Nice post and thanks for the tip. I’ve noticed the same about them search engines (especially wikipedia). And I remember testing that http://www.fi thing and I think it gave ok results but still worse than Google.

Phil: “Ordering from the states always seems to be cheaper than from the UK or in Finland, even with the shipping costs.”

Seems cheaper? Seems??????

You’re being awfully generous Phil. It’s nearly always cheaper. Or the Finnish price is close enough to dissuade you from undertaking the hassle of ordering from abroad…..but it’s NEVER actually less or even the same. And selection is narrow.

That’s the problem with living in a high-tax country with highly centralized economy; there’s simply not enough competition due to lack of private capital and incentive, so we overpay for nearly everything here—by a lot!

I really hope we heed the OECD’s advice on this one…….
http://www.oecd.org/document/36/0,2340,en_33873108_33873360_36552804_1_1_1_1,00.html

Why is shopping and ordering from the USA better than in Finland?

Are your shops empty? Do you not have book stores?

No. The answer is in Phils post. Government interference.

Thats right, your Government stops you from your persuit of happiness, and says, no spend that money here, or we will tax it.

Your beef is not with all those cheep goods from the USA, but your beef is with your government on high taxes.

Seems cheaper? Seems??????

You’re being awfully generous Phil

Well, I’m no expert on the subject but, everytime I order books/DVDs/CDs, I check amazon.com, .uk, and .de, as well as locally and some other online shops like play.com. Amazon.com always win.s

Amazon has always been most reliable – I’ve also gotten used books through them with no hassle. Are you saying that even books could have problems with the Customs? Strange, what extra tax would be involved? The sales tax? Not I would ever disapprove of taxation! I love it. Especially today after having paid the non-sensical Finnish inheritance tax. (I’m one of those libertarian extremists that would abolish it for small properties, say anything under half a million or so.)

mjr: “Especially today after having paid the non-sensical Finnish inheritance tax.”

Yes, it keeps lots of Finns away from Finland. Makes this a less attractive place to live.

Hey, just try to have a private individual send you something from the states. Finnish customs will try to tax it. I don’t let anything get sent here to Finland anymore. They send it straight to my German address.

The problem is that we don’t want to compete head-on in the world marketplace, so we have to use cheesy protectionist measures that cost us all lots of money.

Hey, just try to have a private individual send you something from the states. Finnish customs will try to tax it.

Yup. I got nailed once when my mom sent me my Christmas present. She was being honest when she filled out the customs slip. Fuck honesty!

Phil:

“One last thing, you know those cute http://www.fi advertisements that are supposed to be optimized for the Finnish language?”

First off all, I don’t think “those cute http://www.fi advertisements” are “supposed to be OPTIMIZED for the Finnish language”. If you think that then you’re even further off base than usually.

But, where and when did you manage to get so screwed up, that you got the feeling: “hey, advertisements, they are the real source of FACRS”? Jeez. Couldn’t find any AMERICAN one’s while you were at it?

First off all, I don’t think “those cute http://www.fi advertisements” are “supposed to be OPTIMIZED for the Finnish language”. If you think that then you’re even further off base than usually.

http://www.fi isn’t optimized for Finnish? I thought it was.

But, where and when did you manage to get so screwed up, that you got the feeling: “hey, advertisements, they are the real source of FACRS”? Jeez. Couldn’t find any AMERICAN one’s while you were at it?

Sorry, been in Finland too long, becoming gullible.

“Sorry, been in Finland too long, becoming gullible.”

_

>>>>Yup. I got nailed once when my mom sent me my Christmas present. She was being honest when she filled out the customs slip. Fuck honesty!

Same here. I feel your pain! I got taxed €50 for an IPOD nano because it was cheaper to have my parents buy it for me and send it from back home (U.S.), so basically I got it for the same price that they sell it for in Finland. I was so pissed that day since I had no idea it was going to happen.

Phil:

“www.fi isn’t optimized for Finnish? I thought it was.”

“www.fi” might be optimiSed (this is europe after all) for the finnish language, but their adverisements most certainly aren’t. Get the point?

“Sorry, been in Finland too long, becoming gullible.”

So, while living in the states you were critical about advertisements and their (factual) contents. I’m sure you’ve expressed your dissatisfaction widely (at least based on the way you publicise any matter that is not to YOUR satisfaction in Finland), which you surely can demonstrate using a selection of links.

Then you came to Finland and became gullible towards advertisements. Now you believe they express the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I guess it’s the wellfare state – with all it’s “well-known” harmful effects upon the individuals properties – that is behind this as well? Or how can a grown-up change in this way?

Of course the products in Amazon.com are cheaper, they don’t include a percentage for supporting the welfare state.

Funny how Finns are so supportive of the Social Welfare System but are so eager to buy goods outside the system. I have brought goods back for friends every trip since I moved back here. I even have one item at the moment and I am not even planning another trip until September. I have brought digital cameras, GPS units, most everything. Kind of silly really, but the difference in price has always been over 100 Euros between buying it here and there.

While living in Finland I had tickets overnighted from the US because there was a significant price difference at the time.

“www.fi” might be optimiSed (this is europe after all) for the finnish language, but their adverisements most certainly aren’t. Get the point?

