Hi there
I thought I'd finally narrowed down my choice of laptop for work (programming) and home use (AVIs, gaming when away from home) to between a V1J or a W3J. However, looking at pricing, it appears the UK is around 40% more expensive than the US. The W3J with an extra 1Gb of RAM would cost as follows:
Bought in the UK - £1,450 / US $2,750 / EURO 2,160
Bought in the US - £1,022 / US $1,940 / EURO 1,520
I thought perhaps there was some additional US sales tax I was overlooking, however Best Buy in the States has the latest Sony VAIO VGN-AR290G (the AR21S in Europe) at US $3,499, which is roughly the same as the price in the UK of £1,850. So why the discrepancy in price for Asus? I know the general consensus for the W3J is extremely positive, but is it still after factoring in the price difference?
I guess having finally shortlisted to these two models, based on my core requirements of Core 2 CPU/video card/looks (yes, I know, I'm shallow)/build quality, and struggling enough weighing up the better processor/resolution/hdd of the V1J with the nicer looks/build of the W3J, I'm disappointed to realise that I'm in all likelihood being ripped off for being UK-based. Are there any other Asus owners here that are from the UK, who perhaps imported/bought elsewhere in Europe/took the wife on a weekend trip to NY and picked it up there? Appreciate any thoughts anyone has on this.
Cheers
Michael
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You are not alone in your wondering about pricing.
I've been looking into a W7J in New Zealand. Just today I got the price for the new Core 2 Duo W7J.
$4,273.00 New Zealand Dollars which is about $2,828.01 USD.
This means that the cost of a W7J is almost double the US price.
Pretty rediculous. There are two official distributers of Asus equipment here as far as I know. Either they are not able to purchase enough to get a good price from Asus or they are scalping. If I look at purchasing from Australia, the price drops significantly and is more comparable to the US price... so I suspect the importer here is trying to make a lot of profit. -
Dont forget that buying from the US and shipping to UK will mean you have to pay VAT +Import duty which will be around 20% of the price i think (17,5% VAT + 3% import duty[was on last import i got]) plus the courier on this side will charge you for delivery as well (around £15)
Still probably cheaper to buy from US though. -
Different specs? Faster CPU on the European model maybe?
They are not all the same.. Asus is a top seller in Europe so I can't see the prices being that inflated.. -
cRuNcHiE - aye, it would be £200 cheaper to pay VAT + import. I originally got all Daily Mail and muttered "rip off Britain", but then I checked the price of a Sony laptop, and found it was slightly cheaper to buy in the UK than in the US, even with VAT (see Sony VGN-AR290G on Best Buy in the US versus the Sony AR21S (European Model) from dabs.com). The model below that, though, the AR21M is £400 cheaper in the States than in the UK. Now I'm properly confused. It's a global conspiracy, goddamnit!
Jumper - I wondered that as well, but it appears the specs are either the same or slightly superior in the States. One of the sites linked from here ( www.laptops4u.nl) in the Netherlands is a few hundred pounds cheaper (about $350) for the V1J (doesn't appear to stock the W3J), so the random pricing strategy could be localised to the UK.
Ah well, I will likely buy an Asus anyway, as otherwise I'll end up with a Dell and £400 is a small price to pay to avoid that kind of shame
Cheers
Michael -
MilestonePC.com Company Representative
Unfortunately this is the case with electronics too.
I would like to state thing in Europe are more expensive than USA this is including the UK.
Canada is even more expensive than USA when it comes to something like TVs, we had a news report stating the US prices are like 1000 dollar cheaper than in Canada.
I would suggest find out information regarding importing a laptop that's roughly 2000$ USD , and doublt and triple check with as many people you know and comments on the internet as a whole.
Good Luck! -
Well I have been in the UK for 3 years (in the US since May), and when I went back to NZ in June last year laptops were cheaer in the UK than in NZ! but they always have been more expensive there, from all the countries I have been in the last 2 years (Dubai, Thailand, New Zealand and the US here) the states is by far the cheapest,
I purchased my W3J from Proportable, it was at least 250 pounds cheaper than buying it in the UK, and it was better specified!
Its not right, but prices are somewhat relative to the cost of living, I mean most things in the UK are expensive, I pay £81 a week for my rail pass (25 min train to Kings cross, then 10min tube to Oxford Circus) anyway I could go on.
Last year there was a program on in the UK, they send three kids, one to Canada, one to New York and the other to Oxford Circus in London, they got them to purchase a range of set products, like Ipods, CDs, robotb toys, etc just a range of stuff. Anyway the verdict was Canada was the cheapest (only just) but America was on average 20% cheaper than the UK, the retailers in the UK were trying to blame increased petrol prices and general overheads, but that is BS.
I brought a pair of shure E500's they were $499 in the US, I looked online in the UK they are selling for £418, yeas thats over $780 USD!!!!!! for something that weighs next to nothing !! thats over 150% increase.
But the only anoying thing is that a lot of places in the US are not accepting payment from non US credit cards, or if they do they will only post to a US postal address.
What can you do????? -
I am going out on a limb here........ but I am prety sure Asus price points their laptops to be competitive in whatever market they are in, relatively speaking in the UK the pricing of the W3J is quite good.
Maybe in the US the competition is just more feirce, thus forcing proces down.... supply vs demand -
Thanks for the replies. Importing would definitely be the smart move, unfortunately it doesn't look like I'm going to have the kind of time available that would require. As for the pricing, I think you're both right, and electronic goods are more expensive in the UK than the US - my spot test example of the Sony turned out rather unluckily to be one of the few exceptions, rather than the rule ...
Cheers
Michael -
In general the UK is a bit more expensive on electronic goods (but not always super expensive). However if you look at the right places you can find prices to be roughly the same. As for going to Oxford St for goods, of course that is going to be super expensive!!
I've also found certain electronic goods to be more expensive in the states than in the UK!! For example my Senheisser (sp?) headphones were actually cheaper in New York than buying online from a UK based website.
Also remember currency fluctuations make things from the US seem much cheaper at present (because of the strong pound).
Asus Pricing - UK versus US
Discussion in 'Asus' started by michaelp, Oct 29, 2006.