Best Monitors For Photo/Video Editing

[DACMan]

True. I'm just looking at the cost of the Apple Studio Display on the US store and it's a $1600 item. Amazing how the local price is over R50k when the current exchange rate works out at under R30k. So we are paying a serious premium for that item in ZA. Taxes, shipping and handling for over R20,000?

Yup, that is the big issue with Apple not distributing their items directly, but through the Core group. Asbis recently also became a local distributor, but I doubt that would get prices down much. It's similar to how Canon handles distribution in ZA, and Nikon works through a 3rd party - the result is that Nikon is 30% more expensive than Canon when you compare the local prices to US prices.

 

[mygoggie]

$1600 + $100 shipping = $1700 -> ZAR = R 31,291.39 + 15% VAT = R35 985.10 + 37,5% import duties and tax and costs = R49 479.51 + 5% profit = R51 953.48

This is more or less ...

 

[Cowboy]

This begs the question as to why the US doesn't have all these auxiliary charges in their economy? The products have to still get to them from China, or are Apple now fully manufacturing in the USA? Gotta be honest, not much of this makes economic sense to me.

 

[Cowboy]

Nikon works through a 3rd party - the result is that Nikon is 30% more expensive than Canon when you compare the local prices to US prices.

Nikon SA's former management (circa 2006) and myself clashed on this big time. In those days they were selling the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 lens for (IIRC) about R120k, where it only cost about $5000 in the USA. In those days the USD/ZAR rate was around 6:1, so there was a massive price gouge going on. I took it upon myself to write to Nikon HQ in Japan about this and what happened next astonished me.

I got a call from the (then) MD of Nikon SA who literally started tearing strips off me as if I was one of his employees. Who did I think I was to call into question their business, blah blah blah. At that time I owned one of the biggest international Nikon forums but I got zero support from the South African representatives. Not even an item for review purposes.

The lens price did come down a little bit after that, but it was still cheaper to fly to New York, visit B&H and come back with your own copy for less than what the SA price was.

 

[DACMan]

I got a call from the (then) MD of Nikon SA who literally started tearing strips off me as if I was one of his employees.

Ha! I believe that is a friend of mine's father in law .

 

[David Morris]

True. I'm just looking at the cost of the Apple Studio Display on the US store and it's a $1600 item. Amazing how the local price is over R50k when the current exchange rate works out at under R30k. So we are paying a serious premium for that item in ZA. Taxes, shipping and handling for over R20,000?

Local duty 25%
Luxury duty an effective 12,6%
VAT effective 22.14%

I bought stuff at US Amazon and had it shipped to a friend in Miami, I think 56% sales tax was added