Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/06/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Fair trade pricing and VAT get you. Plus, you still have the " The individual Country sets their own prices " mentality..... Whereas distances are small between countries, driving the consumer nuts to get a good deal by crossing a border to purchase. In the US, we have made fair trade pricing illegal, and the only way a manufacturer can control prices is through advertising kick backs. ( MAAP). We also have State Sales Tax, which can add on an additional 8 1/2% or more to the final prices. Something you do not see when you look at advertisements. Frank Filippone red735i@earthlink.net A german made Leica still costs less in the USA than in Germany, even after the price increase. Same for BMW, Porsche and Mercedes cars, same for Switzerland and swiss watches (though we have a low VAT here). I don't understand why we europeans must subsidize the US economy that much... :-) Didier