Download pricing

[Mark Thomas]

Pardon the moan, but I have just spent half an hour trying unsuccessfully to avoid paying £2 more than I need to Amazon. The 2CD album I wanted to download is available from amazon.co.uk for £7.99, not a price I'd quibble at normally, were it not for the fact that amazon.com is selling the same album for $8.99, or £5.92. However, because my credit card registered with amazon is UK issued, I can't download from them. Maybe, I thought, this price difference is explained by UK sales tax (VAT at 20%), and perhaps no sales tax being shown in the US price, but that would only account for half the price difference. Barring extremely dodgy Russian-based free download sites which my malware protection software won't let me visit anyway, the only other place the album is on offer is iTunes, where they'd fleece me for a princely £15.99! Double the Amazon price and, what's more, in a file format I don't really want. So, I'll have to fork out the extra two quid. I hope that Jeff Bezos spends it wisely, and in the UK too. The amount itself is hardly worth the bother, I know, but I do wonder how much I've been overcharged for downloads over the years through using the "wrong" site, or being on the wrong side of the Atlantic (in a retail sense only, of course ). Bah, humbug!!

[thalbergmad]

It is the same with banjos old chap. Much cheaper in USA.

Welcome to Rip Off Britain.

Thal

[Richard Moss]

Mark,

I know it's no comfort at all but far too many things available in both UK and USA are priced the same (in numbers) but one has a £ sign and the other the $!  As Thal says, 'rip-off' Britain (apparently with the active support of UK governments of all complexions!).  Some years ago it was cheaper to buy from HMV in Hong Kong than here in UK!!!

On the plus side, for a modest minimum monthly subscription (mine is £5.99 but I can 'top-up' ad hoc), e-music offer all tracks at 42p - great value for long tracks (I just got Langgaard's' Music of the Spheres- in one track at 35 mins! - their main downside is poor 'search facilities compared to some other 'classical only' sites.  Also their pricing is not so good for example where Chandos and others often break such a long item into lots of short tracks.  Pick your music and you get a bargain, especially since more and more 'sleeve' notes can be accessed on the web for free.

Meanwhile, back to the music...

Richard