Euro vs GBP pricing discrepancy

daytona0

sirweste wrote: »

But tesco aren't the manufacturer, distribuor and retailer of said product. Canyon have fixed overheads for where ever they sell to, exluding shipping costs.

They will be for their own brands, and you may find similar price differences.

And yes, my issue here is that they are discriminating against me because I'm in the UK by not letting me pay in EUR and so therefore trying o extract an extra £800 out of me!

NO, they aren't discriminating against you!!!! Stop being so dramatic!

AT BEST they are discriminating against the UK/residents of UK, and even then you are making a very thin argument. The bottom line is that you are being quoted price X and another country are being quoted price Y. It is just unfortunate that Canyon don't have a .co.uk domain name for you, and a .pl/.fr/.de etc domain name for those who will be paying n EUR - that would have stopped you from making this post (and if you have a habit of checking non UK websites for price differences then I call bu**s***; pardon the french).

The legislation you quoted is basically saying that you cannot be charged more than a Frenchman in the middle of Paris for something. Find something more concrete if you wish to take on the company, because I'm not going to disagree that you have a corner to fight - it just isn't a big enough corner right now, not by a long way!

Also, bear in mind the possible implications of what you recommend. Would that mean that prices across the world would need to be universal? Could some of the worlds' currencies/economies handle such a dramatic change?! Even close to home, how would the euro/gbp fare if the exchange rate was around 1:1? Some heavy salad right there! Even if you were able to successfully fight this (which is a serious doubt) it really doesn't sit right to me saying that this company has discriminated against another country because they quoted a different price. HUGE implications (and I don't see the likes of, for example, Russia taking too kindly if you/we were to try the same thing with one of their companies in a completely similar scenario!).

Of course, your only motivation is trying to save some money and as such you may be a bit blinkered at the moment. Find the legislation you are covered under, or just pay up/think of a practical solution. If, for example, you are paying 800 pound extra then get it shipped somewhere in EU and PICK IT UP! Huge savings if you travel right and stay somewhere cheap for a day or two.

DandelionPatrol

daytona0 wrote: »

HUGE implications (and I don't see the likes of, for example, Russia taking too kindly if you/we were to try the same thing with one of their companies in a completely similar scenario!).

This is a single market issue and by citing Russia as an example you seem to make it clear you do not really grasp the nature of the core issue. Yes, I do think that OP is being discriminated against since he cannot buy in €.

sirweste

daytona0 wrote: »

They will be for their own brands, and you may find similar price differences.



NO, they aren't discriminating against you!!!! Stop being so dramatic!

AT BEST they are discriminating against the UK/residents of UK, and even then you are making a very thin argument. The bottom line is that you are being quoted price X and another country are being quoted price Y. It is just unfortunate that Canyon don't have a .co.uk domain name for you, and a .pl/.fr/.de etc domain name for those who will be paying n EUR - that would have stopped you from making this post (and if you have a habit of checking non UK websites for price differences then I call bu**s***; pardon the french).

The legislation you quoted is basically saying that you cannot be charged more than a Frenchman in the middle of Paris for something. Find something more concrete if you wish to take on the company, because I'm not going to disagree that you have a corner to fight - it just isn't a big enough corner right now, not by a long way!

Also, bear in mind the possible implications of what you recommend. Would that mean that prices across the world would need to be universal? Could some of the worlds' currencies/economies handle such a dramatic change?! Even close to home, how would the euro/gbp fare if the exchange rate was around 1:1? Some heavy salad right there! Even if you were able to successfully fight this (which is a serious doubt) it really doesn't sit right to me saying that this company has discriminated against another country because they quoted a different price. HUGE implications (and I don't see the likes of, for example, Russia taking too kindly if you/we were to try the same thing with one of their companies in a completely similar scenario!).

Of course, your only motivation is trying to save some money and as such you may be a bit blinkered at the moment. Find the legislation you are covered under, or just pay up/think of a practical solution. If, for example, you are paying 800 pound extra then get it shipped somewhere in EU and PICK IT UP! Huge savings if you travel right and stay somewhere cheap for a day or two.

