UK Console Costs?

[Scruff7]

Hello, Newbie, but i have some input for you on this pretty complicated matter....

Firstly, i'm from the UK so i know how great it is going abroad having a strong £ - it makes european shopping trips awesome because i can buy so many Euros for my good old Pound Stirling.

Problem though, is people coming across to the UK find that there Euro or $ is worth diddly squat here. thats part of the problem, as i'm sure you are aware. when they bring consoles into Europe, they've got to pay for the transport which gets increasingly higher the closer you get to the UK.

First, they've got to bring all them consoles into Europe, that means $ buying Euros - thats not a good exchange rate and partly explains why consoles are more expensive than in Europe than Japan and NA. I know that sounds a little backwards, but Europe isn't buying consoles at this point, the manufacturers are bringing their services into the country, and that hits hard.

On top of that, European wages are also higher - so something else to pay for - everyone wants that little bit more money. then transport costs are higher (petrol in europe is almost £1 per litre... check that out in the US!). Taxes are also higher in Europe (due to greater public service provision - we like our 'free' stuff here, while in the rest of the world they pay for it when they need it at a higher cost).

Now here's the fun bit - the consoles at this point are in Europe - they haven't even reached the UK yet. all them problems about bringings the consoles into europe... well, now we've got to bring them from Europe into the UK (i'm talking economically - they don't actually go through Europe, they come straight to the UK by boat most of the time - but the money goes that way). UK has higher taxes still, the Euro is rubbish against the £, wage bills are even higher, transport costs are even higher, and land price (store rent) is also higher.

Then of course, there is the age old exploitation on top. maybe not as big as somepeople say, but its definitely there.

all these add up little by little until you get something resembling extortionate... painful huh? hits you right in the wallet. all them little taxes, all them wage hikes, those few more miles, that hard exchange rate... thats why we gt hit oh so hard on most things. having such a strong economy for such a small country hurts us sometimes.