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It does cost more to do business in Europe, however the increased costs are often spread over hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions of units). At that level I'm prepared to believe it might cost an extra £3 per unit to store them in a warehouse over here, an extra £3 in fuel costs per unit, maybe an extra £2 per unit to account for higher wages, £1 per unit for the added warranty obligations and £1 per unit to get it past the CE certification and to meet other legal obligations.
We aren't being charged an extra few pounds per item though, we are usually charged 160-200% of the US retail price. Somebody will have to show me hard numbers to get me to believe that anything more than a tiny percentage of the extra cost is justified.
To move back onto the eBook topic I've been considering what the likely price point for the Sony Reader would be if they decide to launch it in the UK. I reckon they'll sell it for £249.99 (about $500), does anybody else have any predictions?
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