Was there ever an official word on this? Once again, the US price for MC upgrade from 2.7 to 3.0 is $295. In the UK online store, the equivalent is $415 for the same thing, downloaded from the same servers. A download! Why the massive price difference?

Inever got an answer back from the last poster I asked. Maybe you can help me understand.

The Avid store prices in Europe include VAT. Not knowing much about that tax....would that make up at least MOST of the difference?

 The conclusion is that the € site includes VAT (do not know about the UK site).

This will make the following calc.

MC2.7 -> 3.0 USD295. €275 * 0,81(NL VAT) = 222,75 * 1,5(€->$) = USD 334.

XP-> MC3 = USD 562.

In both cases, the price is higher than the current exchange rate, but on the other way, the exchange rate does not reflect the differences in purchasing power. That is the price in USD is not as low as it seams to be. If You compare the hourly rate, the gape between US and Europe is smaller in terms of working hour for the updates. This because the value of USD is exceptional low.

The conclusion is that we, european costumers, don´t pay the same money (in value) than the American ones.

American companies make european costumers pay more than they would pay in USD, because the Euro is now stronger than the Dollar, so they can get a major benefit.

Example:

iTunes Store: 1 song is 99 cents in Dollars, and is also 99 cents in Euros (wich are 1,50 US Dollars)

 i was looking into buying a jaguar it is made in england and with the money  exchange rate being double the jaguar was more in the us than in london

so i bought a corvette

BLKDOG - i didn't think prices included vat, my mistake, British VAT is 17.5%, making the equivalent dollar price ex vat approx $355. Then at checkout i noticed that apparently the VAT included is the 'Dutch Inland Rate' at 19%! which would make no sense at all.

fiendish:

BLKDOG - i didn't think prices included vat, my mistake, British VAT is 17.5%, making the equivalent dollar price ex vat approx $355. Then at checkout i noticed that apparently the VAT included is the 'Dutch Inland Rate' at 19%! which would make no sense at all.

It makes sense, because Avid have their european internet store in the Nederlands, and according to EU-rules you pay vat in the country there the shop is located, or goods is shipping from.

If You is a business with vat number, You will not pay vat.

Was there ever an official word on this?

Yes, this was all changed a few months ago, after some folks here brought this to Marianna's attention again. Before that time, Euro prices would often be nominally higher than the USD prices: 2500 USD would become 2700 EUR for instance, reflecting huge price differences at the then current exchange rates.

There used to be a lot of confusing info about whether or not VAT was included in the Euro store prices. The help on the UK & NL stores now both say "Prices are shown inclusive of VAT, but without shipping charges". That means that businesses also pay 17.5 - 19% less than the prices reflected on the webstore.

So what's the problem here? Indeed, Avid currently does a better job than the iTunes store, for example. I don't see any rip-off.