[b17m4p]

Guess it would be a good time for us head-fiers to get some gear from europe etc. I usually end up buying us made things, not an ideology just the way it seems to work out so I don't even really know how I'd take advantage of this. I had bought a really nice e-book reader (irex illiad) from the UK a couple months back - probably would have been better to wait on that the exchange rate killed me back then.

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormspider /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi guys I'm from Malaysia most people won't know where it is so for a easy understanding it's just a strait across from our more famous known neighbours Singapore. Our currency which we call Ringgit Malaysia(RM) is pathetically weak against the USD and the EUROs (As of now 1 USD = RM3.657 and 1 EURO = RM4.633) an average Malaysian worker earns a salary of around RM 3,000 per month. Minus the cost of living (necessities) and usual stuff an average Malaysian would have about RM800 per month(USD 218 or EURO 172) for shopping or indulging themselves. Just imagine how hard it is for the headphiles in our country to get our fix of headphilia... Most of the Alessandro, Grado, AKG, Beyer and the commonly found brands in head-fi can only be found in Singapore and through online dealers Further to that everytime we try to buy online, we run the risk of having our items taxed from 10% to 30% depending on the mood of the Customs Officer not to mention the risk of the stuff getting lost in our poor postal system.. So I really do envy those living in the US, European, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong etc... who have better spending power and an access to wider range of headphilia...

I moved to New Zealand. Things have improved somewhat, I guess. There's Headphonic, and they offer good deals sometimes. And I know people who pop back to the US once in a while. And some Head-Fiers are kind enough to help non-US folk out on this regard too!

 

[Superpang]

Canadian dollar blows , hopefully it will go back to par with the USD.

 

[kojebee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy /img/forum/go_quote.gif edit: the the Korean posters' comment - is'nt the tanking of the South Korean currency directly attributable to the actions of the North (rather than the economy you generate)? The insecurity due to their threats to you (and your proximity to them), and to the region?

One reason for the change is that the Korean stock market was chock-a-block with foreign investors. Arguably more so than other countries. Foreign investors made up the bulk of investments. Once the credit crunch came, foreign investors realized they needed money in the form of cash, hence the selling of Korean shares. The Korean Kospi went from a high of 2,000 + points to 900 in no time at all.

Many Imported goods are paid for by dollars such as oil (Korea is the fifth biggest importer of oil). China (pegged to the dollar) USA and Japan are amongst Korea's biggest trade partners.

In a nutshell, the demand for dollars is soooo much higher than the demand for Korean won. Many korean cars are actually made in the US, so aren't actually imported from Korea, but few American products are manufactured in Korea.

The korean won value is the lowest since the IMF crisis in the 90s.


Off point, but the true cost / value of what I can buy now is something to consider.

A pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 now is one third of my monthly net salary (teacher with ten years experience - appropriate korean salary).

 

[Anvil]

Quote:

Someone below notes their VAT has been upped again to 22%. Prior to the raise to 19%, it had been 17%. Does anybody notice a definite trend? Doesn't anybody get mad? What will the new year bring bring you? 25%?

Parts of Scandinavia have been at 25% VAT tax rate for a while now. At least that's what I've read.

 

[hawat]

My biggest problem is actually the strong yen compared to the euro. Japanese brands are releasing many good new headphones and trying to buy them now is very expensive for European.
Some Japanese products are actually cheaper to import to Europe from the US than from japan.

 

[RedSky0]

If the big automakers do end up collapsing, taking with them their distributors and other related factor producers, in addition to many jobs, then the $US is bound to depreciate.

Although the $US does seem to be a special case due to the amount of foreign transactions conducted in their currency, and the many countries that have dollarized or pegged the currency to it. Not to mention there has been a flight to US treasury bonds from higher return/risk investments that are feared to be backed by tainted loans, because regardless of the current economic turmoil they are still considered one of the safest investments in the world. So in many ways it is highly unclear to what extent the US exchange rate really reacts to its domestic economic conditions although it is certainly clear that in the long term their burgeoning foreign debt and current account deficit cannot be sustainable.

Yeah, I'm really regretting my stinginess a few months ago, I could have easily bought what I was thinking of for 60-70% of what I'd have to pay now

 

[Jaawa]

It did hurt a bit to pay 265€ (about $330 USD) for my Denon AH-D2000's, but even if I could have gotten them cheaper somehow, I feel it was still money well spent (they still cost 400€ [about $500 USD] in the local stores today).

 

[nickchen]

I don't care. Got my MS Pro really cheap this summer due to the strong Euro, and now I'm done. And if I change my mind, germany is the headphone paradise anyway (except for AT lovers, but I do not belong to team queek).

 

[Hottuna_]

The Aussie dollar is really hurting badly.
a nice drop from almost parity with the USD in June to about 0.62 now.
I did take advantage of the Yen rate back then when i got myself a pair of AD700.
Recently got a second hand K701 locally for about USD150 so that wasn't too bad.
The amp for it however, I ordered from HK recently and at current exchange rates.....
Couldn't leave the phones ampless though.
Oh well.....

 

[HippieTom]

norway. if i had bought rs-2 some months ago i would save 200$ from the current today.

AND do you know the price of rc-2 in norwegian shops? have just checked with currency converter.
1002,04$. Yes you heard right and that is the rs-2. we are not that rich here so hope the dollar is sinking soon so i can shop again.

 

[BigTony]

I made full use of the weak dollar this summer, deals were really to good to miss.
Now its a good time to stick to local markets, and with the 2.5% VAT reduction in the UK, maybe something new to smile about.

 

[Devolve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superpang /img/forum/go_quote.gif Canadian dollar blows , hopefully it will go back to par with the USD.

Amen. I need to build me some cheap interconnects.

 

[PenDragon]

The strong dollar isn't what's hurting me at the moment... it's the ridicilously strong yen.

 

[john5220]

You sure you want to know my feelings?

Dollar in my country is pegged to the US dollar.

So when it drops ours drops. Our worst fear is the rising Euros.

Some corrupted smart Ass Economic hit man from the US was behind screwing our dollar here thats why its so difficult for our dollar to become anything useful.

We have real oil and gas here that we export and the US knows this thats why they have enslaved our Dollar!!!!!

Nevertheless my plans are on migrating to Miami in the coming years let me see how they like that one!!!!!!!!!!