OFF: online CD prices

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

On ons 9 jun 1999 09.48 +1000 "Peter Sondergeld" <p.sondergeld at QUT.EDU.AU>
wrote:
> An interesting twist on this has emerged recently here in Oz. Our
> illustrious federal government is forging ahead with a Goods & Services
Tax
> (10%), and if you believe some commentators, it looks like making internet
> shopping a cheaper alternative to buying some products locally. CDs, among
> other things, could be cheaper offshore through mailorder than from our
own
> domestic retailers.
> Mind you, they'll probably find a way to tax them somehow.

As far as I can tell, that's pretty much the situation in the UK.
Prices are high, taxes are high--if you're willing to wait, even
ordering books from the US by slow mail is noticeably cheaper than
walking down to the shop!  But there are real savings to be had
ordering from abroad, and not just from the US: Germany and the
Netherlands are also good.  An Ozzie friend was bemoaning the fact
that the new Tea Party album was currently available only in
Canada and Australia. I pointed out that he could mailorder it
online and get it faster and in all liklihood cheaper than he
would by waiting for a UK release.

I read an amusing article in some knee-jerk-type political
magazine, which bemoaned this state of affairs, and forecast
much random doom.  But it seems to me that governments would
be well-served re-gearing advantage of mild commerical
revolution taking place which *could* really give slow economies
a poke, while "dirtside" shop owners should be fighting
to get the restrictions which place them at a disadvantage
eased.

Meanwhile, I'm loving it not so much for the prices, but the
variety!  With a few mouse-clicks I can now get awesome music
from places that I didn't know *had* a rock scene ten years ago.

Cheers,
Cark


--
Carl Edlund Anderson
Dept. of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, & Celtic
St. John's College, University of Cambridge
mailto:cea20 at cus.cam.ac.uk
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~carl/