to think that deezer is FLAGRANTLY overcharging us in the UK and we should complain/boycott?

[afussyphase]

Deezer (deezer.com) is a relatively new online music service. I tried the free trial and liked it. I was going to sign up for a paid account until I googled it, and found out that it's £4.99/£9.99 in the UK (similar to others, I gather), but $4.99/$9.99 in Canada and the US (Canadian or US$), and a little less in Euros (3.99/8.99). This is blatantly overcharging us for the same exact service; we just pay 50-60% more (or whatever) depending on the exchange rates!
I suggest we write to them and complain (I've done so). You can too at support.deezer.com/. The cost of living here is bad enough with this kind of thing added in just because no one complains, so they can. If other services are doing the same (haven't checked up on spotify, the main competitor), we should complain there too, and boycott them too.

hmm, good point re VAT Angel and despite my claims of knowing how to do various things i have never heard of a kazoo so I'm off to google it - thanks tethersend. If IABU then fine: I can feel good about the services :) Interesting about iTunes. Also, I did ask the company (no reply yet) -- I bet the answer is '...because (we think) people will pay it', and if no one who cares what it costs wants the service anyway, as it seems on here, then they are right.

But maybe there are licensing fees or support staff or whatever that make these very round, very similar numbers just exactly appropriate. I kind of doubt it, but it's possible.

It's common practice for American consumers to get a better deal than EU (and UK) consumers. I don't know if EU consumers are overcharged or US consumers are getting a discount but I'd have thought that there would be many reasons why US consumers would get the better deal- other countries may "follow" if the company gains US success, difference in royalties, costs (EU needs the service to be translated, may need more regional offices for support services...), tax...

Annoying as it I think you should vote with your wallet.

Damn.. I totally repeated what others have said.

crazygraieuk - yes, it is common practice and in some cases there are good reasons for it. But I think in a case like this, it shouldn't be.

The product is largely produced elsewhere and the service is very labour- and property- unintensive. There are no physical shipping costs. We pay for the broadband.

"The law of one price simply states that tradable goods cost the same in different countries of the world. Essentially, it is saying that if we convert the price of an identical tradable good selling in different countries of the world into the same currency, we would expect the price to be identical." --This is from an economics lecture at Wellesley University. The factors I mentioned - labour, property for shops, and so on, would affect the prices of some goods. This is not one of them.

So what explains the fact that things like this are routinely a good percentage higher in the UK when other economic factors don't explain it? I guess it's that people in the UK are willing to pay more than people elsewhere (and if someone suggests that it should be otherwise, they are ridiculed). Interesting.

Lots of things available in the uk and usa charge the same numerical amount, but dollars or pounds. It may seem unfair... but factor in the fact that I have to pay $7 for a single pack of jaffa cakes over here if I fancy them, or $1.69 for a bounty... Plus I can't watch any uk channels online streaming, even if I paid a tv licence, because I am not in the uk.

what is my point? Um... It isn't fair. but I am not boycotting cadburys.

love your name, flying :)

So you all probably don't care but just in case anyone does, here's part of my discussion with the staff member who responded to my email:
" Apart from costs of providing the service I think we also need to take into account the beauty of the round numbers. 4.99 and 9.99 work in what ever currency you mention regardless of their minor value difference between dollars , euros and pounds. Also it is a uniform charge across all streaming services. Every service has the same figures for each territory so every service is taking advantage of UK consumers and believe me we are not working together.
You will also if you are discounting consumer goods comparisons have to tackle services like Netflix and World of Warcraft which are also cheaper in America."

Indeed - people in the UK are willing to pay more than people elsewhere, and these are nice numbers! And everyone is doing it. So it must be ok.

flyingmonster, agree with you re jaffa cakes, cadbury's - but those things actually have to be physically shipped and are cheaper to ship with economies of scale; more people eat jaffa cakes here, etc etc.

Costs differ in different places, but why are they always higher here?

You can compare the costs of other things with global circulation (the economist, London Review of Books, ipads, laptops, etc) and prices are always higher here.
You can expect things made elsewhere to be more expensive here (ipads), but two of the above (economist, LRB) are British, and for some reason they are still more expensive to get in the UK.

Don't get me started on tube/rail prices...

Jeez Louise some people get het up about crappy stuff!

@flying: you are talking about speciality items in the US, so naturally they are more expensive. US retailers will lack economies of scale and be subject to less competition because they are catering to a niche market.