Price shockers from across the pond

The Porcupine

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Nov 22, 2005
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I was just looking around my "local" danish retailers to see what they charge for popular and widely available stuff and :drool:

Mag LED module (not the whole light): $50,-
Mag 2D LED, pewter: $87
PT Surge: $83,-
SF G2: $59,-
SF 6P: $101,-
And the list goes on and on, but it doesn't get any better!:ohgeez:

Thank heavens for the internet, Lighthound and B/S/T!:laughing:
 

marcdilnutt

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Mar 3, 2005
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u
Good point. What is the average wage in the US? In the uk i think it is about 25000 pounds a year.
 

TORCH_BOY

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Jan 25, 2004
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Australia, Vic
Check this out
The price for Mag LED module 3 cell: $72
Mag 2D LED, $150.00
MiniMag 2AA Led, $98.00
Minimag 2AA standard, $38.00
SF G2: $159,
These are the prices we are being skinned for in Australia
 

havand

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Jun 7, 2006
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Pa, U.S.
$98 Aud/ ~ 1.3 = $75.xx US? No way. That's insane. No wonder people are more willing to drop a C note on a nicer light on the forums if a maglite is $75US. What is the average salary in Australia in AUD?

P.S. Don't feel bad guys, we get fleeced in all types of ways here too. My brother went to Germany and made a half hour call to home (U.S.) it was something like a Euro or around there give or take. His exchange student made a call home from the U.S. that was less than 5 minutes and was something like $16???! How is THAT fair???

TORCH_BOY said:
Check this out
The price for Mag LED module 3 cell: $72
Mag 2D LED, $150.00
MiniMag 2AA Led, $98.00
Minimag 2AA standard, $38.00
SF G2: $159,
These are the prices we are being skinned for in Australia
 
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The Porcupine

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Denmark
Sigman said:
Ok...but aren't prices relative to wages? :thinking: $25 per hour in the US would be equal to $153.72 in Denmark Kroners (according to this conversion site). Yes? Perhaps I need educated...
Not quite. Minimum wages in DK are around $15 an hour, average for non-skilled work is around $20 an hour.
Of course, skilled craftsmen, academics, etc. earn much more than that. Oh, we pay roughly 45% tax and our VAT is 25%!

Torch boy,
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!:mad:
 
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InfidelCastro

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UKers and Aussies complain about the prices, but interestingly enough, if I made the U.S. dollar conversion of 25,000 pounds a year, I would have enough money to start my own business. Hell, I'd be happy with just $25,000 net.
 

The Porcupine

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InfidelCastro said:
UKers and Aussies complain about the prices, but interestingly enough, if I made the U.S. dollar conversion of 25,000 pounds a year, I would have enough money to start my own business. Hell, I'd be happy with just $25,000 net.
It's not easy comparing income, since some have to pay for healthcare, some have to pay road taxing, danes have to pay a registration fee of 180% on a new car (!), tax systems are set up differently, etc, etc....!
 

havand

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Wages in the U.S. vary so widely, it is very hard to pin down the avg 'salary.' Because of the shear size of the country, region wages vary too. A government job in the north might be a 'crappy' paying job, but in certain parts of the south its a pretty sweet deal. With minimum wage so low, the spread between unskilled labor and 'skilled' labor is pretty large. Interestingly enough, when the minimum wage gets raised, it is just going to be another step to make the middle class 'poorer'. If minimum wage goes up, the prices of everything will go as well. People will have more 'money' to spend on the bare necesities so the cost of said necesities will go up accordingly. Meanwhile, your $20-$25 /hr you fought so hard to make, is suddenly worth less. *sigh* Being a young person, the immediate thought is 'Sweet, higher minimum wage means my part time job will actually MEAN something to me financially now' In reality, after thinking about it, my thought becomes 'Middle class getting poorer. *expletive deleted*' But, I digress.

Let's say the avg starting engineering job with a B.S. degree is something like ~$50-60k U.S. I honestly don't know what minimum wage is anymore because it seems various states are in the process of increasing it. In a lot of places in the country $40-45k is a pretty good salary. In other parts you can make that much and not even break even living somewhat conservatively.
 
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InfidelCastro

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I totally agree that it's very difficult to accurately compare income from country to country. Even if you're a highly knowledgeable economist.

Good point and way to kick me off my high horse. Sometimes I just like to sound smart, even though I ain't. :D
 

The Porcupine

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InfidelCastro said:
I totally agree that it's very difficult to accurately compare income from country to country. Even if you're a highly knowledgeable economist.

Good point and way to kick me off my high horse. Sometimes I just like to sound smart, even though I ain't. :D
:laughing: No worries, bro! I just know my income is waaay too low to afford all the stuff I "need"!:ohgeez:
 

DrifT3R

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Australia gets ripped off hard. People worship you if you have a mini maglite. =P Minimim wage for a 16 year old like me is $5 an hour. =[

Child labour.
 

vizlor

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Oct 16, 2006
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Actually, the prices are simular in sweden. If I import, I get stuff roughly 30% cheaper.

I did buy my surefire 6p (first good light) in sweden for 100$ but that was cause I didn't find anyone shipping to sweden easy at the time and I needed it NOW!

Then again, if we're converting the currency to dollars, I make 36$ an hour at my work, so I just did 3 hours overtime one day and that was that.
 

InfidelCastro

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The Porcupine said:
:laughing: No worries, bro! I just know my income is waaay too low to afford all the stuff I "need"!:ohgeez:


No problem. By the way, I don't have "healthcare". If I break something, it will cost me a bit of money. But I know I won't be refused treatment either.
 

InfidelCastro

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DrifT3R said:
Australia gets ripped off hard. People worship you if you have a mini maglite. =P Minimim wage for a 16 year old like me is $5 an hour. =[

Child labour.


Minimum wage has been $5.15 per hour here for at least 8 years I think.

It doesn't really matter what minimum wage is. They could make minimum wage $20 per hour, but $20 per hour would still be "minimum wage", a hamburger and coke would just cost $17 instead of $4.

However much you raise minimum wage, it's still minimum wage.

The biggest problem we have in the states is the lobbiests taking over our political system. Not petty issues like minimum wage or who drives SUV's. That's the crap they spew in the media to keep the lower class, middle class and upper middle class at each other's throats.
 
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InfidelCastro

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vizlor said:
Actually, the prices are simular in sweden. If I import, I get stuff roughly 30% cheaper.

I did buy my surefire 6p (first good light) in sweden for 100$ but that was cause I didn't find anyone shipping to sweden easy at the time and I needed it NOW!

Then again, if we're converting the currency to dollars, I make 36$ an hour at my work, so I just did 3 hours overtime one day and that was that.



I should move the Sweden, work a couple of years and eat $2 lunches, then move back to the states, convert all my pay to USD and retire. :D
 

Robban

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InfidelCastro said:
I should move the Sweden, work a couple of years and eat $2 lunches, then move back to the states, convert all my pay to USD and retire. :D
Don't expect that pay though... I don't know where he works but that pay is above above average. And don't forget you'll get raped on taxes... *sigh*

I've completely given up on finding lights locally here in Sweden. There's really no point when you can import and get them for less (and that's even if you get caught in customs. I've been lucky about that thus far and had most packages slip through untouched.).
 
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