Price discrimiation?

[stlcat22]

So I spent a day at the boat show down here in Miami and among the many brochures I picked up was a Sunsail price sheet. After pricing out a vacation by that sheet and also doing it online the prices came out to be close but not exactly the same. Which isn't very interesting, except that the online price was in pounds.

I know that many things that are manufatured in Japan or China are nevertheless much more expensive in Europe than here in the US but I find it hard to believe that a bareboat charter company can manage the same discrimination given that both Americans and Europeans are coming to the same airport and getting on the very same boats,etc.

Am I missing something?

[hellosailor]

You're possibly missing the conversion rates and exchange factors, i.e. it may cost a firm $25 US to "convert" one check or deposit in another currency. (And similarly for others, vice-versa.)

Or, the printed flyers may have been printed a short three or four weeks ago when exchange rates were different, while the web site can be updated weekly or even daily with an automatic script. Or perhaps, your online site was targeted to a UK or EU audience and includes VAT or other taxes that must be charged when the sale is made "in" that locale.

Many merchants will simply absorb any loss when currency fluctuations make their printed materials obsolete. This isn't "discrimination" this is simply seeing two different lists, created at two different times, for two different purposes.

[tigerregis]

This discrepancy is something that I have followed with interest after visiting the UK. I seriously believe that it is "what the market will bear". On a Brit site I frequent this subject came up Sat. The "learned" UK sailors were getting their gear on-line from the US. Even with shipping they were claiming half price vs. local chandleries. The pound/dollar difference does not seem to apply to boats/gear.

[hellosailor]

"Even with shipping they were claiming half price vs. local chandleries. " Now ask them, how many of them are properly declaring and paying customs import duties.

Sometimes, flying beneath the radar is just flying beneath the radar, and that's left out of the comparison too.

[tigerregis]

Hellosailor, it appears you don't know how efficient Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Branch is.

[Zanshin]

Prices in the UK are high for everything, particularly when compared to the US. But when it comes to yachting there really is a surcharge. I've just spent two days looking at medical kits and EPIRBS and it seems that prices really are identical - except for the $ and £ signs! So even with 17% C&E charges and shipping a larger item is cheaper when purchased abroad! Needless to say I'm buying my EPIRB in the US.

Then again, anyone who is surprised at price differences like this has never noticed the differences between two seats on the same flight - ratios are over 10x between discounted rates and full-fare.

[sailingdog]

It reminds me of what happens in the computer store... if you price an external firewire hard drive in the PC section, and then go to the Macintosh section of the store and price the exact same drive, it is usually a bit more expensive in the Mac section, even though it is the exact same piece of hardware. This is because the stores have found that Mac owners will generally pay a bit more for hardware than PC owners will. This isn't so much the case as it used to be, but still happens enough to be funny.

[hellosailor]

Zanshin-
"Needless to say I'm buying my EPIRB in the US." Apparently there are complications based on where yo buy it and where you intend to be sailing, I've seen posts from other people that they need to pay reprogramming fees and have reregistration done depending on where their "home" crusiing grounds will be. I know, it makes no sense to me either, just passing on the loud complaints I have heard. Caveat emptor. Also, look ahead and ask what it will cost to have the battery replaced, usually at the 5-year point. Apparently there's a wide variation from one make to the next and some are sealed, requiring factory replacement. (Ways to gouge a captive audience.)

[Zanshin]

Well, I just ordered an EPIRB, the common ACR Globlal Fix Cat II in the US for a boat located in the BVI based on comments in This thread. It is new so I won't re-register it but don't quite know how I'm going to register it, since I've not found any sites online apart from country specific ones (i.e. US, UK and German Coast Guards or equivalents). I'm hoping the documentation with the EPIRB will point me towards the correct registration authority.

[camaraderie]

Zan..you can register it here:
https://beaconregistration.noaa.gov/...isterNewBeacon