It was always like that- the US prices mostly lower due to bigger numbers sold. I remember people from US company I was endorsing complaining even saying it is European conspiracy having Euro so cheap, I think it was like 80 cents that time. Now it is exactly reverse, dollar sinking. Still consider the warranty problems. You will have to send a unit at your costs and it will take weeks or more such round trip. If you professional you get your VAT back (or are not charged at all- depending on the country- when I buy in EU outside Germany they only need the EU tax ID) the difference might not be that much, worth paying a bit more and get the defective unit replaced at the shop around the corner.
Software is another story, I asked Arkaos about professional discount, was ready to pay some extra buying from them but not bloody double.
US retailer refused to sell directly, I asked fellow Abletonian, Paypaled and he mailed me the license, paid 200 instead of 450 Euro.
This euro/dollar thing
forge wrote:isn't it a tax thing? technically you could get stung by customs and have to pay a duty on your package when it arrives
Well if you buy off Ableton or Celemony in Germany and you're in the EU, you shouldn't pay anything, if it's import duty.
Whatever way you look at it there's just a dual pricing structure for no other good reason than to keep US prices low and have Europe take up the slack by overcharging.
There's no way it's all tax. Tax is 21% in Ireland and between 17 and 20% in most of European countries. The differences between Euro and Dollars are closer to 40% at the moment.
I emailed Celemony's sales department and got the following response (reproduced with consent)
I can sort of see the point of view that if they choose to charge a certain euro price it's not their problem what happens to the dollar. If you're selling goods/services to the US at the moment it's a pain in the arse. Still that gap of almost 20% is a killer.
I did point out that the rate quoted is -ahem- somewhat different from xe.com's current rate, but they didn't choose to comment on that.Celemony Sales Support wrote:Hi ,rozling wrote: Hi,
I have a query regarding the pricing on your website. For EU customers - all of the products seem to be priced at the Euro equivalent of the dollar amount, e.g. for Melodyne studio the price is $699 or €699 ($1105) - that's an increase of 36.75%
I would be grateful if you could you explain the difference in price. Are you charging VAT at the point of sale + import duty?
Regards,
The EU prices in our web shop are inclusive of the value added tax (VAT) applicable in Germany. Currently this stands at 19%. The amount of VAT paid is displayed on the bill and in the case of purchases within Germany can be claimed back from the German tax authorities. Anyone purchasing as a tradesman within the European Community using a VAT number is in any case exempt from paying German VAT.
The US dollar prices for countries outside the European Community on the other hand do not include VAT. Since our prices are below the relevant threshold, we are not in this case obliged to charge VAT in our web shop. This is incurred in the country of purchase and must be paid there as well as any customs duties applicable.
Our prices are deliberately not pegged to the current rate of exchange. For one thing, that would require us to change our prices each time there was movement in either direction in the rate of exchange between the dollar and the euro, and secondly, our prices do, after all, have to fit the price structure in the country of purchase. For this reason - following the standard practice in virtually all areas of industry (and from Apple to Volkswagen) - we have fixed prices for the individual sales regions. At the moment, with the exchange rate at 1 euro = 1.45 US dollars, the euro price is in fact higher than the price in US dollars, but that could change again if the dollar rises against the euro. These fluctuations in the rate of exchange are in any case of no benefit to us as a company. In fact, the current weakness of the dollar is more of a pain in the neck.
With best regards <Celemony Sales Support>.
I can sort of see the point of view that if they choose to charge a certain euro price it's not their problem what happens to the dollar. If you're selling goods/services to the US at the moment it's a pain in the arse. Still that gap of almost 20% is a killer.
I won't be going for it for the moment anyway - I don't have the cash which is probably for the best anyway.
However I don't like denying true innovators what they deserve - I did swear after doing a protools course never to buy at full price if I could get an
educational discount... maybe I need to enrol in something once I get the cash together. That or set up a limited company (€1000 to dissolve apparently).
However I don't like denying true innovators what they deserve - I did swear after doing a protools course never to buy at full price if I could get an
educational discount... maybe I need to enrol in something once I get the cash together. That or set up a limited company (€1000 to dissolve apparently).