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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Kao who wrote (75716)	10/17/1999 7:16:00 AM
From: Bill Jackson	Respond to of 1572958

Gary, Many companies sell the identical items in various countries at different prices. Books are the most notorious example. 35MM cameras were another.They would often dump older models and even current models in countries with less $$ to spend for a smaller amount of money. They are under no restriction to sell to all at the same price. It is a function of the disposable income and the national tariff of the country. The cameras were made in fully automated factories and in the USA they would have an importer who was the USA distributor, he would sell to regional distributors who in turn would sell to retailers ......several tiers. So if 41st street camera found an importer in Argentina who was willing to sell a bunch of cameras for less than the regular US wholesale they would do it and then import them to the USA and sell them at a discount. This is called a gray market. The goods are genuine and not counterfeit and so the camera maker cannot stop the practice. ALl they can do is buy a few and track back the serial numbers to find the importer. Often that importer was innocent as a camera store may have bought the cameras and then sold them to 41st street in Argentina. It all hinges in the company charging a different price for the same goods in different countries. Ever try to buy Win98 in France? $250, ever try to buy win98 in Montreal? $130. Both French versions and yet Microsoft makes the French pay extra due to the fact that you can restrict copyright articles, like books and software with rights that stop at a border. It is illegal to sell English win98 in France for the USA price, you must buy from a French distributor at a far higher price. Take a look at a science fiction paper back. You will see a price of $5.95 Canadian$, $4.95 US$ and 4.95 pounds for sale in the UK. In the European common market the publisher dictates the end price. Used to be that way in Australia. The publishers are trying to get it this way in Canada too. Bill