Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Pascal, I have found that for several Leica items, the price I have paid in Germany is no higher than in the U.S. In general, though, you are right, prices here are considerably higher. When I compare Belgium with the U.S. in this regard, a couple of factors stand out: 1) Our 21% VAT compared to the typical 6-8% sales tax there (and in many cases you do not even pay that when shopping by mail order). 2) Our generally higher costs of doing business--higher labour costs, taxes, energy prices etc. 3) Most importantly, the U.S. market is so much more competitive, both due to the business culture there and sheer size. You do have to keep in mind also that the prices are not the same everywhere in the U.S. When I lived in Florida--first in Gainesville, a smallish college town, then in Tampa, a big city--I found that the prices there on most photo equipment were far higher than in New York. Pascal wrote: > But I wonder why prices of Leica gear in Europa are not cheaper in the > States, well to the contrary? > > Pascal > NO ARCHIVE > > -------------------------------------------------------- > See my photo pages at http://members.xoom.com/cyberplace/ > -------------------------------------------------------- > t h i n k d i f f e r e n t a p p l e c o m p u t e r > -------------------------------------------------------- > <<< PGP public key available on request >>> - -- Nathan Wajsman Overijse, Belgium Photography page: http://members.tripod.com/~belgiangator/index.html Motorcycle page: http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/1704/index.html