies of scale but I doubt that shipping costs makes any more than a tiny difference to the overall price.

Sea freight to the US from China will be a lot cheaper, takes around 12-14 days. UK/Europe 18-24 days So you can pretty much add a 1/3 to the cost.
Also Suez canal transit charges.

I can't see these going by Air.

Internally USA will be a lot cheaper compared to europe. Fuel and other taxes/costs are a lot lower. Europe will have tolls, UK has the channel.

It's probably not a large difference given the scale, but it all adds up.

Surveyor · 1 Apr 2012 at 23:58

Sasahara said:
Sea freight to the US from China will be a lot cheaper, takes around 12-14 days. UK/Europe 18-24 days So you can pretty much add a 1/3 to the cost.
Also Suez canal transit charges.

I can't see these going by Air.

Neither can I but AWPC was on about air freight and my comments were directed at that.

Sasahara said:
Internally USA will be a lot cheaper compared to europe. Fuel and other taxes/costs are a lot lower. Europe will have tolls, UK has the channel.

It's probably not a large difference given the scale, but it all adds up.

Fuel etc. may be cheaper in the USA but the distances goods have to travel is vastly greater than the UK.

On these several hundred dollar/pound graphics cards I bet the difference in shipping/distribution costs is negligible.

Mal X · 1 Apr 2012 at 23:59

Surveyor said:
EU law prevents a standard VAT rate lower than 15%.

Each Member State's national VAT legislation must comply with the provisions of EU VAT law as set out in Directive 2006/112/EC. This Directive sets out the basic framework for EU VAT, but does allow Member States some degree of flexibility in implementation of VAT legislation. For example different rates of VAT are allowed in different EU member states. However Directive 2006/112 requires Member states to have a minimum standard rate of VAT of 15% and one or two reduced rates not to be below 5%.

Standard VAT rates in the EU range from 15-27%.

well maybe we should quit Europe then, it might all fall apart soon anyway

Surveyor · 2 Apr 2012 at 00:05

Mal X said:
well maybe we should quit Europe then, it might all fall apart soon anyway

If we left the European Union then the Government could reduce VAT from 20% to 5% as you wish.

You'd have to pay around 50% more Income Tax to cover the loss of revenue though.

rolypolyman · 2 Apr 2012 at 00:29

'If NO ONE bought from OCUK at £430, the price would be below £400 in a few days, same goes for all retailers, but people can't wait, nor help themselves'

This, nothing to do with taxes, shipping costs etc, the cost is based on what the 'idiots' (no offence meant) will pay. Then the retailors put their bit on. They will all discuss what they can get away with charging and charge accordingly. In the Usa for instance the people are more inclined to refuse to pay for anything they believe is overpriced, whereas here, well how many times have you read a post saying, 'well its rip off uk what choice do we have' says it all really.

lrlcr · 2 Apr 2012 at 00:55

The bigger issue is that the parts aren't all that amazing.

If they had truly game changing performance then the prices wouldn't be that outrageous. But they're only a small step over the previous generation. Hell, I can't buy a 680 with more ram than my 570 currently, that's a joke.

The Halk · 2 Apr 2012 at 01:15

It's perfectly fair in the UK.

There's two reasons... VAT - Americans pay their taxes in other ways. That adds a flat 20% on.

And there's consumer law - in the UK we enjoy far better consumer rights than they do in the states, that costs money.

GTA767 · 2 Apr 2012 at 05:39

all this cardz are shipped from dubai guys

they are bought wholesale so 680 with tax costs to uk only 500 obama maxs

i cant write down site as i will be banned. sorry google will help u

chris-82 · 2 Apr 2012 at 09:55

Mal X said:
well maybe we should quit Europe then, it might all fall apart soon anyway

We never wanted to be in It in the first place but out government ignored its people and did it anyway.

I notice people are talking about shipping costs,tax and so on but surely companies should or could take a hit on profit they make to counter the tax and shipping costs.

Rusty0611 · 2 Apr 2012 at 10:28

GTA767 said:
all this cardz are shipped from dubai guys

they are bought wholesale so 680 with tax costs to uk only 500 obama maxs

i cant write down site as i will be banned. sorry google will help u

I'm glad you're back - I love your reference to dollars as "obamas". Brilliant

haelio · 2 Apr 2012 at 10:36

What sales tax? I ordered from the Forest store in the US, signed up for a trial of Prime and had the GTX 680 delivered with 2 day shipping to a friend who was passing through the US for $499 flat.

I'd love to support stores in the UK, but sadly am not rich enough to buy the 680 in the UK when I could (and did) save over £100 getting it from Obamaland.

Rusty0611 · 2 Apr 2012 at 10:55

haelio said:
What sales tax? I ordered from the Forest store in the US, signed up for a trial of Prime and had the GTX 680 delivered with 2 day shipping to a friend who was passing through the US for $499 flat.

I'd love to support stores in the UK, but sadly am not rich enough to buy the 680 in the UK when I could (and did) save over £100 getting it from Obamaland.

Good for you. Not everyone has a friend passing through the USA though...

Cooper · 2 Apr 2012 at 11:05

Dont forget that American prices are being subsidised by everyone else...with the USA being the single biggest market for any new tech, manufacturers are willing to price their products lower to gain market share, thus building momentum, knowing they can make back lost profits in other territories.

Same as supermarkets pricing some items at a loss to draw in customers, then making the money back by jacking up prices on other stuff.

Zeed · 2 Apr 2012 at 12:38

Stop Whining !!!!!
All graphics cards in Poland cost more than on UK and people make 1/3 of average wage in UK !!!!
I had to buy 2 cards for my mates in Poland and send them over and it was still cheaper !!!! Maybe they are on some sort of promotion still Cards in uk are cheap !!!

Strife212 · 2 Apr 2012 at 14:31

VAT, it's blatantly obvious.

hondo · 2 Apr 2012 at 17:39

It seems to me that the price of pretty well everything sucks in the UK :mad:

djkav · 2 Apr 2012 at 17:40

Masterdeadly said:
The average wage in America is less so they pay less for the majority of things, other than health insurance. Therefore the price for graphics card is cheaper in the US because their average wage is less.

Where are you finding GTX 680's for 500 dollars?

This, wages in the US are generally lower than in Europe. The federal minimum wage is only £4.50 ph.

If you ratio'd the difference between average earnings and item cost (inc taxes) from both here and the US. They'll probably work out similar.

tenshin111 · 2 Apr 2012 at 17:51

Lord_ZED said:
Stop Whining !!!!!
All graphics cards in Poland cost more than on UK and people make 1/3 of average wage in UK !!!!
I had to buy 2 cards for my mates in Poland and send them over and it was still cheaper !!!! Maybe they are on some sort of promotion still Cards in uk are cheap !!!

It is not true. I am in Poland now and I have just bought Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 from one of Polish e-tailers for an equivalent of 205 British Pounds (and this included next day courier delivery and currency conversion rates).

tenshin111 · 2 Apr 2012 at 18:01

The problem discussed in this thread is not really about graphics cards but about pricing in general - things are more expensive in EU and it has nothing to do with transport or distribution. It is politics, or rather 'pricing strategies' or 'pricing policies' - whatever you call them. Businesses know that they can charge more in Europe because people here will pay anyway (as someone already mentioned this).

I will give you a different example: a software product made by a European company and sold digitally (so no transport / warehouse / distribution cost involved) will almost always be significantly cheaper in USA than in EU, even if you exclude VAT. It is so because the company decides the appropriate price for a given market, not because it is driven by the actual cost of development.