What the hell is wrong with Amazon.UK ?

[Algernon]

All BDs over there cost twice or more the price of Amazon.com ...

just one example :

Flags Of Our Fathers

US : $27.95
UK : £26.99 ( that's $ 54,9948 !!!!! Who of you would pay that? )

wtf ?????

No affordable Blu for Europeans? Sucks big time ...

[Deadster]

This isn't as bad, but I noticed Amazon.com has Galapagos for $20 and Amazon.ca has it for $27, our dollars are equal so Canada is getting shafted as usual. Not as bad as the Europers though, apparently.

I want the disc, will have to settle for $25.99 at BestBuy.

[Zinn]

The truth is that the US dollar has droped like a hell (almost 33% i value) since 2000.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Deadster

This isn't as bad, but I noticed Amazon.com has Galapagos for $20 and Amazon.ca has it for $27, our dollars are equal so Canada is getting shafted as usual. Not as bad as the Europers though, apparently.

I want the disc, will have to settle for $25.99 at BestBuy.

I think you have to take a few things into account when talking about Canadian pricing compared to US pricing.

#1. Companies take operating costs into account when pricing their merchandise. Here in Canada, the minimum wage for employees is approx $3 to $4 more per hour than it is in the states. So, in order to sell the product they are paying more to have an employee ring it through the cash for you.

#2. Merchandise, especially in the case of Blu-ray production, takes place outside of Canada. Therefore, the need to transport these items up North to our wonderful country is also a cost incurred that needs to be offset. And trust me, having worked in retail for 7 years myself I know that a TON of manufacturers in furniture and electronics won't even consider shipping anything 4 hours North of Toronto. And, if they manage to concede to a request, they will charge almost the same amount for shipping as the item itself is worth.

Regardless though, I still think some sort of price adjustments need to be made to incorporate the stronger CND dollar. Ultimately, it may only be $1 or $2, but that all adds up in the long run with people like me (700+ DVDs and growing).

[zdefonte]

Originally Posted by Algernon

All BDs over there cost twice or more the price of Amazon.com ...

just one example :

Flags Of Our Fathers

US : $27.95
UK : £26.99 ( that's $ 54,9948 !!!!! Who of you would pay that? )

wtf ?????

No affordable Blu for Europeans? Sucks big time ...

The minimum wage in UK is around £5.50, which is roughly $11.00 (who would pay that?!)

[mattym]

at the moment the exchange rate sucks badly. My company imports from the US to distribute int he uk, and its bad at the moment, we can buy real cheap, but cant sell at the agreed RRP as its twice the cost!

[ymmv]

The real issue is that the number of region free titles is dropping fast. What's the use of cheap US Blu-Ray titles, if we can't play 'em? With the high price of European Blu-Ray titles, I don't see myself buying too many titles anymore... I'm really looking forward to Ratatouille in HD, but I'm not going to pay 30 euro or more.

[horseflesh]

The main reason why I bought a Region A PS3, and import all my BDs from the USA.

And yes, a major reason for the price discrepencies is the exchange rate. Amazon.co.uk charge £26.99 for the mentioned title, NOT $54.99. It's not their fault that the US dollar has dropped so dramatically in value (although that price is a rip-off anyway, LOL)

[jccca]

Originally Posted by ymmv

The real issue is that the number of region free titles is dropping fast. What's the use of cheap US Blu-Ray titles, if we can't play 'em? With the high price of European Blu-Ray titles, I don't see myself buying too many titles anymore... I'm really looking forward to Ratatouille in HD, but I'm not going to pay 30 euro or more.

Is ratatouille US version going to be region locked? :'(

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by jccca

Is ratatouille US version going to be region locked? :'(

I'd be pretty sure that it will be. It only open here in Ireland this weekend, so it's a prime example for Disney to justify Region coding.

Hence, reason #2 for me buying a Region A PS3

[Innerloop]

Originally Posted by mattym

at the moment the exchange rate sucks badly. My company imports from the US to distribute int he uk, and its bad at the moment, we can buy real cheap, but cant sell at the agreed RRP as its twice the cost!

So why not sell it cheaper? What am I missing? RRP=Recommended Retail Price, right?

Very few retailers here sell at anything close to the MSRP=Manusfacturers' Suggested Retail Price.

[mattym]

Originally Posted by Innerloop

So why not sell it cheaper? What am I missing? RRP=Recommended Retail Price, right?

Very few retailers here sell at anything close to the MSRP=Manusfacturers' Suggested Retail Price.

we would do, but we bought in stock at the higher rate, so we would be out of pocket if we sold at lower rate to match US dollar value..it works both ways though, if the exchange drops again then we become competitive again

[JAGUAR1977]

For UK Blu-rays you really have to shop around, i.e. Spiderman 3 is around £14.50 from Sendit and there are plenty of sub £13 titles knocking around.

If you supplement these with region free titles you needn't be ripped of.

Even the most expensive titles on amazon US work out around £15.50 even with shipping to the UK.

[mikesoba]

Originally Posted by Algernon

All BDs over there cost twice or more the price of Amazon.com ...

just one example :

Flags Of Our Fathers

US : $27.95
UK : £26.99 ( that's $ 54,9948 !!!!! Who of you would pay that? )

wtf ?????

No affordable Blu for Europeans? Sucks big time ...

I believe everything in the UK sells at about twice the price it would sell for in the US, from a pint to a house. CDs certainly cost twice what they cost in the US; so BDs cost twice as well.

[yeslek]

Originally Posted by mikesoba

I believe everything in the UK sells at about twice the price it would sell for in the US, from a pint to a house. CDs certainly cost twice what they cost in the US; so BDs cost twice as well.

actually, after postage the cd's work out about the same

ie the new 50 cent album is 9.99 on .com and you can get it for 7.99 in the uk
postage is about $8 from what i remember so $18 against £8

thats bout all we dont get ripped on though

[Algernon]

Originally Posted by yeslek

ie the new 50 cent album is 9.99

Now what ... 50 cent or 10 dollars?

[w_tanoto]

Originally Posted by Algernon

All BDs over there cost twice or more the price of Amazon.com ...

just one example :

Flags Of Our Fathers

US : $27.95
UK : £26.99 ( that's $ 54,9948 !!!!! Who of you would pay that? )

wtf ?????

No affordable Blu for Europeans? Sucks big time ...

don't expect amazon.uk to be cheap. I bought windows vista full for £369. You, the americans, paid it for $399

[jw]

Is it cheaper to import it?

[CptOzone]

I live in the US. I order from Amazon, and it seems they are now taking forever to even ship the titles. Canceled "From Hell" this morning - pre-ordered the item and it still hadn't shipped as of today.

It doesn't do us any good to have lower prices if they don't ship the product!

Guess I'll have to find a new place to order from.

[dvdirv]

Originally Posted by CptOzone

I live in the US. I order from Amazon, and it seems they are now taking forever to even ship the titles. Canceled "From Hell" this morning - pre-ordered the item and it still hadn't shipped as of today.

It doesn't do us any good to have lower prices if they don't ship the product!

Guess I'll have to find a new place to order from.

You might want to give Amazon Prime a try. For $79/year Amazon will ship everything same day (assuming it's in stock) and deliver in 2 days for free or next day for $3.99. Since I live in Indiana, most packages are shipped from their Kentucky warehouses and arrive within one day at no cost.

I receive most pre-orders on the street date. How many vendors can match that?