The Price You Pay

The value of the dollar is relatively low at the moment, compared to e.g. the euro. I occasionally stumble upon products that are sold with prices listed in both euro and dollar, and it can make you wonder.

As an example, I recently looked at an application that cost $69. On the 'Buy' page there was a link for US customers listing $69, and a different link for EU customers listing €69. At the current exchange rate of the dollar and the euro, that's a difference in price of 30%. On top of that EU customers have to pay 16% VAT, which is annoying but the law.

I can appreciate that companies prefer a uniform pricing, and that they cannot change their prices according to the fluctuations of the currencies -- but 30% is just too much. I also sincerely doubt they would set the price at 69 yen for their Japanese customers.

Of course the dollar has not always been this low -- some years back it was about equal to the euro. Somehow I doubt we would see a similar situation if the tables were turned .. at least from American companies.

The Mandatory Welcome Post

So .. it looks like I couldn't resist the temptation to create a blog after all.

It is my intention to write about a lot of things, but I chose the title Compressed Thoughts because compression is an interest of mine.

Anyway, this was meant as the mandatory welcome post, so welcome!