Ah yes, the glorious Vitamix 5000, a culinary gift to the world from the good ol' US of A. Bought one myself in London a few years ago, paid the princely sum of £375, admittedly a small discount to the £450 it went for at normal retail. I see it is available direct from Vitamix UK today for £440 (R$ 1140).
But here in Brazil, with the Real at its strongest ever and the US Dollar at its weakest ever, well an import like that must cost small change, surely ?
But here in Brazil, with the Real at its strongest ever and the US Dollar at its weakest ever, well an import like that must cost small change, surely ?
Look closely at those price stickers and you will discover, sadly but unsurprisingly, that even with everything in Brazil's favour, this particular product, in a Japanese shop in the Liberdade neighbourhood of Sao Paulo, will set you back ... sit down, pour yourself a stiff Caipirinha smoothie... between R$ 1800 and R$ 1980.
That's a minimum of £700 ($1150) and a maximum of £770 ($1270), depending on voltage (yes, Brazil has different voltages in different parts of the country, just another logical and convenient side of life here). That is 67% more than the UK and 220% more than the US, where it can be bought for about $550 (R$ 860).
Dear Brazilian reader, please tell me who is the real culprit here ? Who is the real profiteer in all this consumer goods pricing madness ?
The Japanese shop, which was stocked and designed in a delightful, Japanesey way, charged other nose-bleed prices. But on the streets outside, I once again struggled to push my baby's buggy on the nightmare sidewalks. So, again, I ask you, dear Brazilians, where does all this money in your economy actually go ?
The ludicrously high prices are a function of a combination of extortionately high import duties, high sales taxes, and generally high taxes which the company passes on to the consumer. Added to this is a healthy profit margin. The taxes are indirect to stop widespread tax evasion, and are high to protect domestic goods. Problem is that shielded from foreign competition, domestic goods are both shoddy and expensive, meaning you can either buy expensive crap that lasts 3 seconds, or extortionate decent goods. Take your pick.
ReplyDeleteJon
High taxes! By the way, the upper middle class goes once a year (at least) to the US to buy clothes and goods. I've just returned from such a trip with my luggage packed to the fullest. All my friends go either to Miami or New York to buy baby stuff when they have their first kid. You should keep to the minimum here, like.. buy food because you need to feed yourself, other than that I'd buy in the US. The US is cheaper than Europe, by the way.
ReplyDeleteYes and that is why we sent you an email asking if you could buy us an iPad2. Never mind, my brother brought one from the UK.
ReplyDelete;-)