Sonos is increasing the UK prices of their speakers

[WYP]

Due to recent changes in the value of the Pound, Sonos, the Speaker manufacturer, have announced that they will be increasing their UK prices.



Read more on Sonos' UK price increases.

 

[NickOmega]

Ridiculous excuse really considering the UK already pays more than U.S even WITH the weakening of the £

 

[g0ggles1994]

Ridiculous excuse really considering the UK already pays more than U.S even WITH the weakening of the £

That's what I thought. That and I can gaurantee if the £ regains over the $ they won't drop the £ price, they'll just up the $ price instead

 

[NickOmega]

U.S

U.K

At the current exchange rate, $199.99 is £159.65, not £167.99

At the suggest increased RRP of £199 that makes it $249.28, a full 25% more than a U.S customer will be paying.

It's more than a slight annoyance that the U.S always seems to get tech cheaper, even though I know the U.K is by far not the worst off in that regard.

 

[SeekaX]

What are import taxes, what are shipping costs.

 

[NickOmega]

What are import taxes, what are shipping costs.

That's a valid argument for a comparison of U.K/U.S when the item in question is developed in the U.S I suppose, ignoring that most shipping to suppliers (both U.S and U.K) would likely be done from the county of manufacture which is Malaysia.

It doesn't explain why pretty much all electronics/tech are more expensive in the U.K compared to the U.S since both countries have tax on purchases (VAT/Sales Tax).

 

[Lazlo]

It doesn't explain why pretty much all electronics/tech are more expensive in the U.K compared to the U.S since both countries have tax on purchases (VAT/Sales Tax).

That doesn't mean there are no import taxes. In my experience everything in the UK is more expensive not just tech. Maybe Trump will raise the import taxes and the US will have to pay more too.

Brexit didn't help with that either. Of course a lot of companys will have to raise their prices or will just use the opportunity.

 

[WYP]

U.S

U.K

At the current exchange rate, $199.99 is £159.65, not £167.99

At the suggest increased RRP of £199 that makes it $249.28, a full 25% more than a U.S customer will be paying.

It's more than a slight annoyance that the U.S always seems to get tech cheaper, even though I know the U.K is by far not the worst off in that regard.

Remember that UK prices include VAT and US prices do not include sales tax. The UK has 20% sales tax/VAT

 

[Warchild]

Remember that UK prices include VAT and US prices do not include sales tax. The UK has 20% sales tax/VAT

It does make me laugh how it was cheaper to buy tech gear in Norway than it is in UK. Probably on par with each other now because of currency crash but I do believe you guys pay more than anyone in Europe...almost.

 

[sheroo]

I think the Sonos stuff is a bit like the Apple stuff, people with too much money and no idea buy it...

 

[Warchild]

I think the Sonos stuff is a bit like the Apple stuff, people with too much money and no idea buy it...

Disagree there. I find them quite convenient and non obtrusive in my apartment. I find most speakers ugly, and not pleasant to look at in my home. I want my place to look homely, not a man cave. These can tuck away without being as noticeable.

And the cost isn't that bad. Not to mention the communication that can be obtained between them.

 

[AlienALX]

My problem with Sonos is that you are paying an enormous premium for the fact they are wireless. And that extra cost comes at a detriment to actual sound quality when compared to a set of non wireless speakers that cost the same.

It was true (and still is) of Bose. You got tiny little satellites for your surround and a sub you could easily hide, but build quality was questionable and sound quality compared to something of similar value was also lacking.

That's not to say I do not like Bose. Recently I switched to a larger monitor with speakers in it that meant I could not have my actual speakers on the desk (which hilariously were Bose). I needed a sub, and wanted a white one so I bought and old Acoustimass sub from Bose that was immaculate for £50, then took it apart and fitted my own amp (as the one that comes in them only works with Bose head units). And for £70 all in I love it. Dual 5" woofers seem to be more than enough to add bass to the monitor..

I guess if you are not an extremely fussy audiophile then Sonos could be incredibly useful and easy to set up, but for me I would always spend that money on "proper" audiophile units and then wire them myself. You only have to do it once really.

 

[NickOmega]

Remember that UK prices include VAT and US prices do not include sales tax. The UK has 20% sales tax/VAT

I know the Sales Tax is calculated at point of purchase dependent on which state you are in but the maximum tax rate for a state I can find is 13.5%, and the vast majority are below 10%, which still doesn't bring parity with their suggested U.K pricing.

Honestly, this is nothing but a company chancing their hand to abuse the current state of affairs in the U.K.

 

[Doomslayer]

lol people you only have 2 choices in the whole matter.

1. Pay the price for it or
2. Don't buy it if you think it's not worth it

People moaning about the price is not going to make a damn difference Sonos know that their will be people who will buy it regardless of the price.

 

[AlienALX]

The 10 highest income tax states on the FTA's 2016 list were:

California 13.3%
Oregon 9.9%
Minnesota 9.85%
Iowa 8.98%
New Jersey 8.97%
Vermont 8.95%
District of Columbia 8.95%
New York 8.82%

Apparently. I used to live nextdoor to Delaware who have (at least did then) no sales tax at all. So instead of paying $5.50 for a pack of cigs I could get them for $3.30. And in the USA they do B1G1F all the time on fags so I would simply drive over the bridge ($1.50 toll) and buy a whole crapload of fags and then drive back lol.

NJ tried everything to stop people doing it. Like putting a logo on the plastic wrapping on their cigs to say that you had paid the state tax, but I just used to completely peel off all the wrapping and would have played dumb if caught.

Also in case you are interested.. Back when I lived in the USA if you ordered something online and it was being sold in a different state you paid no state tax at all. However, legally you were supposed to declare it when it arrived and pay your state's tax.

So I used to be able to order PC parts with no state tax at all. However, Newegg suddenly said that they had a warehouse in NJ, so I had to pay tax. And what used to boil up my pee was that the order always shipped from California. Aholes. I reckon Uncle Sam was leaning on them tbh.

What's odd is what you have to do when you buy a car.. When you buy a car in the USA it comes with no plates on. You have to take the car down to the DMV and register it. But, you have to pay state tax on what you paid for the car ! even on second hand cars.. Mental !!

When I bought my last car (my Tiburon) I only paid $100 for it as it was shot. The gearbox (auto) was leaking and auto trans do weird things when the fluid levels are not perfect. Also all of the brakes were shot and ceased ETC. I spent a few weeks fixing it up, then took it down to the DMV. I paid like $8 tax on it and bought my plates and regged it etc.

Any way a couple of months later I received a letter from the DMV stating that they had noticed I had not declared the full value of the car (around $8000 at that time) and sent me a bill for nearly two grand. I crapped my pants a little, then found out that if I got the original owner to sign a form stating what I paid I wouldn't have to pay the tax. Phew !

 

[NeverBackDown]

Cigs on sale? You must be dreaming.
Also, they are taxed differently than regular sales tax Alien. Sales tax is for everything except for drugs basically. Drugs get the "Excise tax" which is significantly higher and is done at the federal level and whether a state wants it or not they are by law forced to charge that tax. And that tax has gone up a lot to prevent people from smoking. It is not high enough IMO. It should be way higher to prevent people from using it but what it is at now is pretty dang high

And btw, Income state tax is not sales tax. income tax is how much the state takes from every paycheck I get on top of what the federal government takes