Apologies, I did mean that they were discriminating against customers from the UK, rather than me specifically.

No I do not make a habit of looking up other countries sites for pricing differences.... I ride bikes as a fairly involved hobby - hence why I'm trying to buy a new bike...

As I stated in my email I have no problem with other bike brands charging different amounts, its more that this is within the single market, I'm amazed you don't grasp that on a money saving site.

As I stated in my first post there is a way around it, I'd just rather no go down that road unless I have to.

Thanks so much for the reply

daytona0

DandelionPatrol wrote: »

This is a single market issue and by citing Russia as an example you seem to make it clear you do not really grasp the nature of the core issue. Yes, I do think that OP is being discriminated against since he cannot buy in €.

I see what you are saying, and yes the Russia example may have been a bit extreme because we are a single market in Europe. Still, there is a point to take from the post nonetheless. Also consider the implications of other countries, who have their own currency, potentially being forced to pay for the same items in EUR or GBP only (Poland?). Would the UK really take to the idea of European countries having to pay for items online in EUR only? What about forcing EU countries to purchase in GBP only? Lots of potential uproar knocking about there.


There is a difference between "thinking" and "knowing". Show us some legislation which highlights why this is discrimination, or a court case etc, and then we have a ball game. Until then, me and you can only speculate (ie "think") and until then legally it isn't discrimination.

daytona0

sirweste wrote: »

I'm amazed you don't grasp that on a money saving site.

I'm rooting for you here! But I can't see how you are going to make it a clear cut case. Just have to look around a bit. P.s. you'll save money if you don't chase something which turns out to be pointless, so I'm grasping it pretty well I just hope you can figure out if you have a case or not, using my information along with the information from others.

littlerock

Hmm I bought a waffle maker on line from Germany and I paid the UK equivalent of the euro price. I paid a separate shipping and handling charge which cost a bit because it had to be sent via courier because it is cast iron, but it was not really that expensive all things considered.

DandelionPatrol

daytona0 wrote: »

Also consider the implications of other countries, who have their own currency, potentially being forced to pay for the same items in EUR or GBP only (Poland?). Would the UK really take to the idea of European countries having to pay for items online in EUR only? What about forcing EU countries to purchase in GBP only? Lots of potential uproar knocking about there.

The way it seems to work is that by default you pay the supplier in the country of supply with the currency of that country. So effectively, the UK is forcing other EU countries to buy in £ and other EU countries are forcing the UK to buy in € or their own local currency in the case of non-€ countries. The fact that there are some non-€ is something of an imperfection in a single market.

The EU are in earnest that consumer trade should be possible across the EU as easily as across any one country. For example http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8169 is a public consultation on cross border parcel delivery services. While this is not quite the evidence you are looking for, it indicates that the EU is very much concerned to facilitate individual consumer transactions of the type that OP is interested in.

Catapa

Life in the Sterling Zone is more expensive. The bike manufacturer will justify this with shipping costs to the UK. You might want to check what they would charge in Ireland, if they the same price as in Germany you will have a strong case.

DandelionPatrol

Catapa wrote: »

Life in the Sterling Zone is more expensive. The bike manufacturer will justify this with shipping costs to the UK. You might want to check what they would charge in Ireland, if they the same price as in Germany you will have a strong case.

If they itemised the carriage separately from the goods and allowed shipment from Germany, they might justify it. But from what OP is reporting, the difference is substantially more than shipping costs

wealdroam

Catapa wrote: »

Life in the Sterling Zone is more expensive. The bike manufacturer will justify this with shipping costs to the UK. You might want to check what they would charge in Ireland, if they the same price as in Germany you will have a strong case.

You might like to re-read post #12 where the OP told us:

sirweste wrote: »

The difference in pricing is nothing to do with shipping as Ireland pay the same price as France, Germany, etc etc.