Price of the Freerunner published?

Andy Powell openmoko at automated.it
Wed Mar 19 19:57:58 CET 2008


On Wednesday 19 March 2008 17:56, Andy Powell wrote:
> On Wednesday 19 March 2008 16:10, Steven ** wrote:
> > Was reading Planet OpenMoko and found the following at
> > http://www.vanille-media.de/site/index.php/2008/03/18/from-switzerland-to
> >-b razil/
> >
> > "The price range for the Neo FreeRunner has been published, it's going
> > to be less than 400 USD — which is quite a substantial improvement
> > over the estimated 650 that was published last year."
> >
> > Was the price range really published?  Where is it?
>
> One can only hope that 'trisoft' aren't the official distributor in Europe
> since they have the Freerunner priced at a 'preorder' price of 400EUR
>
> I'm going to say it once and very very loudly...
>
> 400USD != 400EUR
>
> If this is an indication of the pricing for Europe, please arrange for some
> European versions to get shipped to the USA where we can buy them and have
> them shipped to Europe.
>
> </rant>
>
> Andy

Ok, I'll admit to posting while in a state of frustration and perhaps I should 
have just bitten my tongue.

I've just had a conversation on irc that went thus:


<TRIsoft> Hi, why don't you try to talk with me/us before ranting ?
<TRIsoft> Calm down, we didn't made the price
<ScaredyCat> sorry, was just making coffee
<TRIsoft> No problem
<TRIsoft> I see, that you're a little bit upset ;-)
<TRIsoft> Please give me a chance to explain you some background...
<ScaredyCat> I'm just expressing my frustration, because invariably we *do* 
get shafted in europe
<ScaredyCat> I'm more than happy to listen
<TRIsoft> No, you're not. Please let me say something about this
<TRIsoft> At first, the price wasn't an idea from us.
<TRIsoft> We had some meetings with the OM sales manager two weeks ago.
<TRIsoft> And the price point at this moment was around 450$
<TRIsoft> So we sat there, thought about a bulk price, shipping, all this 
stuff.
<TRIsoft> And came up with 399 EUR
<TRIsoft> This is including the 19% VAT, shipping, WEEE expenses, battery 
recycling and all the nasty stuff we have to pay here in the EU
<TRIsoft> Also we all don't know, what the USD/EUR rate will be in late April
<TRIsoft> Let's look at the actual numbers and let's assume EUR/USD at 1.55
<TRIsoft> 399$ would make 257 EUR
<TRIsoft> Shipping from China / Taiwan / US appr. $70 to Europe
<TRIsoft> is $469, makes 302 EUR
<TRIsoft> plus 19% VAT is 360 EUR for a self import at the actual price.
<TRIsoft> 399 EUR for the preorders is what we fixed during the meetings with 
a capping if the USD should fall in April
<TRIsoft> Be sure, that we will lower the price, if possible.
<TRIsoft> Actually, all we can say is: A device in Europe will cost not more 
than 399 EUR.
<TRIsoft> Including all legal expenses and VAT
<TRIsoft> And, believe me, the profit is not big. Profit may be less than zero 
if we run into warranty problems.
<TRIsoft> We're in daily contact with the people at OM and i hope that we'll 
be able to lower the EU price a bit. But we'll never get 250 EUR.
<ScaredyCat> Im' not expecting a 250 EUR price tag, I *do* understand that you 
need to make something out of it, but I still don't understand why there is a 
shipping cost ($70) for non US customers
<ScaredyCat> when there is no such cost for US customers.
<TRIsoft> Because they ship UPS packages over the pond.
<ScaredyCat> essentially European customers are subsidising US customers
<TRIsoft> The units are manufactured in China.
<TRIsoft> We're sitting between two chairs here.
<TRIsoft> OM says: Start preorder, give us numbers.
<TRIsoft> We don't have a finally fixed pricing at the moment.
<TRIsoft> But the community expects it.
<TRIsoft> And the US customers don't have to deal with VAT and all the other 
idiotic EU stuff.
<TRIsoft> We even have to pay fees for the micro-SD cards in the boxes :-(
<ScaredyCat> ok, is it ok with you if I disclose this conversation, if just to 
set the record straight?
<TRIsoft> It is a complicate field, but we're no bastards making a $100 profit 
with each box.
<TRIsoft> Sure. I just wanted to explain the problems, we're facing here.
<ScaredyCat> I appreciate that... 
<ScaredyCat> but it does still look th
<ScaredyCat> oops
<ScaredyCat> but it does still look the European market is getting the shaft - 
paying extra for shipping. Ok it may not be your fault, but it is a valid 
point to bitch about
<TRIsoft> Sure. I understand your point. But i direct $/EUR conversion is also 
unfair.
<ScaredyCat> absolutely... but 400usd and 400eur don;t match either...
<TRIsoft> I know. We'll work on it. Promised.
<ScaredyCat> good stuff... 
<TRIsoft> And you keep up the good work on OM ;-)


So there you have it.  I still have an issue with the shipping, I see no 
reason why European customers should effectively pay for shipping twice. 
Let's hope that companies like TRIsoft get their shipment direct from China 
rather than having to reship from the USA.

Andy




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