Cost of consumer electronics in Germany

Hi there,

I wonder if someone can shed some light on something for me. I have been, among other things, comparing the prices of flat screen tvs between the UK and Germany. It is commonly held belief here that EVERYTHING is more expensive than on the mainland, especially in London. My goodness, was I wrong. Just compare the prices of these two products:

http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_ss_w?__mk_de...amp;x=0&y=0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-TH-42PZ8...id=8VM3W9VBZGHT

In the UK, it costs £1199.99, equivalent to EUR 1.512. In Germany, it costs EUR 1.875, over EUR 300 more!! Perhaps it would be cheaper to buy it here in London and drive it to Germany... I should probably learn how to drive first, though. :-)

Even small electrical goods (e.g. hair trimmers, fans) are quite a bit cheaper in the UK. I was chatting a few weeks ago to a hotel manager who used to be a salesman for Philips; basically going round electronic stores in Germany asking them to stock Philips' stuff.

He said as there's a virtual monopoly in Germany (Saturn / Media Markt) prices were very high. Although online prices are lower, there's still little competition.

It used to be that camera gear was cheaper here (as was bicycle stuff, but that's not really part of the 'electronics' thread here!) but I bought my previous SLR (and my current bike!) back when Germans were spending DM and not Euro.

At the moment, especially as the sales have just started, most things in London are cheaper than here in Stuttgart.

The drop in the value of the pound (almost 20% on the year) has readjusted price comparisons. All the same, Elektromedia have it for €1623 which is closer to the UK price and that Amazon Germany are not selling it themselves (it's from a partner). Amazon are very clever in setting their pricing to suit the market, so are not a good comparison. Bear in mind that these are different models for different markets (The DVB-T tuner is different between the "B"(UK) model and the "E" (European) model) and you get a 2-year guarantee in Germany by default. Guarantees add to the cost

You might try and go to France if you're nearby. I've noticed that electronic goods are cheaper there too.

the pound dropped in value from over 1.4 to 1.2 in the beginning of this year (like yorkshirelad said, around 20%), so basically everything got 20% cheaper if you're earning euros and buy stuff in the UK.

could also use price comparison site to find the best price - http://www.idealo.de

not only so expensive...but the quality and craftmanship is very poor...its surprising if any of these products last more than 2 to 3 years.

Buy japanese...germans dont know anything about electronics.

that surprises me. back when we had the D-Mark, Germany was far cheaper for electronic goods.