Rip-Off Britain!

StardogChampion

StardogChampion

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Why does everything in the UK cost a lot more than in other countries?

I don't understand economics, but is there a proper reason, or do they raise the prices because they know we'll buy anyway?

I'll compare Game (UK, formerly called EB) with EBgames (US) for some examples.

Xbox 360 Core
Game: £199 = $383
EBgames: $300 = £155

UK pays £44 more = $84

Nintendo Wii
Game: £179.99 = $346
EBgames: $249.99 = £129

UK pays £50 more = $96

Gears of War
Game: £39.99 = $77
EBgames: $59.99 = £31

UK pays £9 more = $17

They're also charging £39.99 for Wii games like Zelda, too. Some places can get them £5 cheaper, but still.
 
Try living in Zimbabwe.

Britain is smaller, needs to put prices up to collect enough VAT. Maybe.
 
Tax is what screws us over we pay more tax on electronic good than other countries. And the fact companies know they can rip us off treats us like dirt and we will still pay.
 
Atleast you get your free Healthcare right?
 
One of the reasons is because British ding dongs keep hanging on to their "pound" system. :P This currency is worth more than all others, and allows shopkeepers and such to ask ridiculous pricing and get away with it.
£199 doesn't "sound" or "look" like a lot (more than expected kind) of money, because of the currency strength (so hardly anybody does the calculations and comparisons).
I was in London last week, and even coffee is like £1.50 or so. Sounds reasonable, cause thats what it costs in Euro so subconsciously you don't think of it.. until you calculate it and see its €2.20...
Anyways, similar crap happened when the Euro got introduced for the first time in Holland -> massive inflation, and because of the psychological advantage, shopkeepers could ask 200% more (the old Gulder wasnt exactly a powerful currency, Euro was worth 2.20 Gulder..).

anyways, long story short, get your freekin government to switch to the Euro like the rest of us. Screw the nationalistic dudes that "want to keep the pound" bs.
Then your countries shops will ass**** its population less.
:P
 
Yeah and not only the higher prices, but we also get 99% of games later, and we don't even get some games.

Bullshit.
 
It's more expensive becuase our pound is stronger than the Dollar.

For us to buy things in America, we save money. But when Americans come over here they lose money.
 
Compare gasoline prices and uneducated population levels.
 
I do feel we are being taxed into oblivion for sub-standard services.
 
I don't know how you Americans let your government get away with not giving free healthcare.
 
everything costs more because the UK government charges a higher rate of VAT than anyone else. suffice to say, they tax the shite out of us.
Screw the Euro how can anyone suggest such an idea? get out!
 
neptuneuk said:
everything costs more because the UK government charges a higher rate of VAT than anyone else. suffice to say, they tax the shite out of us.
Screw the Euro how can anyone suggest such an idea? get out!
Click to expand...

Our VAT is actually pretty low compared to some other European countries.
 
Britain is a rip-off but woah - hang on a minute. Our healthcare is NOT free.
We pay through the nose for it in taxes for a system that controls US rather than the other way around. If they say you can't get certain drugs because they cost too much? You'll just have to go blind/die/whatever. It happens ALL the time.
All it means is the more money the earn, the more you pay into the NHS but likely the less you'll have to claim from it and don't expect a superior service for paying more. And you still have absolutely no control over the service.
You'll find Americans let them "get away" with not providing socialised healthcare because they don't WANT it.
Private healthcare is superior. I would rather we had a privatised system here IF insurers were obligated to provide health insurance to applicants with pre-existing conditions. That's where the system really fails people.
 
Why the hell would you get free healthcare? What did you do to deserve free healthcare?
 
NHS has something to do with WW1 I think.
 
The NHS was set up after World War 2, by Clement Atlee's socialist government.

They also introduced strict food rationing.
 
kirovman said:
The NHS was set up after World War 2, by Clement Atlee's socialist government.

They also introduced strict food rationing.
Click to expand...

And started the Consensus period of British politics that lasted until Thatcher in 1979 :|
 
No, I was just agreeing with Numbers ;)

Healthcare's mad expensive though. I don't even think my family could afford it when I was in elementary school. We was mad poor.
 
If they got a major disease, I'm sure everyone who could afford it would go to private healthcare like Bupa anyway.
 
You know what's funny? Everyone in Ireland says the same damn thing. Several people (Eaddy Hobbs :flame:) have made a career out of compaining about prices. And you know what, it's true that things are generaly more expensive in Dubin than Paris, but a Dublin McDonald's worker earns almost as much as a Parisian office worker. Generaly where the prices are higher, so are the wages, so are the taxes and so is the quality of life.
 
I was talking to someone from the UK, and he said the free health care was crap...

