Posted on behalf of Alan Davies UK sales manager
Having read what has been posted on the BrailleNote list and following conversations with some of our customers regarding price differentiation between the UK and USA for the BrailleNote PK, I'd like to take this opportunity to make a few comments as follows. 1. The pound is particularly strong against the US dollar at this moment in time, so as a British consumer of any product it is very fortuitous to make direct comparisons with the USA right now. Only 12 months ago the rate was 10% lower and 2 years ago the rate was US$ 1.42 to the pound 20% less than the present rate. 2. For Pulse Data in the UK, all our transaction are in pounds and euros. Whilst the euro is currently quite stable against the pound, last year we saw a 12% reduction in the value of the pound. During this time we did not increase the price of our products to our customers, we took the hit completely and it was a very significant amount of money off our bottom line. Long term currency fluctuations is one of the factors that has to be taken into consideration when setting a price. 3. The costs we incur of running a business are not the same as those incurred in the USA. There are differences in business taxation, employment tax, building rates, insurance, the list goes on and on. If we consider the size of the UK market vis-a-vis the USA market, the costs per unit of items sold is increased many times over. This is another factor why our pricing, across our whole range of products - not just the PK - is different in the two markets. 4. We do have to make a profit. We are looking at increasing our staff levels and investing in our infrastructure to be able to provide an even better service to our customers and the people with whom we work. The price will remain at £ 3595. However, we do listen to our customers and have agreed with some of the suggestions that have been put forward. In particular we are pleased to announce with immediate affect, and running until the end of 2004, the BrailleNote PK will be offered to existing Pulse Data customers at a special price of £ 3295. Alan Davis General Sales Manager - UK Pulse Data Europe.
