Get out and start spending

[Guest]

And the start of society as we know it then.

Things change.

 

Indeed, the same can be said of steam power, the railways, the motor car etc Then again some people don't like change.

 

I remember starting Uni in 1995 and Netscape 3 still being in the Beta folder....it had tables!!!

[dutch]

Hang on a sec. Let me get this right.

 

You claimed:

 

 

You then say:

 

 

$620 is approximately £454.20

 

So,

 

Cost of stereo £454.20

Cost of flight £300

 

Total spent £754.00

 

what exactly would the saving have been??

 

20 years ago, pound has dropped a lot since then.

[Cyclone]

Well, lets correct for the £/$ that's easy to do.

1998 the best rate the £ achieved all year was 1.7$ to the £.

 

Obviously the meadowhall price included VAT at what, 15% at the time?

US prices never include sales tax, but lets ignore the 8.5% combined sales tax in NY.

 

Oh, I also strongly doubt that you could find a flight to NY for £300 in 1998, as I said airline prices have been falling for 30 years, and with the exception of a recently launched budget airline you'd still struggle to get a flight today for less than £500. If anyone can find any historic pricing though that would help, I haven't managed to turn any up.

 

$620 at 1.7 £364

Imaginary £300

£50 left over

£714

 

In reality you'd have sales tax adding another £30 and probably £300 more on that flight. Even ignoring this, no saving available.

 

Don't get me wrong, I have in the past asked my brother in law to buy consumer electronics whilst visiting the US, or indeed had my SIL post a few things to me, there have been savings available. But never anything like enough to fly over myself, and only on bleeding edge things, an MP3 player when ipods were practically the only option, one of the first 8.9" small form factor laptops from asus, those things I made a saving on even including postage. I still have the little asus laptop in a drawer behind me right now.

[truman]

Well, lets correct for the £/$ that's easy to do.

1998 the best rate the £ achieved all year was 1.7$ to the £.

 

Obviously the meadowhall price included VAT at what, 15% at the time?

US prices never include sales tax, but lets ignore the 8.5% combined sales tax in NY.

 

Oh, I also strongly doubt that you could find a flight to NY for £300 in 1998, as I said airline prices have been falling for 30 years, and with the exception of a recently launched budget airline you'd still struggle to get a flight today for less than £500. If anyone can find any historic pricing though that would help, I haven't managed to turn any up.

 

$620 at 1.7 £364

Imaginary £300

£50 left over

£714

 

In reality you'd have sales tax adding another £30 and probably £300 more on that flight. Even ignoring this, no saving available.

 

Don't get me wrong, I have in the past asked my brother in law to buy consumer electronics whilst visiting the US, or indeed had my SIL post a few things to me, there have been savings available. But never anything like enough to fly over myself, and only on bleeding edge things, an MP3 player when ipods were practically the only option, one of the first 8.9" small form factor laptops from asus, those things I made a saving on even including postage. I still have the little asus laptop in a drawer behind me right now.

 

Wouldn't the stereo be liable for import tax as well when he got it here?

[alchresearch]

Wouldn't the stereo be liable for import tax as well when he got it here?

 

And VAT on top?

[melthebell]

but you get a free Val Doonican lp?

[Cyclone]

Wouldn't the stereo be liable for import tax as well when he got it here?

 

I'm guessing that he was intending to dodge that by throwing away the packaging and claiming that he'd taken it with him in the first place

[Obelix]

You're really showing your ignorance now. Why not Google MUD, SHADES and DIALTALK and have a look at what Compunet, Micronet and Prestel offered back in the day.

 

I used to run a MUD around that time. I think the earliest Abermud systems were late 1988/89

 

One of my favourites, Northern Lights AberMUD is still going today..

 

Then there are the Diplomacy judges etc.... I think perhaps someone is not quite as well versed as they think in pre WWW Internaughtics...

[BHRemovals]

There are feral gangs roaming the streets already.

[dutch]

I'm guessing that he was intending to dodge that by throwing away the packaging and claiming that he'd taken it with him in the first place

 

You think it is funny but English consumers have been ripped off for many years on the high street. The pound was strong and people didn't know what price these items had globally.

Things have become a lot cheaper in UK shops despite the big drop in pound value. At about the same rate as many people in UK started to look and shop on the internet seeing international prices for these items.

Only different thing was when I came here 20 years ago a cup of coffee would cost £1.50 in Canada or Amsterdam and could get that for 50p most places in Sheffield. Now today that coffee is more expensive here than many places abroad.

 

At the moment prices are very low, a reflection of the state of the bad economy, stores are struggling to get consumers in and spend.

When I go to northern europe now I see a very different picture, a reflection of a much better economy. When I come back to Sheffield after a visit, UK stores look like a desperate scream to keep their heads up.

Euro and pound are getting closer and closer to be same value.

Edited May 4, 2018 by dutch