5 ms·

I'm wondering if they're subsidized, but the price in Germany at the supermarket hovers around 1€ each. I was really surprised to hear that these are not a thin

I'm wondering if they're subsidized, but the price in Germany at the supermarket hovers around 1€ each. I was really surprised to hear that these are not a thing in the US, any idea why?

throwaway4good 5y ago
Because the ones you get in Europe are made in China.
jeroenhd 5y ago
Here in the NL they're about €2,50 each, so there may be some subsidizing going on in Germany (or we're getting ripped off for €1,50 per test). Schools and food banks can hand out free self tests so there is definitely some kind of subsidizing going on here, but in a different way.
- emteycz 5y ago
  Surely someone would import them and sell for €2 and then someone else would sell them for €1.5 and then someone else would sell them for €1.2 if you were just being ripped off. Is that really the only reason you could think of?
- vitorgrs 5y ago
  lol here in brazil you can only find these in drug stores, and is arround R$100 (which would be arround 15 euro/17usd). Keep in mind that R$100 means 10% of monthly minimum wage.......
wallacoloo 5y ago
these are available in the US. they retail for $20-30 for a pair. they were easy to get from October-ish through mid December and now they’re sold out everywhere because of people testing for holiday gatherings.
_alex_ 5y ago
They are a thing in the US as well.
bzbarsky 5y ago
The FDA has approved 13 test kits for at-home use with a self-collected sample, according to https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/covid-19-tests-and-collection-kits-authorized-fda-infographic https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and... Germany has approved a much larger number of test kits for use, per https://antigentest.bfarm.de/ords/f?p=110:100:4793921863454 https://antigentest.bfarm.de/ords/f?p=110:100:4793921863454:::::. It was >50 as of August 2021 according to https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/08/testing-abundance.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/08/te..., including from American companies that the FDA has not approved. I suspect that the supply-restriction effects of the approval situation go a long way toward explaining the pricing differences...
xyzzyz 5y ago
Because FDA does not allow companies to sell them.

I'm wondering if they're subsidized, but the price in Germany at the supermarket hovers around 1€ each. I was really surprised to hear that these are not a thing in the US, any idea why?

throwaway4good 5y ago

Because the ones you get in Europe are made in China.

jeroenhd 5y ago

Here in the NL they're about €2,50 each, so there may be some subsidizing going on in Germany (or we're getting ripped off for €1,50 per test). Schools and food banks can hand out free self tests so there is definitely some kind of subsidizing going on here, but in a different way.

emteycz 5y ago
Surely someone would import them and sell for €2 and then someone else would sell them for €1.5 and then someone else would sell them for €1.2 if you were just being ripped off. Is that really the only reason you could think of?
vitorgrs 5y ago
lol here in brazil you can only find these in drug stores, and is arround R$100 (which would be arround 15 euro/17usd). Keep in mind that R$100 means 10% of monthly minimum wage.......

wallacoloo 5y ago

these are available in the US. they retail for $20-30 for a pair. they were easy to get from October-ish through mid December and now they’re sold out everywhere because of people testing for holiday gatherings.

_alex_ 5y ago

They are a thing in the US as well.

bzbarsky 5y ago

The FDA has approved 13 test kits for at-home use with a self-collected sample, according to https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/covid-19-tests-and-collection-kits-authorized-fda-infographic https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and... Germany has approved a much larger number of test kits for use, per https://antigentest.bfarm.de/ords/f?p=110:100:4793921863454 https://antigentest.bfarm.de/ords/f?p=110:100:4793921863454:::::. It was >50 as of August 2021 according to https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/08/testing-abundance.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/08/te..., including from American companies that the FDA has not approved. I suspect that the supply-restriction effects of the approval situation go a long way toward explaining the pricing differences...

xyzzyz 5y ago

Because FDA does not allow companies to sell them.