Exchange Rate

[TheTeenageMuse]

In Canada I notice (as I'm sure many of you do) that the prices of makeup products are inexplicably higher than in the States. I'm wondering if this is a running trend worldwide. What I'm guessing is that the country with the bigger economy gets the better deal while the smaller brother gets ripped off?

Particularly I'd like to hear from people who are from and know the prices of the following comparisons:

France-England
Mexico-US
China-Japan-Australia
Germany-France
Brazil-Anywhere in South America.

 

[xFlossy]

Makeup amongst most things are really expensive here in Australia. A MAC shadow from a counter costs around $30, Pigments are $40, Fluidlines are $32 and the foundations are $50.

I don't buy from Australia anymore if I can help it. Probably unpatriotic but who cares.

I can get 2 MAC Eyeshadows from the States for the same price as one shipped to my door from Australia.

 

[tamarindi]

In my country the prices are usually 1.5 more expensive than in the US

 

[HOTasFCUK]

I can't believe how our dolalr is almost at par with the US yet we pay so much more! For example, the new Urban Decay Naked Palette retails for around $44 USD but is priced at $53 CND. Not fair at all! Or even MAC. We pay $2 more on lipsticks and gloss and i think $3 more for eyeshadow. Blush, MSF's, dazzleglasses are also much higher too. The pathetic part is that MAC is made in Canada!!! Why are we paying more? They aren't importing it in for us?

 

[LMD84]

i live in the uk and when me and hubby went to france last year the euro was dreadful! it pretty much worked out that one pound was a euro. so therefore cosmetics and other items were much more expencive. which is why i couldnt buy much at the spehora there! i much prefer going on holiday to the states where the exchange rate isn't as good as it was a few years ago, but still means bargains are to be had

 

[Luiza_T]

Makeup and cosmetics in Brazil are expensive (not only that, but I'll limit myself to it). The taxes on imported beauty products are very high (up to 150%). I know in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay for example, the same products are way cheaper, but I can't tell the exact prices since I have never bought anything there. The national products are expensive too and are, most of the times, not good. If a person in Brazil buys online (from another country), the taxes are 60% no matter the price of the product, but the reality is that some people do not have their packages taxed even though it should be and the agency who handles that may charge even more (like 100%, 120%) to those whose packages are taxed, although it is not a correct thing to do.

Some comparisons (I will use the old MAC prices in the US since the prices in Brazil did not increase yet):

MAC lipstick - in US: US$ 14 (R$ 24.81 as of today); in Brazil: R$ 69

MAC eyeshadow (pot) - in US: US$ 14.50 (R$ 25.70); in Brazil: R$ 69

MAC MSF and MSF Natural: In US: US$ 28 (R$ 49.63); in Brazil: R$ 121

And the list goes on... MAC Brasil doesn't have its own website, but an authorized seller does and the prices are the same as in the MAC stores: Maquiagem MAC exclusivo na Sack's Perfumaria (everything is in Portuguese though).

Oh, and the NYX powder blush that is being sold in Cherry Culture for US$ 5 (R$ 8.86) costs R$50 in Brazil.

EDIT: I forgot to add that the brazilian prices already include taxes, while the US ones don't. In Brazil something that is R$ X, that's what we're going to pay, not R$ X + N% (taxes), like in Canada and US.