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by cycomanic 942 days ago
Well the shop you're ordering from is crap. Many of the shops I order from calculate vat based on where you ship to. So what you see is what you pay. I think even if the advertise the wrong VAT you still pay what is on the sticker. How is that not better than having to always add some value yourself whose percentage differs based on where you are atm?
1 comments
JumpCrisscross 942 days ago
> Many of the shops I order from calculate vat based on where you ship to

This is a good illustration of valid trade offs between two cultures. I find it absurd to have to enter my address before even being shown pricing (let alone deciding to purchase). You, on the other hand, prefer all-in pricing.

These are both reasonable takes! They’re just different.

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cycomanic 942 days ago
But you don't have to put in your address, just your country. For many websites you likely have to do that anyway because you might not speak the default language.

Moreover, most of the websites change the location based on IP addresses anyway.

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JumpCrisscross 942 days ago
> you don't have to put in your address, just your country

In America, you would. Various municipal and county lines can create separate sales tax obligations based on address. Even barring that, I would find it intrusive and absurd for someone to demand my state of residence prior to even being shown price. (My IP address only loosely correlates with my residence.)

But again, that’s a preference. One most Americans share. Multiple equilibria.

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brewdad 942 days ago
You keep saying it's a preference. It's not my preference but it's become something I've been conditioned to accept like not being able to know what a medical procedure will cost until after I get the bill. That doesn't make it preferable nor desirable.
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boring_twenties 941 days ago
That is a completely bogus comparison. You can easily determine the total cost inclusive of sales tax yourself, and you almost certainly know your own local tax rate already. You cannot determine the cost of a medical procedure ahead of time no matter what you do, even to within an order of magnitude.
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