Subject:
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Re: Lego prices?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 14 Jan 2004 15:10:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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866 times
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In lugnet.general, Pedro Silva wrote:
> Clarifying a bit:
> The tax you're referring to in the EU is VAT (Value-added tax),
> which is a percentage of every item you buy; it varies among
> countries and items, in my country it is currently 19% for LEGO - I
> would not be surprised if it were higher in the UK. It is not,
> however, in any way "disguised". In every receipt you can find the
> percentage of the cost which is due to the tax, and in some
> situations you can have it back on the airport when departing (dunno
> how this works, though).
> It's actually handier than the way to calculate the sales tax: if one
> has to pay VAT anyway, why not know the *full* price in advance?
That's interesting. So, in the EU the tax is included in the price
tag/sticker, but disclosed in the receipt? Things tend to be a bit
more dynamic here in the US so that's not as easy to implement. The
sales taxes actually vary from state to state (and even some cities).
Different types of items have different tax rates, and of course it
all fluctuates quite often as the local politicians compete to bring
the shopping dollars into their districts. For example, in CT they've
been known to lower the rate on clothes over $50 for one week just
before winter to pull in out of state shoppers looking for winter coats.
That'd be a pain to implement if the tax were included in the
sticker.
> > There may also be extra costs (extra taxes, higher real estate
> > prices, labor costs, etc.) associated with operating Shop@Home in
> > the UK. One other thing: although Lego bricks aren't made here,
> > they are packaged here...that may save a little money, since bulk
> > parts will take up less space than half-empty boxes in a shipping
> > container. I just bought some stuff here on clearance, and the
> > boxes say "COMPONENTS made in Denmark and Switzerland" (CAPS are
> > mine)...that is, the bricks themselves are made overseas, but the
> > sorting and maybe even package-printing are done here.
> True.
> That however does not explain why LEGO in Denmark is more expensive
> than most anywhere else except for the UK.
> Actually, I'm inclined to think it's just a strategy to gain more
> and more consumers in the US, given that the european market is
> pretty much stabilized by now and brand-loyalty levels are very high
> (not to mention the availability of clones is reduced)
Who's restricting your access to the clone bricks, the government?
Don
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Lego prices?
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| (...) Weeeeelll... Yes and No. It is basically a patent issue handled by a certain danish company that prevents clones and therefor competition in the european markets. If you violate the patents, the courts get involved, so if seen from a certain (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jan-04, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Lego prices?
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| (...) Yes, that is my experience. For instance, the supermarket bill has the full price of every item, with the VAT percentage ahead of it. The total then has another line to say how much VAT is being paid. VAT can be returned if you're reselling (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jan-04, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Lego prices?
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| (...) Clarifying a bit: The tax you're referring to in the EU is VAT (Value-added tax), which is a percentage of every item you buy; it varies among countries and items, in my country it is currently 19% for LEGO - I would not be surprised if it (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jan-04, to lugnet.general)
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