4 ms·

I've always joked that if you want a maxed-out model, it's cheaper to fly to the States, buy there, and fly back than to buy in Europe (especially in Sweden whe

I've always joked that if you want a maxed-out model, it's cheaper to fly to the States, buy there, and fly back than to buy in Europe (especially in Sweden where I am right now)

soneil 4y ago
That's almost entirely Sweden having a high tax rate though. I just priced out an M2 MBA with ram & ssd maxed out. $2499 USD in the US and 33009kr in Sweden. $2499 is 26163kr, +25% VAT is 32705kr. So you're paying 304kr / $29 more than the US price.
- rchaud 4y ago
  There's a sales tax in the US too. 7.25% in CA, on top of the product price.
  - greydius 4y ago
    Protip: Delaware has no sales tax.
    - no_wizard 4y ago
      Oregon too!
    - paulcole 4y ago
      Oregon as well.
  - VWWHFSfQ 4y ago
    Many states have no sales tax.
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      There are only 5, Alaska, New Hampshire, Montana, Delaware, and Oregon. And the only one with a decent size city and airport is Oregon, but even then, it does not have significant international flights (though close enough to San Francisco and Seattle airports). I guess New Hampshire has an Apple Store 45min from Boston airport, and Delaware has one about the same time from Philadelphia airport.
  - soneil 4y ago
    Of course. But when people are comparing EU & US prices they're usually not accounting for that either - just the price on the site. And it's too easy to miss out that a) european prices are advertised inclusive of sales tax, and b) we lean towards much higher taxes. So just going "what's that in dollars" either ignores the real discrepancy, or at the very least, misplaces the blame. Also, fun fact - since I did that math 3 hours ago, SEK has changed enough to wipe out that $29. Right now, (33009 * 0.8) SEK in USD = US$2460.46, making the pre-tax price in Sweden cheaper than the pre-tax price in the US.
  - vxNsr 4y ago
    Chicago has 10.25% but if you’re flying to the US to buy a laptop you’re gonna go to a non-sales tax state e.g. OR, MT, DE, etc
dogma1138 4y ago
That is if you don’t get caught at customs… you’ll have to pay at least the VAT on the value of your purchase and possible a duty as well. So if you want to do it legally you’ll have to add 20-25% to the price which no longer makes it very appealing.
- sumedh 4y ago
  > That is if you don’t get caught at customs Do you still have to pay if the Mac is out of the box and you have used it?
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    When I lived in Switzerland, some clever people thought about that, as it used to have lower taxes for electronics. It so happens that there are databases used by the customs agents that can trace back serial numbers to countries and purchase locations. So trying to make up a story on a random control can turn out pretty bad.
    - walterbell 4y ago
      Each country has a database that tracks import fee payment history by OEM serial number of laptops and other electronic devices, based on shipments to other countries?
      - pjmlp 4y ago
        I don't know how it actually works, rather an Interpol kind of database where products serial numbers are tracked in some way. Being caught on lies where we actually bought our phones or cameras, while being controlled on the French/Swiss border wasn't that out of the ordinary.
        walterbell 4y ago
        Was that necessary on every border crossing, e.g. showing copies of import fee payment receipts for each device? Sounds like a lot of overhead.

I've always joked that if you want a maxed-out model, it's cheaper to fly to the States, buy there, and fly back than to buy in Europe (especially in Sweden where I am right now)

soneil 4y ago

That's almost entirely Sweden having a high tax rate though. I just priced out an M2 MBA with ram & ssd maxed out. $2499 USD in the US and 33009kr in Sweden. $2499 is 26163kr, +25% VAT is 32705kr. So you're paying 304kr / $29 more than the US price.

rchaud 4y ago
There's a sales tax in the US too. 7.25% in CA, on top of the product price.
- greydius 4y ago
  Protip: Delaware has no sales tax.
  - no_wizard 4y ago
    Oregon too!
  - paulcole 4y ago
    Oregon as well.
- VWWHFSfQ 4y ago
  Many states have no sales tax.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    There are only 5, Alaska, New Hampshire, Montana, Delaware, and Oregon. And the only one with a decent size city and airport is Oregon, but even then, it does not have significant international flights (though close enough to San Francisco and Seattle airports). I guess New Hampshire has an Apple Store 45min from Boston airport, and Delaware has one about the same time from Philadelphia airport.
- soneil 4y ago
  Of course. But when people are comparing EU & US prices they're usually not accounting for that either - just the price on the site. And it's too easy to miss out that a) european prices are advertised inclusive of sales tax, and b) we lean towards much higher taxes. So just going "what's that in dollars" either ignores the real discrepancy, or at the very least, misplaces the blame. Also, fun fact - since I did that math 3 hours ago, SEK has changed enough to wipe out that $29. Right now, (33009 * 0.8) SEK in USD = US$2460.46, making the pre-tax price in Sweden cheaper than the pre-tax price in the US.
- vxNsr 4y ago
  Chicago has 10.25% but if you’re flying to the US to buy a laptop you’re gonna go to a non-sales tax state e.g. OR, MT, DE, etc

dogma1138 4y ago

That is if you don’t get caught at customs… you’ll have to pay at least the VAT on the value of your purchase and possible a duty as well. So if you want to do it legally you’ll have to add 20-25% to the price which no longer makes it very appealing.

sumedh 4y ago
> That is if you don’t get caught at customs Do you still have to pay if the Mac is out of the box and you have used it?
- pjmlp 4y ago
  When I lived in Switzerland, some clever people thought about that, as it used to have lower taxes for electronics. It so happens that there are databases used by the customs agents that can trace back serial numbers to countries and purchase locations. So trying to make up a story on a random control can turn out pretty bad.
  - walterbell 4y ago
    Each country has a database that tracks import fee payment history by OEM serial number of laptops and other electronic devices, based on shipments to other countries?
    - pjmlp 4y ago
      I don't know how it actually works, rather an Interpol kind of database where products serial numbers are tracked in some way. Being caught on lies where we actually bought our phones or cameras, while being controlled on the French/Swiss border wasn't that out of the ordinary.
      - walterbell 4y ago
        Was that necessary on every border crossing, e.g. showing copies of import fee payment receipts for each device? Sounds like a lot of overhead.