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Old 02-18-2011, 04:35 PM   #95
dapriuk
Enthusiast
dapriuk doesn't litterdapriuk doesn't litter
 
Posts: 48
Karma: 160
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Device: Sony PRS-505, Lenovo X61 tablet PC, Advent Vega Android tablet
Quote:
If the "rip-off" trigger is an international price comparison, then we may want to keep in mind that in many cases, international price variations are a result of government policies rather than companies taking advantage of local consumers.
It is usually easy to determine the tax elements - in the UK there is one sales tax (VAT) and there may or may not be an import duty. There is no VAT on paper books however so differential pricing is easier to spot in that case.

If it is very obvious that the supplier is screwing me on price - take the pre-local taxes US price and compare with the pre-local taxes UK price (ie VAT). I used to travel to the US on business a lot so had ample opportunity to compare store costs and the till receipts helpfully listed sales taxes etc.

The key word is "obvious" and suppliers risk their customer base if they jerk customers around too much too obviously. There is a saying in the UK "doing a Ratner", it refers to one Gerald Ratner who owned an eponymous jewelry store chain a few years ago. He stood up at a business conference and said he sold worthless tat at inflated prices, the result was people stopped buying their tat from him and bought it from someone else. Guess what happened to his cash flow.

As for the other stuff I don't smoke, don't drink sugared water and my prescription meds are at a fixed rate.

If a supplier sells me stuff at too high a price and then when I find out they start throwing worthless excuses at me I will simply try to go elsewhere as I clearly cannot trust them any more. This means all my business goes elsewhere, I simply don't have the time to check that I'm not being stung on other items. I have done this with software providers, insurance, banking, food, electronics goods, cars. There are some brands and some suppliers I simply will not do business with, ever.
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