Author Topic: Off topic - Need internet help (Read 4989 times)

CJPhoto · « **on:** April 04, 2007, 09:00 »

This is completely off topic but I know there are a few clever people on this forum so thought I would ask.

I am in the UK and want to get access to a US website. the website however has somehow blocked UK users so you can only see the UK version of the site.

The site in question is www.abercrombie.com . The reason I want access to the US site is to confirm that the UK really is a rip of (they are charging twice the price in the UK).

is there any way to get around this easily or will they always see my IP address is in the UK and therefore redirect me. The only think I can think of is IP blocking softwre (which sounds a bit extreme though I have no idea really).

mattb · « **Reply #1 on:** April 04, 2007, 09:23 »

You can try to use google's page translator.
http://www.google.com/language_tools

Requests should look like they are coming from google.(Make sure you are on google.com not google.co.uk). Just pick a translation from some other language to english.

Or you can try http://www.guardster.com/subscription/proxy_free.php
Haven't used it myself but it's supposed to allow anonymous surfing.

Matt

Greg Boiarsky · « **Reply #2 on:** April 04, 2007, 09:44 »

What you need is sometimes called a web "anonymizer." Basically, they reroute all of your web traffic through a proxy server, masking your IP and other info. It tends to slow your surfing and other web activity down.

I'm not sure it's worth the hassle to prove UK prices are too high. My suggestion is to simply ask someone here on the forum to do a little sleuthing for you and check prices on items you specify.

digiology · « **Reply #3 on:** April 04, 2007, 10:52 »

Funny I was just visiting abercrombie.com this morning with my son. I didn't even notice it took me to the ".ca" version of the site.

$50(cdn) for a t-shirt?!? Definately a rip-off! We also visited a store in Colorado recently and it was still pretty expensive so the Canadian prices seem pretty much in-line with the US

I just tried the google translator idea and it was still able to block me.

CJPhoto · « **Reply #4 on:** April 04, 2007, 11:37 »

Guys tshirts ranged from £35 to £50 so that is a lot of extra for frieght!

hatman12 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 04, 2007, 12:12 »

CJP, EVERYTHING is charged at twice the price in the UK!

Last September I emigrated here to Australia. We pay the equivalent of 40p for petrol. And people here complain about the prices! When I tell local people what I used to pay in England they are speechless.

In January the Sydney Morning Herald ran a front page piece warning Australians who might be planning a trip to England to be aware of the high prices; the article was prompted by the massive increase in tube fares making a one station stop in Zone 1 £4 if I recall correctly. A 33% increase.

I can eat out at a great restaurant almost anywhere for £40; in Australia, France, Italy, Hong Kong; yet in London that same meal will cost £120.

London is now officially the most expensive City in the world for almost everything, with public transport right at the top of the list and almost laughably more expensive than anywhere else.

In my last few years in the UK I found I was buying more and more things on the internet primarily from Europe where prices are often half of those locally in England. Ha, even medicines are a joke; I occasionally use a Ventolin Inhaler; in England I would get one at a so-called prescription discount at £7, but years ago I found I could walk into any pharmacy in France and buy the same thing over the counter for £3.

To be fair to product retailers, they have to charge much higher prices to try to recoup the high transportation, storage, distribution and wage costs.

Good luck with your search!

hatman12 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 04, 2007, 12:16 »

Had a quick look. Round neck T shirts are priced at around $29.50, Polo shirts are in the $49.50 to $59.50 range.

digiology · « **Reply #7 on:** April 04, 2007, 12:26 »

Quote from: CJPhoto on April 04, 2007, 11:37

Guys tshirts ranged from £35 to £50 so that is a lot of extra for frieght!

I thought the Cdn prices were high!

You are indeed paying double.

CJPhoto · « **Reply #8 on:** April 04, 2007, 16:21 »

Thanks guys. Dispite the much higher cost of living and lots of travel, I still save more in London than I would if I was still in NZ. Not sure how you could live on minimum wage of £5.25 in London.

Not everything is expensive though. Cant think of anything of the top of my head but some stuff is cheap.