As for the price differences, I would put that down mostly to competition. In NA, you can buy many drivers from two or three of the lot of Madisound, PE, Zalytron and Solen. In Europe, each brand usually has one distributor per country or group of countries, and merchants and OEMs are forced to go through that distributor. I tried buying Peerless drivers that the distributor at the time did not yet have in the catalog, by going through a small OEM manufacturer. The price I got was very good, even with that companies profit added, but the minimum quantity was 50.
Imagine somebody wanting to set up a new distribution business and having to buy 50+ per model of every Peerless driver....
Taxes are not the reason (there is no duty on drivers from Danmark and Norway, and 3% on drivers from overseas, and VAT is 16% in Germany).
Imagine somebody wanting to set up a new distribution business and having to buy 50+ per model of every Peerless driver....
Taxes are not the reason (there is no duty on drivers from Danmark and Norway, and 3% on drivers from overseas, and VAT is 16% in Germany).
Paradise_Ice said:
The price of gas is not fixed, except by supply and demand, unless government interferes. The same holds true for anything that is sold. Supply and demand rule until and unless government interferes.
The kind of system you that you describe as fair based on quality and value already exists except where prhibited by law. It's called supply and demand. People buy things because of the value and/or need they perceive. There is no way to objectively determine value in the market place, so we let people decide for themselves by allowing them to buy what they wish.
Systems like they have in Germany where prices are fixed are unfair IMO and counterproductive. Nobody benefits. Consumers don't get bargains, and producers tend not to innovate, and sellers tend to care less about things like cutomer service.
I can buy anything in the states cheaper
I live in germany but I'm an american and I learned to shop like an american meaning you look for performance for the money. When new companies come out with low prices and clever ideas they're sued for "unfair competition". Ironic huh? Competition isn't fair. The idea is that there will be a winner and a loser and in this case there should always be a winner- the consumer. I buy as much as I can overseas to save money and I save a bunch believe me.
I was once sitting in a lecture on employment law here in germany and had to hear someone say that the main reason for starting a company was to employ people. The teacher confirmed this and continued for an hour about the social responsibility of companies to employ people at all costs. Afterwards I went up to him and asked him if he believed that ****, as everyone I have ever heard of starts companies to make money. his answer was yeah that's the other opinion and it is an "arguable" one. In other words you can write that on the test and pass but you won't get a good score.
With this mentality it's no wonder that a german pays 30-50% for a german made car in germany than the american does for the same car. Talk about getting ripped off.
I live in germany but I'm an american and I learned to shop like an american meaning you look for performance for the money. When new companies come out with low prices and clever ideas they're sued for "unfair competition". Ironic huh? Competition isn't fair. The idea is that there will be a winner and a loser and in this case there should always be a winner- the consumer. I buy as much as I can overseas to save money and I save a bunch believe me.
I was once sitting in a lecture on employment law here in germany and had to hear someone say that the main reason for starting a company was to employ people. The teacher confirmed this and continued for an hour about the social responsibility of companies to employ people at all costs. Afterwards I went up to him and asked him if he believed that ****, as everyone I have ever heard of starts companies to make money. his answer was yeah that's the other opinion and it is an "arguable" one. In other words you can write that on the test and pass but you won't get a good score.
With this mentality it's no wonder that a german pays 30-50% for a german made car in germany than the american does for the same car. Talk about getting ripped off.
Arthur-itis said:
Did you read my post at all? Prices in Germany are not fixed, least of all by the government!
Only prices for books are fixed, by the publishers.
There was a law that merchants could not give more than 3% discount on the prices they fixed and advertised themselves, but that did not work and the law is gone.
And yes, in Eastern Germany, the goverment did fix prices, but that was a communist system and is long gone anyway.
Believe me, it bothers me to pay higher prices when I don't see a justifcation for them, but it is usually the very market mechanisms of capitalism which are alive and kicking which can explain why we have higher prices in some areas (e.g. in the case of loudspeaker drivers, lack of competition and too high entry costs for potential competitors).
Just a funny litle note, the cost for the L15 driver here in norway, where they are made, are 640 nok, devide that by 8.5 and we get 75 euros, or 101 dollars.
Thats dubble of what they are at madisound.
now, if that dosn't suck, then i dont know what does.
now, it should be noted that a standard years wages here up north for a normal job are about 275.000, or 43.000 dollars.
i remember reading 20-25.000 dollars being a good years wages in the US?
edit: funny though that the seas lotus refference car sound system costs actually more at madisond than in norway though.. guess all is not lst after all
Thats dubble of what they are at madisound.
now, if that dosn't suck, then i dont know what does.
now, it should be noted that a standard years wages here up north for a normal job are about 275.000, or 43.000 dollars.
i remember reading 20-25.000 dollars being a good years wages in the US?
edit: funny though that the seas lotus refference car sound system costs actually more at madisond than in norway though.. guess all is not lst after all
demogorgon said:
Wow, that does suck. Seas drivers should be free in Norway.
Average US income can be viewed at the US Census.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p60-226.pdf
I seriously wonder about the big price difference. I had heard that Silver Flute drivers cost even more in China than the meager $15 in the US, and the average Chinese income is pretty low. Hmmm.
What on earth gave you that idea? Prices are fixed only for books only, for historic reasons. The reasoning was that books are considered a cultural good, and that small publishers and small bookshops should not be driven out of business from excessive competition. Thus, the publishers set the price, and every shop (even amazon) is forced to sell at that price. You can argue about the validity of this, but the last time a saw a comparison, there were about three times the number of titles in print in Germany than in the US, which has 4-5x the population. Paperbacks are also typically 20%-30% more expensive in the US, which is actually ok considering that many titles need to be translated, that the printing volume is smaller and that paper and print quality is usually higher.
Also, I can call my village bookseller in the afternoon, and he'll have any in-print book from any major publisher delivered from the wholeseller to his shop before noon the next day at no extra charge.
There also was a law that merchants could give no more than 3% discount on advertised pricing. The reasoning was obscure, and it was legally ok to call it recalculation instead of discount, so the law was disbanded a while ago.
Glad to hear the was repealed. Sorry but I was going on info from someone who used to live there and I haven't talked with tehm or anyone else about the German economy in a long while.
The reasoning on books is still just as flawed, but not nearly as intrusive as having everything fixed in price.
In case you haven't guessed I'm a free market type.
Also, I can call my village bookseller in the afternoon, and he'll have any in-print book from any major publisher delivered from the wholeseller to his shop before noon the next day at no extra charge.
There also was a law that merchants could give no more than 3% discount on advertised pricing. The reasoning was obscure, and it was legally ok to call it recalculation instead of discount, so the law was disbanded a while ago.
Glad to hear the was repealed. Sorry but I was going on info from someone who used to live there and I haven't talked with tehm or anyone else about the German economy in a long while.
The reasoning on books is still just as flawed, but not nearly as intrusive as having everything fixed in price.
In case you haven't guessed I'm a free market type.
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