# Why are Wall Ovens and Cooktops so expensive?



## danny325is (Dec 4, 2012)

Taxes may have a huge impact.
lack of Competition
perceived Brand Value

No one buys a Buick in America anymore, but it is the no1 brand for GM in China
Try to buy a non Indian built car in India, it is about 100 % more that you can find the same car in Europe due to import taxes.

I travel all over the world, the cheapest place for brand name electronics/ appliances is USA. Clothes also seem cheaper in America.

China is great for off brand electronics, but it is a crap shoot with quality.


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## MAD King (Dec 14, 2010)

Taxes can't be the reason. Germany e.g. has 19% sales taxes and appliances are still 2/3 less than here in the U.S.

There are lots competitors here too.

I think may it is because these items are not very long here in the U.S. and they consider them as specials and that's why they have a huge margin on it. Even for no name brands you pay that high amount here. 

And clothes are about the same price here and in Europe except when it comes to Jeans wear.






danny325is said:


> Taxes may have a huge impact.
> lack of Competition
> perceived Brand Value
> 
> ...


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

Mad King, you must be smoking crack if you think appliances in Germany are 2/3 cheaper than those here. Maybe if you are comparing some special Miele appliance here to the same one there, but generally speaking everything is more expensive there.

If you know of something which is less expensive, let us know.


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## MAD King (Dec 14, 2010)

Hey cleveman. Why do you offend me? I am German and I know the prices over there. ***name-calling is NOT allowed here!***


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I'm sure you're a fine guy.

So what is less expensive in Germany than here? The only things I can think of are things which are exclusive to Germany.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Just a reminder of our forum rules.

Users shall treat each other with respect at all times on DIYChatroom.com. Name calling, personal attacks, or other inappropriate behavior will not be allowed and may cause your account to be banned.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

MAD King said:


> If I compare the same Asia items here with Europe I pay about 1/3 of the price in Europe what I pay here.
> Why do they charge here 2/3 more for the same items?


Federal Excise taxes.


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

its the same with any large item, whether it be appliances, furniture, cars, whatever. Taxes and freight charges usually send the prices of these items through the roof.


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I used to import goods, 8436 8000 HST, and the tariff was 3.8%. Used to be, you could move a 40' container from Indiana to central Europe for $3200, door to door. 

I don't know if anyone has ever loaded or unloaded a 40' container, but you can fit a lot in one of those.

Some time ago, I was relating this to a freight forwarder, and she told me they are sending 40' to Asia now for under $2000 from Iowa. If they don't fill them up, they have to go back empty.

So the freight and tariff costs are very minimal. In fact, I used to pay more for inland freight from Kansas to Indiana than from Indiana to Germany.

I have yet to see anyone name a product which is less expensive in Europe than it is here.


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

I recently spent several weeks in Switzerland. I did not purchase any appliances, however there were a few appliance stores on the way to the local bakery, and from what I could see the typical appliances (dishwasher, stove, refrigerator) were more expensive by at least 50% than I would have expected to pay in the United States. This thread has obviously been completely anecdotal, no one has listed a specific price for a specific model appliance that is available in the U.S. and Europe, and compared costs, so I guess we can go on speculating for a while without any hard evidence. It is worth noting that Europe is mainly single phase 230 volt, whereas the U.S. is split phase 120/240, so the appliances are going to be built differently in Europe than the U.S.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Having lived in the UK and having a wife that is English.....I have found appliances to be about 50% more than the US counterpart. 

I can't help but wonder if the op is trolling. Part of the problem with his post is that you will not find "exactly" the same thing in Europe (Germany)....voltages are different...sizes are different....not to mention styles. 

Unless the op can post examples (including model #'s), I'm calling this a trolling thread.


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I can think of two things which are possibly less expensive in Germany, which I would like to have:

Handkaese

Apfelwein


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

> The U.S. Department of Commerce will impose tariffs on some imported appliances - this after it ruled on Monday that some appliances are being dumped on the U.S. market.
> 
> The DoC made a preliminary determination in an anti-dumping investigation of large residential washing machines being imported from South Korea and Mexico. The investigation came in response to a petition filed by Whirlpool Corp. in December 2011. "Dumping" happens when a foreign company sells a product in the United States at less than fair value.
> 
> ...



Those are just tariffs. No excise tax yet.


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I think the stuff coming from Mexico has 0 tariff if it meets the origin requirements. I heard that most televisions imported from Mexico are just meeting the origin requirements. Obviously, if you have to have a 70% domestic requirement and anything over that will adversely affect your profit margin, you're going to be right at 70%.

As for Korea and elsewhere, 13% is not out of line, I suppose. One would have to look at how it was negotiated. Probably they are charging 13% on our pork.

The high numbers, as noted, are just because someone didn't comply with some reporting requirements, because in all likelihood they have no plans to export to the US, so they told the guy requesting information to shove it.

On another note, I was buying a front loading Frigidaire and gas dryer in 2002 for $700 for the pair. At that time, we had Amana, Maytag, and Frigidaire manufacturing in Iowa. Ten short years later, I'm hard pressed to buy a pair of front-loaders for $1200. I think Maytag bought Amana. Then Whirlpool bought Maytag. Frigidaire (Electrolux) sent everything to Mexico and apparently the Swedes can't handle the climate down there. Everyone in those affected towns are just smoking crack now or got retrained, died, or run off by the indians.


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