Manolis, you gave yourself an answer. They're morons. They got you used to those abusing prices and they don't feel the need to lower them. Tzadik is a very good example of exorbitant pricing in Europe or at least from my own experience, in Spain. They used to cost around 20 (equivalent to 3.300 pesetas), which was already exaggerated. With the increase in the dollar value, they effectively rose the price up to the 23,99 the costumers are suffering nowadays. Luckily, I no longer have to pay those amounts, but it really makes it a luxury-act to buy a double-cd from Tzadik, not to mention 4cd boxes like Painkiller. "The Parachute Years" was something around 150Â, perhaps a bit more. The relative weakness of the US currency versus Euro isn't reflected in the prices simply because the stores (regardless of their size) suddenly become "deaf", "blind" and certainly "opaque". If you ask them, they will give you the most incredible excuses (the last one I've heard is that the Spanish Postal Service increased its prices but someone sent me "The Parachute Years" a couple of weeks ago for a total 5Â!). There are other cases of glaring stupidity, like the Fnac superstores and their Japanese import policy. While they could get their material from European distributors, they buy directly from Japan. The results are clear: Any Masada studio album costs no less than 30Â, and that includes number 4. Needless to say, those cds are rotting in their shelves, except for some of them that a friend of mine is stealing sistematically on a weekly basis to complete his Masada collection. I love the ritual of going shopping to the typical music areas of my city, but I find myself purchasing more and more over the Internet. It's quick, you get what you REALLY want and not what it's available, and it's much cheaper most of the time. Sorry about the obviety of everything above. Best, Efrén del Valle n.p: Sun Ra "Live at Montreaux" --- Manolis <papagian@nat.vu.nl> escribió: > A question has occurred to em the last few months
that I am still trying to answer by simple logic or logisitcs. Maybe someone out there has a bright inspiration.
We know that in Europe CDs are expensive. Especially the US imports. Tzadiks for example are priced above 18 euros, often reaching 22 or 23 euros in shops here. The last time that the dollar had gone up (whenever that was), the increase was immediately mirrored in the CD prices.
As we all know the dollar has been cheap for many months now, yet, the prices are still high with no indication of adjustement. For example, I just got 5 CDs from the US for ~63 euros (incl post). Why do these morons over here still ask more than 100 euros for the same CDs?
i had to ask someone.
manolis
NP: B. Markovic orkestar: ederlezi (buzzing in my ears since last night)
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