What is the limits on the health care? I mean I doubt they would pay for like heart surgery but I could see them paying for check-ups and such...
 
repiV said:
Britain is a rip-off but woah - hang on a minute. Our healthcare is NOT free.
We pay through the nose for it in taxes for a system that controls US rather than the other way around. If they say you can't get certain drugs because they cost too much? You'll just have to go blind/die/whatever. It happens ALL the time.
Click to expand...

We've had a spate of 'headline' cases. Stop reading the Mail.

All it means is the more money the earn, the more you pay into the NHS but likely the less you'll have to claim from it and don't expect a superior service for paying more. And you still have absolutely no control over the service.
Click to expand...

That pretty much sums up how taxation in general works.

You'll find Americans let them "get away" with not providing socialised healthcare because they don't WANT it.
Click to expand...

Emphatically not true - polls taken during the Clintoncare battles showed the majority of Americans wanted universal healthcare subsidised by employers and state. What Americans didn't want to do was pay for it. The thing that killed universal healthcare in '92-94 wasn't public opinion - it was the biggest co-ordinated lobbyist effort the country had ever seen.

I would rather we had a privatised system here IF insurers were obligated to provide health insurance to applicants with pre-existing conditions. That's where the system really fails people.
Click to expand...

Private health insurance doesn't, and never will, work like that.

I'm as mad at the NHS at times as anyone else. The tax does suck. But private healthcare is a step backward.
 
Iced_Eagle said:
I mean I doubt they would pay for like heart surgery but I could see them paying for check-ups and such...
Click to expand...
They're paying for it using our money remember. Heart surgery would be free as far as I know, but there a waiting lists for a lot of things.
 
jondy said:
We've had a spate of 'headline' cases. Stop reading the Mail.
Click to expand...

Excuse me, but I work at the Department of Health. Patricia Hewitt is my boss.
I deal with dozens of letters every day complaining about some vital treatment or another that the NHS refuses to fund, or some other monumental ****up. The current ultra-serious issues are the refusal to fund treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration, meaning thousands of people are going blind needlessly, not funding Alzheimer's drugs which cost only £2.50 a day per patient, but there are also plenty more.
I find out about these things LONG before they hit the newspapers.

That pretty much sums up how taxation in general works.
Click to expand...

Which is why taxation should be kept as low as possible.

Emphatically not true - polls taken during the Clintoncare battles showed the majority of Americans wanted universal healthcare subsidised by employers and state. What Americans didn't want to do was pay for it. The thing that killed universal healthcare in '92-94 wasn't public opinion - it was the biggest co-ordinated lobbyist effort the country had ever seen.
Click to expand...

So they wanted it, but didn't want to pay for it? Who wouldn't want something for free? What does that prove?
If they don't want to pay for it, they don't want it.

Private health insurance doesn't, and never will, work like that.
Click to expand...

It would have to if it were bound by legislation to act in that way.

I'm as mad at the NHS at times as anyone else. The tax does suck. But private healthcare is a step backward.
Click to expand...

Your opinion.
 
15357 said:
Compare gasoline prices and uneducated population levels.
Click to expand...

Petrol is cheaper in America but there are also more idiots over there so it evens it out? How does that work?
 
cmon, in Singapore thw Wii is S$2200 USD$1400
 
repiV said:
Excuse me, but I work at the Department of Health. Patricia Hewitt is my boss.
I deal with dozens of letters every day complaining about some vital treatment or another that the NHS refuses to fund, or some other monumental ****up. The current ultra-serious issues are the refusal to fund treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration, meaning thousands of people are going blind needlessly, not funding Alzheimer's drugs which cost only £2.50 a day per patient, but there are also plenty more.
I find out about these things LONG before they hit the newspapers.
Click to expand...

That's fair enough, I didn't realise it was such a widespread issue

Which is why taxation should be kept as low as possible.
Click to expand...

You're 'begging the question' here - this point is part of a higher-level debate

So they wanted it, but didn't want to pay for it? Who wouldn't want something for free? What does that prove?
If they don't want to pay for it, they don't want it.
Click to expand...

That's not the nature of the problem. No one wants to pay tax, but most everyone accepts the need to maintain public services. The American people saw the need for universal healthcare. They were scared to fund it because Newt Gingrinch, along with unprecedented lobby support, used the issue to tear apart the democratic party. The public were misinformed. And Clinton's plan itself was for the most part unworkable. But the people were ready for it. It was the grasping ****s that enjoyed the huge markups on pharmaceuticals that got in the way.

It would have to if it were bound by legislation to act in that way.
Click to expand...

Who will draft the legislation? You'd be slashing the profit margins of the insurers, which happen to be some of the biggest companies in Britain, excluding the international conglomerates and corporations. There's no way in hell a law like that would pass. As far as I can see, the only solution to 'one size fits all' insurance is to go public.

Your opinion.
Click to expand...

Needless to say.
 
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