The Pampers index: what nappy prices reveal about Europe
Huge disparities show the boast of a single market is full of it
THE PARENTS of a screaming new-born baby typically have no time to spare. But if they live in Europe, they should spend a few minutes shopping around for nappies. Three enormous boxes of Pampers come to €168 ($198) on Amazon’s Spanish website. By contrast, the same order from Amazon’s British website costs only €74. (Even after an exorbitant delivery fee is added, the saving is still €42.) If sleep-deprived parents are too groggy to work out how much they could save in a year, they could pep themselves up with a new coffee machine. The swankiest Nespresso model will set them back €460 on Amazon’s French website, but can be snapped up for €301 on the German version. They could then boast about their canny shopping on Samsung’s newest phone, which varies in price by up to €300 depending on which domain is used.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The Pampers index”
Europe August 29th 2020
From the August 29th 2020 edition
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