[chiurox]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the exorbitant prices of electronics in Brazil compared to the US. For example, the top of the line Macbook 15" retina in the Brazilian Apple store costs R$12599 which is around $6395USD, while the same in the US is $2799. A Brazil/Miami return flight is also around $1000 depending on the time of year. So theoretically it's cheaper for Brazilians to go to Miami, have a nice weeklong vacation, buy a Macbook Retina, iPhone, iPod, iPad, clothes, and much more, than buy a single Macbook here and still wait for shipping. The problem is the government/customs knows that and thus catches and taxes a lot of people who try to bring over $500USD worth of products. And for whoever mentions that the cost of living is cheaper in Brazil, the big cities like Sao Paulo is the same or worse than NYC if you factor in salary.

[stefap2]

And South Americans are actually doing just that. Travel to Florida and shop for prices 50% lower than in Brazil:

"The Sawgrass Mills mall has enough retail space to fill more than 40 football fields. Most notably, Sawgrass attracts destination shoppers from South America."

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/next-america/sawg...

[chiurox]

Yes, this happens a lot. This is also why the US opened a lot of new consulates in Brazil to keep up with the tourist visa demand.

[atlbeer]

And that's not Apple's fault. Brazil has insanely high import tariffs to protect local industries.

[chiurox]

This is not entirely true. Even if you factor in the plethora of taxes Brazilians businesses and customers are "enslaved" to pay, it still should not be this abusive. In Brazil, people consider imported products (specially Apple's stuff in the electronics category) to be something of super high status, so they are willing to pay for an Apple product in 12 installments with their credit cards, money they know they shouldn't spend. Suppliers and importers are extremely aware of this Brazilian mentality and exploit it to its maximum potential. This happens across all kinds of products: all types of electronics, clothing, cars, MacDonald's, you name it. I'm not even taking price-fixing (which happens in Brazil's car industry for example) into account. A new Honda Civic in Brazil costs around $35000 USD, while the minimum wage is around $320 USD/month. Talk about inequality...

[mfenniak]

> The problem is the government/customs knows that and thus catches and taxes a lot of people who try to bring over $500USD worth of products.

Does this mean the difference in the price of the Macbook is entirely taxes? Or, after paying an import duty at the airport, would the overall cost still be lower than buying the hardware domestically?

[com]

My friends in São Paulo just did that with an iMac - bought it in Arizona during their Christmas trip to the US, declared it at Guarulhos airport, paid the import imposts and still came in with a huge discount to the local retail price.

[mikeryan]

Cost of flight to AZ + Cost of iMac + Cost of Imposts was a huge discount or just the Cost of iMac + Cost of Imposts?

[com]

Yeah, still at least a headline discount of 20-25%. And they were going to AZ anyway, so it felt like 40-50% to them. Everyone was wearing new shoes too, prices in the US are significantly cheaper than in São Paulo

[chiurox]

Including the airfare and import tax, it's still cheaper.

[kawera]

No, the difference isn't entirely taxes, far from it. Apple is responsible for the largest part of it as the total import tax they pay amounts for 38.75% of the factory price, not the US retail price.

[chiurox]

It's also partyland for employees who work at customs. They claim that they take the abandoned products and sell it in auction...

[davedx]

I actually just checked that because I didn't believe it. Absolutely insane!