[Davidparis]

This is beyond ridiculous, it borders on criminal behaviour that should be severely punished to the full extent of some non-existant law. I can hardly believe that this even bothers me after so many years but, for humor purposes in the spirit of Xmas season LBA good cheer, allow me to submit the following :

Pentax FA 31 at BH Photo in the USA - $838.95.
Pentax smcP FA 31mm f/1.8 Limited Lens (Black) 20290 B&H Photo

vs.

Same exact lens in France (Pentax Boutique in Paris) - €1499
Objectif smc FA 31mm f/1,8 AL Limited

That is nearly equal to 100% more expensive. Is it just me or is Ricoh's worldwide pricing policy the brilliant brainchild of an incompetent chump?

Excuse me while I break into a sprint down to the Paris store to scoop up this deal before the rioting starts. This is such a deal, maybe I should buy 6 of 'em for 10 grand.

WTH are these people thinking?

[shuber]

Well, it *is* being sold by "la boutique Pentax". I always thought anything sold by a "boutique" is twice the regular price...

[boriscleto]

MAP for the 31 is $1099. So B&H is $260 below that...

[gfurm]

Cheapest one in UK is 1097 GBP which is 1504 Euro, so the one in Paris is cheaper.
On the other hand it's 1646 US dollars, so it's almost twice the BH price.

I've noticed a while ago that prices in UK and USA are pretty much the same apart from the sign just in fron of them.

[roberrl]

Sadly this behaviour is not unique to Pentax. This may be a rather extreme case but almost any consumer durable is much cheaper in the US.
That's why those of us who visit the US regularly leave plenty of space in our baggage for the return trip.

[biz-engineer]

Sure that's a significant price difference, but you have the choice to buy where you like, so feel free to do so. For the price difference, you can buy a flight ticket Paris-Tokyo, buy the lens in Tokyo at 800 euros.

[officiousbystander]

You can fly Paris to NY for €450 return. You can pick up your FA31 from B&H and go home still be ahead. That really is beyond ridiculous.

[Dipsoid]

US: lower taxes, lower duties with less tariffs. This means we get quite low prices for consumer goods, which also means that we get paid less and don't have much in the way of social welfare benefits like paid-time off, maternity leave, national healthcare, cheap higher education etc. However you want to cut it, we pay that extra $600, it just goes towards other things.

[Billy Joe]

Wait, they tell us you all have free healthcare, free college, and 6 weeks paid vacation... Something is fishy here

[Na Horuk]

1) In US, you usually have to add taxes to that number. In EU, the number is final.
2) Yes, most lenses are still more expensive in Europe. Some insanely so. I think the biggest difference I found was in FA 35mm f2.0
3) Yes, it sucks for us Euros

[biz-engineer]

Wait, they tell us you all have free healthcare, free college, and 6 weeks paid vacation... Something is fishy here

Free, really ? The average European employee gets less then half of what he costs to his employer. Especially in France, mid-class and upper-class workers contribute like crazy, net income tax rate up to more than 50% (after 40% social charges are paid...). There's nothing free!

---------- Post added 16-12-15 at 22:17 ----------

That is nearly equal to 100% more expensive. Is it just me or is Ricoh's worldwide pricing policy the brilliant brainchild of an incompetent chump?

They priced the Pentax 31 ltd like the Zeiss Batis 25 f2. The Leica 35 1.4 Summilux cost more, around 4000 euros.

[dansamy]

Somebody has to pay for all that free stuff!

[biz-engineer]

I don't think the price of the 31 ltd in France has anything to do with taxes. The same lens used to be priced at around 800 euros last year.

[Na Horuk]

I don't think the price of the 31 ltd in France has anything to do with taxes. The same lens used to be priced at around 800 euros last year.

Yeah. And import duties, shipping or warranty costs don't justify this difference either. Meanwhile, large part of EU is still economically weak.
So I don't know how Pentax can be surprised it has low sales volume, with high prices and low availability.. or is Europe just such a low priority market for them?

[hjoseph7]

This is beyond ridiculous, it borders on criminal behaviour that should be severely punished to the full extent of some non-existant law. I can hardly believe that this even bothers me after so many years but, for humor purposes in the spirit of Xmas season LBA good cheer, allow me to submit the following :

Pentax FA 31 at BH Photo in the USA - $838.95.
Pentax smcP FA 31mm f/1.8 Limited Lens (Black) 20290 B&H Photo

vs.

Same exact lens in France (Pentax Boutique in Paris) - €1499
Objectif smc FA 31mm f/1,8 AL Limited

That is nearly equal to 100% more expensive. Is it just me or is Ricoh's worldwide pricing policy the brilliant brainchild of an incompetent chump?

Excuse me while I break into a sprint down to the Paris store to scoop up this deal before the rioting starts. This is such a deal, maybe I should buy 6 of 'em for 10 grand.

WTH are these people thinking?

Here is something that will make you laugh: Pentax FA 77mm f1.8 limited brand new $1366.81 + $79.95 Shipping !


What does the lens come with a full Marching Band ? and check the .81 cents, what is that all about ?




http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000EA3RW4/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new