Thomas, you should check out the “Anal Retentive Chef” sketches from SNL, cause your posts remind me of him. Couldn’t find anything on YouTube, here’s a few screenshots and transcript: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/88/88panalchef.phtml

I think it is not the welfare state, but the importer who gets fat when we buy imported foreign gadgets etc. The Customs is pretty much regulated by Brussels now and within the EU it shouldn’t matter, where you buy your stuff, but if you enjoy pissing people off and being shouted at, try to get guarantee service from the finnish importer for some stuff you bought from Germany…

Hmmm, one colleague of mine had ordered some sturdy Soviet-made vacuum relays from Lithuania some time ago and they called him to pick them from the Customs. He had a lot of explaining to do as the lady behind the counter was insisting that they were some special detonators…

[i]“Thomas, you should check out the “Anal Retentive Chef” sketches from SNL, cause your posts remind me of him.”[/i]

A good one Phil, I really feel for you for having to endure all these frustratingly inane, weird, flaming comments you get… Some people just have it too hard I guess, and it certainly isn’t your fault.

The best would be to have tariff-free trade with the US. Having a large trading block would give us both good positioning considering competition from developing parts of the world—like China, India, etc.

We’re headed in that direction anyway, so it’s probably inevitable. But much is probably dependent on getting our respective GDP’s aligned more closes (i.e. we must raise ours here in Europe).

I think it is not the welfare state, but the importer who gets fat when we buy imported foreign gadgets etc.

Yeah, importing in Finland is akin to printing money. It’s been that way forever, seems like there’s just no competition. I lived in the better parts of town during my school years and when I visited my classmates, I noticed that the ones living in the flashier ones tended to have parents owning import businesses…

Sadly, few gadgets are delivered to Finland when bought online, even within the EU.

People should be ordering from us here in Finland. Of course we could warehouse the stuff in central locations throughout Europe. But we could do the business end of things here.

Too bad we don’t have an economic system—(small) business friendly tax structures, etc.—that makes it possible.

Phil:

“Thomas, you should check out the “Anal Retentive Chef” sketches from SNL, cause your posts remind me of him.”

I think you are quite good at this yourself. I mean, I pointed out that the advertisements were not optimised for the finnish language (whether or not that is relevant is a matter of opinion, but that’s what you wrote). Your answer, “I thought they were”. Then the main point – the one about advertisements – was of course conveniently swept under the rug.

And – as for anal retentiveness – wasn’t bringing up the advertisement in the first place – and in the way you did – a prime example of this? It’s an advertisement. Right? So where and when have advertisements not used EXACTLY the same methods as these particular advertisements use? But in a blog where you keep on – many times in a rather anal retentive fashion, mind you – bitching about more or less everything in Finland, the fact that you brought it up has to be seen in a certain context. At least I do.

But if you say advertising in GENERAL sucks – not just http://www.fi‘s – I’ll agree. And then we could discuss how much effect on prices advertising has, as compared to importer’s shares, customs, … But this is a subject I can’t remember you mentioning even once. And it’s a subject “economic libertarians” don’t seem at all concerned about. I guess paying for advertisements is somehow healthy, whereas customs are not. I don’t see it this way, however. Rather the other way around.

A good one Phil, I really feel for you for having to endure all these frustratingly inane, weird, flaming comments you get… Some people just have it too hard I guess, and it certainly isn’t your fault.

It must be tough having the Titanic-size holes in your thinking pointed out to you.

Thank God for anal-retentive people. Otherwise we’d still have the Ptolemaic view of the universe, or more precisely, we’d still be in the tree collecting bananas. Oh well, that’s the libertarian ideal anyway. If you listen to them, it’s all been downhill since then.

I think you are quite good at this yourself. I mean, I pointed out that the advertisements were not optimised for the finnish language (whether or not that is relevant is a matter of opinion, but that’s what you wrote). Your answer, “I thought they were”. Then the main point – the one about advertisements – was of course conveniently swept under the rug.

I meant that http://www.fi is optimized for the Finnish language. Is it not? Sorry for the confusion.

But in a blog where you keep on – many times in a rather anal retentive fashion, mind you – bitching about more or less everything in Finland, the fact that you brought it up has to be seen in a certain context.

That’s true, I’m pretty anal retentive about the welfare state.

optimiSed (this is europe after all)

All forms of English are welcome on Finland for Thought. British English, American English, broken English, Finglish, Pig Latin etc..

I mostly use play.com for games and dvds but they don’t have that many books (but that’s always the first place I check, even when I’m searching for books). But yeah – it’s indeed smart to use Amazon instead of local stores or libraries (which don’t have any good political books). Thank God for the current exchange rate.

The symbol “TM” means that they claim the phrase as a trade mark. It has not been registered (if it were, they’d be using the circled R symbol), and it probably has not been contested in court.

You can “TM” whatever you like. Whether it protects the mark as a legal trademark depends on other things like whether you have been able to establish it as a mark in reality (essentially, whether when people in your target group see your “mark” in a commercial context they think of you).

Franklin:

“Thank God for anal-retentive people. Otherwise we’d still have the Ptolemaic view of the universe, or more precisely, we’d still be in the tree collecting bananas.”

I’m sorry, but my anal-retentiveness is incurable. Actually it’s not bananas, it’s COCONUTS. That’s what Robinson keeps collecting in those fake-world examples neoclassical economists use in their text-books, that libertarian bloggers for some strange reason seem to think talk about the REAL world.

Phil:

“I meant that http://www.fi is optimized for the Finnish language. Is it not? Sorry for the confusion.”

That’s the answer you could have given in the first place. Because what you meant is not what you wrote. And I’m no thought reader. Guess that’s a side effect of my chronic anal-retentiveness.