[MW Forums]

British consumer watchdog group Consumers' Association, publishers of Which? magazines and books, on Wednesday announced that they've written to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) alleging that Apple may be unfairly pricing songs sold through the UK version of its iTunes Music Store. But they appear to be one of the few people who think so, if the comments of the organization's own head of policy is any indication. more

[Dominus]

"What we are saying is we believe iTunes could be made cheaper,"...
Yeah well you can make everything free too but nobody will.
"Vidler said he is not aware of any complaints from British consumers regarding the price of iTunes downloads."
Then what are you complaining about? Another useless news from the people of "OMG THE SKY ISN'T FALLING!!!! WE'VE GOTTA DO SOMETHING."

[leicaman]

Not to mention turning a blind eye to the more expensive competition. What hypocrisy. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[tabasco_hot]

In reply to:

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And indeed other music download services in the UK are charging more than iTunes does. Consumers' Association head of policy Graham Vidler told Reuters that the organization has no plans to investigate Apple's more expensive competition.

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This is why Americans buy shot guns. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif To shoot these hypocrites. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Oh yes. Lets take the company who is giving us the best deal, and try and pinch them for more. Things like this is why my skin crawls when I hear that stupid accent. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[idb]

That's incredibly inappropriate and makes you sound like a total moron. Yes, I'm American myself. No, I really don't care what else you think.

[Uncle_Deercamp]

This from a country that never visits the dentist.

[nittany4]

maybe if they adopted the uro like the rest of the COMMON MARKET THEY ARE CRYING ABOUT
this wouldn't be an issue
i agree, crybabies

[Philip Michaels]

I agree, the comments are inappropriate and the thread will be closed if it does not remain on topic.

[alexjohnson]

Why, whenever one of these periodic articles about Apple products being more expensive in the UK, do the same bunch of ignorant people who don't even live in the UK decide to get on their soapboxes? Disclosure: I live in the US too but I am British and lived there until 2002 and visit very frequently.
It is factually the case that Apple charges more in the UK than in the US for most if not all of their products. It isn't transportation costs - this is Western Europe, not the Western Sahara, and planes can reach it from China just as easily as they can reach the US. It isn't labour costs: average wages in the UK are slightly lower. Real estate isn't material especially here when we are talking about electronic downloads. I am also comparing like with like - sales tax (VAT in Europe) is higher and there are EU import tariffs on some products (not electronic commerce though), but people aren't idiots and they can do the maths themselves. It isn't exchage rates - the pound is strong but the prices of iTunes songs is higher even when a "normal" exchange rate (whatever that means but that's another subject) is used. So what is it? It's the market - Apple charges more because they CAN charge more than in the US or eurozone. Personally, I don't object to that - it's much better than the government setting prices, and it is entirely rational for Apple to act in this way. For the record, the record companies have repeatedly been investigated for price-fixing, but either they are good at it or the bureaucrats are incompetent (somewhere in between I suspect) so Apple is not being singled out and there is no hypocrisy. Of course, if you had the slightest concept of what you were talking about, you'd know that. And two wrongs don't make a right - whether or not everyone else is allegedly profiteering doesn't make it any better that Apple is engaging in the same behaviour. To repeat, I do not object to what Apple is doing per se - they are in the business of making profits, not friends, and they should charge what the market can bear - but that doesn't make the complaint invalid from a consumer affairs persepctive.
As a consumer it is an irritating situation already, but it is even more irritating when some bunch of clueless American teenagers decide to share their uninformed and frankly pointless opinions. When you want to know about economics, take a class.

[macFanDave]

currency exchange rates to get publicity.
As far as I know, the British pound is not pegged to the euro, so the value of 99 euro cents can freely move above and below 79 British pence.
Had the iTMS opened when we had an elected President, it would be we Americans getting screwed because, at that time, the dollar was strong and 99 euro cents was worth as little as about 80 American cents.
This absurd consumer group is blaming an innocent company when its true problem is with its own goverment's pursuit of a weak pound policy. Bush's weak dollar policy has been an unmitigated disaster for us, but it has made exports cheaper for everyone else.

[alexjohnson]

[indent]In reply to:

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Things like this is why my skin crawls

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[/indent]
Leaving aside the rest of your post as it needs no further comment, "things" is a plural. If you learn English as a foreign language, you learn "the thing is" vs. "the things are" in week one. I'd skip shooting practice this week if I were you - there appear to be other things you might want to prioritise.
Anyway, it's right that 79p isn't bad relative to the competition, and 7.90 is great for an album. But it's also right that it's 20% more expensive than in France or Germany. There is absolutely no reason for this, other than that Apple can get away with it or perhaps the record companies demanded it so as not to cannibalise CD sales, failing as ever to appreciate that the real competition is P2P. Whatever the case may be, I don't see why consumers should just shut up and take it. In fact, that's positively unAmerican, no? (Sorry for the big words.)

[alexjohnson]

[indent]In reply to:

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its own goverment's pursuit of a weak pound policy.

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[/indent]
Actually that's not correct. The pound has been one of the world's strongest currencies throughout 2004. After getting its ass handed to it on a plate in 1992 attempting to have a currency policy, the government no longer tries, and the market sets the price. It has weakened a lot in the past few weeks, but has been as high as almost 1/$1.88 this year, and it was around 1.84 (from memory) when the UK iTMS was launched. At that rate, that's a price premium of about 24% over the US iTMS, even allowing for tax. Most people think the fair rate is around 1.67 (open to question but...). That's a 12% premium. In fact, you have to get down to about 1.49 - a 16% decline from now (that's a lot in FX) on top of the over 5% decline we've already had before you get to price parity after tax.
As to the Euro, you're right. However, Apple has people that hedge its FX exposure (as any large company does) so it is not exposed to every tremor in the market.

[macFanDave]

I mostly agree with alexjohnson.
The irony of a British group complaining about Apple's pricing is that it was one of "you people" that explained the principle that drives it.
Read Adam Smith. He derived the "Law of Supply and Demand" and said that an "invisible hand" (which we call market forces today) guides prices. If Apple sold songs for 10 pounds each, they'd probably sell very few and if they sold them for a tuppence (my knowledge of British currency comes from watching "Mary Poppins"), the servers would surely be overloaded. If Apple is selling sufficient numbers of songs at 79 pence, that is the right price.

[tabasco_hot]

You people are sick. The smilies implies jokes.
BTW, don't even try telling me what's un-American.
Just because you constantly try use our values against us does not mean you have them, nor does it mean it's ever going to work. But, of course your so smart you'll keep trying to propagate the issue as if it were as simple as you and I are brothers standing in the same room.
[indent]In reply to:

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Whatever the case may be, I don't see why consumers should just shut up and take it.

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[/indent]
I'm not going to pretend to understand you, or your royalty issues. But, why has no one ever taken on these other companies offering music for more - rather than waiting for an American company to come in there and offer you the best deal you can find on music, and try and pinch them, by immediately throwing them in a legal battle which will cost the company. You think it's O.K, and just to throw bills in their mouth for showing up. Any ideas on that?
For well over a year everyone in europe was in these forums asking when can they use ITMS. Apple gives it to you, and this is the big thank you.
I love that English hospitality. You just cant beat it - nor that accent.