Why is UK ripped off on new releases including 650D?

[Rodknee]

Why are the prices for Canons newest releases including the 650D well above what the exchange rate would dictate?

There is no pattern/logic to it - I would guess there must be some greed involved. Does anybody know any valid reasons i.e. other than being ripped off?

The 650d with 18-135 STM lens is $1199 in US and £1019 in UK which is much higher than the exchange rate even allowing for adding VAT (should be less than nine hundred quid). And the 40mm Pancake STM lens is $199 and £229 in UK which means pounds are worth less than dollars. I can't think of a valid reason why the lens price has a larger multiplier than the body other than the obvious one of rip off or perhaps the UK is sent better quality lenses than America.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I believe that its the cost of living in the UK.  I am from the USA, but when I visited several times in the past, everything was more expensive, so I assume things I could not see prices for like electrical power, heat, gasoline, and wages are higher.
 
That is going to drive up prices for a business, when they must pay more for everything.  And, then, of course, there are the sales taxes (GST).

[Rodknee]

The only sales tax is VAT at 20% and even allowing for that it should still be only £155 for the pancake lens but the advertised price is almost 50% higher than that.

I don't think business costs are that different to USA. And surely there are businesses that can run at lower costs than competitors yet prices seem pretty damned fixed which I assume is dictated to by Canon.

[neuroanatomist]

Relative strength of the yen vs. pound compared to yen vs. dollar, import duties, and trade subsidies are also factors that impact the differential pricing.  It's also worth noting that in some global companies with country/regional divisions (which is how Canon is organized), the regional organizations (Canon USA vs. Canon UK) play a major role in determining prices, based on their divisional sales targets.  Such targets are usually monetary rather than unit driven, and the USA is a much larger market - economies of scale operate even within companies, and Canon UK may need to set higher prices to meet monetary sales targets, compared to the Canon USA which will sell a larger number of units.

Of course, the title of your post suggests you're coming at this issue with a preconceived mindset...

[Rodknee]

I am trying to understand why the cost is higher than could be expected purely from exchange rates and why the price of the pancake lens appears to be at a higher 'rate' than say the camera body. I know there was a lot of discussion in the posts regarding costs in Europe compared to other places when the 5Diii was announced. I also recall a number of posts where people were saying they could avoid certain taxes by purchasing from a supplier in another state.

It may be as you say that there is a higher markup by Canon. There seems to be a lot more 'parity' with prices between UK and USA for say the D3200 so one could assume that it is less likely that it is due to import duties and trade subsidies and more likely to be due to Canon.

Apologies for not putting too much thought in to the title of the post, I just wanted to ask if anybody knew how such prices were derived especially as the lens price did not appear to be congruent with the body price.

[Obaidey]

In my opinion, there are 2 main reasons:
1- Consumer power is much stronger in USA
2- More competition in USA

Bottom line, Canon will charge the maximum they can get away with

There seems to be enough people in UK willing to buy anything at inflated prices, even after advent of internet
Just go to Argos and see how busy it still is

Just stand at an expensive UK fuel (gas) station and watch these clueless day dreaming drivers lining up to fill up their tanks, then complain about the £100 tankful cost, completely oblivious to the fact that there is a cheaper station right opposite

Prices displayed mean nothing to them
It is a known condition
And, they call it "dyscalculia"

I would not blame Canon.
Wouldn't you have done the same if you could get away with it? I know that I would

[DB]

USA is a larger contiguous market, so certain economies of scale exist, especially with respect to marketing and distribution.

But main reason is, the same for all large corporations (e.g. just look at country discriminatory pricing by Auto or Pharma industries), they opt for the most profitable price that the local market will bear.

[briansquibb]

USA is a larger contiguous market, so certain economies of scale exist, especially with respect to marketing and distribution.

But main reason is, the same for all large corporations (e.g. just look at country discriminatory pricing by Auto or Pharma industries), they opt for the most profitable price that the local market will bear.

