European Importers Charging HUGE Amounts For iPads.
After cracking the screen on my iPhone last week, I decided to compare repair prices in unofficial Apple vendors on the dark backstreets of Dublin. I say ‘dark’ because these places are always located on dodgy little corners in city center – as if Apple’s power is so great that they feel they are committing a felony (one was located in the same building as a shop called ‘Little Amsterdam’, a purveyor of dodgy legal highs, and a ‘Eurotica’, a VERY creepy sex shop).
I noticed that a few were advertising the iPad, which Apple Stores and vendors have been advertising without a release date for some time now. When I asked how much I could expect to pay for an import I was blown away.
The 16gb Wifi model was being offered for 799 euro! If you’re not familiar with our currency, know that 799 euro is about $950. The price of this model is $499 in the United States. I knew there would have to be a premium, but I didn’t expect to have to pay twice as much to avoid a wait of a few weeks.
I will admit that I was half tempted to buy one – my family and friends would have disowned me for being such a reckless spender, but I was tempted none-the-less. I paid my 105 euro for my new screen and ran away very quickly to avoid any more such temptations.
What worried me the most was that the shops charging these prices told me that they had huge demand for the product and were selling out of it. In fact, two Polish guys were buying some while I was waiting on my repair.
The situation mightn’t have been so bad if Dublin wasn’t facing the volcanic ash cloud from hell. No flights to and from the States, meaning I wasn’t able to take advantage of any friends going on shopping trips to New York. I guess I’ll just have to wait ‘til May.
[What are your thoughts on inflated pricing? Is it just good capitalism, or is it slightly immoral?]
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Well, living in Canada, we often have to wait extra time as well and because iPads don’t have a price yet in the Canada Store online, other items do and despite the Canadian dollar recently reaching parity (It’s worth almost 1 US or a few pennies above that right now even) there is still a premium on prices from the Online store. (iPod Nanos are an extra $20.00 higher) while the low-end MacBook comes in at $1,099 vs the US $999 price point.
It should be interesting to see if the iPad pricing follows suit. I expect each model to be at $50.00 higher on the Canadian store, despite what the Canadian Dollar value is right now.