G4 cheaper in USA than Europe!

[StarZetRaven]

Thought I'd compare to our prices.
Rarity's carousel: 700 crowns = currently 121.74 american dollars.
WE WIN.
But where I live they're having it on constant sale since no one buys it. Alas, they reduced it to 400 crowns = 69.57 american dollars.
Singles: 80 crowns = 13.91 american dollars.
So yeah, we're like the swedes mostly.

[Cadence]

In Canada, the luggage ponies are about $7.99 Canadian without taxes... and the Canadian dollar is slightly higher than USD now... so the total comes to about $10-11 USD. 


^ I think the pricing in the above post wins though

 

[Mapago]

Here in Brazil each playful pony cost around R$30.00, that's around US$15.00
Each fashion style pony is R$80.00 (US$45.00) and talking Celestia costs R$124.00, that's over US$50.00
I could only afford the mane six =x

[hokuspokus]

Rarity's carousel: 700 crowns = currently 121.74 american dollars.
WE WIN.
But where I live they're having it on constant sale since no one buys it.

hehe, offcouse no one buys it That store must be craaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzyyyyyyyyyy
Sorry, the Sweds indeed won this competition. Unfortunately, that's no compliment, for a change..

[StarZetRaven]

Rarity's carousel: 700 crowns = currently 121.74 american dollars.
WE WIN.
But where I live they're having it on constant sale since no one buys it.

hehe, offcouse no one buys it That store must be craaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzyyyyyyyyyy
Sorry, the Sweds indeed won this competition. Unfortunately, that's no compliment, for a change..

And they're one of the biggest toy store lines in Norway, which means most Rarity's carousels are priced like that! I doubt many have it at all...

[Ginger]

Wooooow, that's all insane. O_O I would be happy to buy/mail ponies to help out every once in a while whenever I go to the store, depending on shipping costs. Deboxing would make it even cheaper. o_o

[StarDragon]

Ohhh my gosh!!! D: D: I had no idea..!! Suddenly this makes me VERY thankful. I wouldn't mind being a trading buddy either, for G1s or anything. Maybe I will think about this for the summer.
 I heard that the plastic toys that Hasbro makes really only cost about $.80 for singles... I wonder why they are so expensive?

[Huscheli]

But you guys DO know that you can't just go and compare prices, right? ^^

Sure, G4 singles here cost like 14$, but in Switzerland, minimum wage is certainly higher than in the US (same with Norway, Sweden and so on). ^^ So the difference isn't actually THAT big, I'd think.

[Vintergatan]

I feel for you so much :S i´vealready complained around the board, as singles here are also $10+, which sucks
also, they seem to have stopped importing them and selection is very basic

Post Merge: April 27, 2012, 11:19:52 AM

But you guys DO know that you can't just go and compare prices, right? ^^

Sure, G4 singles here cost like 14$, but in Switzerland, minimum wage is certainly higher than in the US (same with Norway, Sweden and so on). ^^ So the difference isn't actually THAT big, I'd think.

also, to address this, in Serbia I don't know about G4, but G3s were priced like in the rest of Europe so i guess the income theory kinda fails there

[KarentheUnicorn]

Don't forget for the USA that sales tax is usually added when you purchase and will not be listed on the isle before you buy so depending on what state the pony is being bough in it will probably be more than the listed price and don't forget if your getting an item shipped to you, you are again, going to be paying more per pony, etc.

[CrystalCrown]

what the... O_O

I'm now reconsidering moving to Europe when I'm older...
(edit for spelling fail)

[Chi]

Thought I'd compare to our prices.
Rarity's carousel: 700 crowns = currently 121.74 american dollars.
WE WIN.
But where I live they're having it on constant sale since no one buys it. Alas, they reduced it to 400 crowns = 69.57 american dollars.
Singles: 80 crowns = 13.91 american dollars.
So yeah, we're like the swedes mostly.

Here in Brazil each playful pony cost around R$30.00, that's around US$15.00
Each fashion style pony is R$80.00 (US$45.00) and talking Celestia costs R$124.00, that's over US$50.00
I could only afford the mane six =x

Oh wow.. o____o;
Does this make both of you less likely to find yourself buying Fashion Styles and such?

[babystarz]

I think part of the price bump has to be compensating with VAT taxes and for import fees, which are both much higher for the EU than in the US. The US is all "woo free trade" which sounds great with the final price of the ponies, but we pay as a society in different ways. As someone else mentioned, we have a significantly lower minimum wage, even when cost of living is factored in. Also, those factory jobs that create the ponies could have been located here if our free tradeyness weren't so attractive to US companies who have realized that outsourcing cheap labor is more cost effective than keeping everything in the country. We now have a deficit of manufacturing jobs and lots of people permanently out of work because they either don't have skills to switch labor sectors, or their skills are specialized for a specific manufacturing job that is no longer obtainable. And those people don't get unemployment checks indefinitely. It puts those pony prices into perspective though. I wouldn't mind paying $10 per single if it meant we had a more functional economy and a healthy middle class, and better safety nets for people who are going through hard times.

There is definitely a trade-off for cheap consumer goods here, one that increasingly seems less worth it to a lot of people here who see what is happening with our crazy consumption. Sure, I could buy just about anything here for ridiculously cheap. And when it falls apart in a year or two, it won't matter because I can replace it, again with something ridiculously cheap. But the option to buy that same thing, with much higher quality materials and craftsmanship, made by someone here who is earning a good living, that will last for 20 years, is gone. And we're realizing that's not such a great thing.

Those Euro import taxes are meant to protect your national economies and to provide more money for government services like healthcare, infrastructure, education, and other social services. They encourage buying of products made within your country, and therefore keep money circulating within your country rather than going elsewhere. I have lived in Europe, and I've got to say, as annoying as it feels to pay more at the register, I definitely prefer that system. Plus it's much easier to eat healthy over there because the import taxes and lack of weird corn subsidies mean that junk food is more expensive than nutritious food

[hathorcat]

As mentioned above and as odd as it sounds the price of ponies in different countries is no different than the price of petrol/gas or the price of a pair of nike trainers...its all about cost of living, consumer price indexes and world economics.

If we were all to compare the price of a litre of unleaded...I bet you ll find the countries where that is most expensive are likewise where ponies are more expensive. Some countries have a higher "cost of living" but that is balanced, typically, by a higher average wage and it is also often also linked to a higher quality of life. Otherwise every country would be even more bankrupt than the are now.

For example in the top 3 countries with the highest cost of living usually you find Switzerland and Norway - both of these countries also traditionally find themselves in the top 3 of the highest quality of life. And as we can see here they are a couple of the countries where ponies are most expensive - i.e. where products and services are more expensive but where the average wage is higher.

The US is incredibly low in the cost of living scale and as such we see its price purchase point on many items cheaper than elsewhere in the world.

Is it fair? When it comes to buying little plastic ponies it feels grossly unfair to those of us in much of Europe but a bigger and mightier power than HB will be needed to balance out the world economy!

However...that doesnt stop us all forming an international trading circle to make sure the rest of us get low priced ponies and perhaps those in the US get all those dang international exclusive ponies!!

[babystarz]

If we were all to compare the price of a litre of unleaded...

Oh my gosh this! If you could hear people here complaining about how crazy it is that gas is $4 a gallon you guys living in Europe would be flabbergasted. So many people in the US have no idea how much our government subsidizes our gasoline. If they could see what the real price of gas is, they would feel lucky! Whenever people I know start freaking out about rising gas prices here, I tell them to look up how much the same amount of gas costs in Ireland. They are stunned.