20% VAT
Import taxes

[kubsztal]

Why are the prices for Canons newest releases including the 650D well above what the exchange rate would dictate?

Because we (european suckers) are willing to pay these insane prices.

[thiemob]

I also noticed the prices in the UK are above normal conversion rates. In Germany we have 19% VAT opposed to 20% in the UK, so the difference is minor.
List price for the 650D body only is going to be 799€, which is about 650£ but will be 700£. That might be okay.

The strange point is, that the UK press release for both new lenses has prices in £ and €, too.
For the 40mm it says 229£ / 269€ (incl. VAT), the German press release says 239€ (incl. MwST. (= VAT)).
Same goes for the 18-135:
UK: 479£ / 569€ while for Germany it is 499€, again including all taxes in all prices.

This seams quite strange and may change in the next weeks until availability. An about 15% higher price for all new products just seems completely unreasonable.

If it does not change, you could always order from Germany or France, since Canon offers warranty EU-wide.

[DB]

USA is a larger contiguous market, so certain economies of scale exist, especially with respect to marketing and distribution.

But main reason is, the same for all large corporations (e.g. just look at country discriminatory pricing by Auto or Pharma industries), they opt for the most profitable price that the local market will bear.

20% VAT
Import taxes

Brian, still doesn't explain the 25-30% price difference between Britain & Ireland, despite only a 2% VAT differential!

I buy all my camera gear in the UK - got my 7D from Digigood for £900 (Harvey Norman wanted €1,599), a fortnight ago I purchased a Manfrotto 055XPROB from Amazon.co.uk for £104.75 incl. free Super Saver Delivery + MBAG80PN for £48, the best prices in Dublin were Bermingham Cameras €159 for same tripod legs and Conns Cameras €89 for padded tripod bag which I paid €60 for in the UK. Same for lenses, filters, audio recorders and so on. 1 EUR = 0.81 GBP and not 65 pence

As a general rule of thumb, the smaller the country, the higher the price (just look at what the Scandinavians have to fork out)

[briansquibb]

USA is a larger contiguous market, so certain economies of scale exist, especially with respect to marketing and distribution.

But main reason is, the same for all large corporations (e.g. just look at country discriminatory pricing by Auto or Pharma industries), they opt for the most profitable price that the local market will bear.

20% VAT
Import taxes

Brian, still doesn't explain the 25-30% price difference between Britain & Ireland, despite only a 2% VAT differential!

I buy all my camera gear in the UK - got my 7D from Digigood for £900 (Harvey Norman wanted €1,599), a fortnight ago I purchased a Manfrotto 055XPROB from Amazon.co.uk for £104.75 incl. free Super Saver Delivery + MBAG80PN for £48, the best prices in Dublin were Bermingham Cameras €159 for same tripod legs and Conns Cameras €89 for padded tripod bag which I paid €60 for in the UK. Same for lenses, filters, audio recorders and so on. 1 EUR = 0.81 GBP and not 65 pence

As a general rule of thumb, the smaller the country, the higher the price (just look at what the Scandinavians have to fork out)

Import tax is higher

[Rodknee]

I assume 'import taxes' are the same level for lenses as cameras when they are both coming from the same country so why is the relative differential between UK and USA prices different for lenses compared to cameras?

[wickidwombat]

i've actually bought some stuff from the UK off ebay because its still cheaper than it is here in australia
no wonder the grey import market from hong kong thrives here

[neuroanatomist]

I assume 'import taxes' are the same level for lenses as cameras when they are both coming from the same country...

I would not necessarily assume that.  Customs and trade negotiations are complex and specific.  For example, a camera usually (in terms of all cameras sold) comes with a lens, whereas a lens does not come with a camera.  So, a lens may be considered an 'electronics accessory' under some terms, compared to a camera, meaning separate tariffs may apply.  I have no idea if that's actually the case, but it's certainly a possiblity.