As a UK Customer who has invested heavily in Canon after I moved from Olympus 2 years ago I find Canon's Pricing policy to irk me somewhat. A good example is the recent release of the 24-70 F4L IS and the 35mm F2.
35mm F2.0 IS Priced at $849 / £799 / 849Euros
24-70 F4.0L IS Priced at $1499 / £1499 / 1449Euros
On the basis of the above the UK customer is well and truly being hard done by. I know exchange rates vary and there is VAT @20% in the UK included and that in the US sales tax is added (not sure if it is all States) but in Texas for example I think it is about 6% although it can vary slightly.
So assuming I buy in Texas and we take the current exchange rate for the £ to the $ of 1.55 then the equivalent price for the 35mm should be £696 i.e some £100 cheaper compared to the $ equivalent and the 24-70 should be £1230 i.e. some £260 cheaper. If say the £ was Canon's base price US Customers should be paying $1050 ($200 increase) for the 35mm and for the 24-70 some $1970 ($470 increase). Note I deducted the UK vat from those prices and added back 6% sales tax. I could have used New Yorks typical 10% if I had wanted to.
It would be good if someone from Canon could answer this question and give a rational response as to why their British Customers pay more. There's little point in this forum if Canon are not going to particiapte in fair questioning of their products or policies so hopefully some one will respond. Thanks in advance, there may be a perfectly good explanation I am not seeing.
