Many reasons are given to explain why products are more expensive in Israel, but even someone sympathetic to these claims cannot explain why at least some of the price gaps are so wide. On a visit to Frankfurt last week, Leon Khodjaev was stunned to see that he pays three times morein Israel for Listerine mouthwash than its price in Germany.
Khodjaev randomly entered one of the drugstores in the city, and found that a 500-ml bottle of Listerine costs €2.65 (NIS 11) there, compared with NIS 40.80 for the same bottle in Super Pharm.
Listerine Germany v Israel Leon Khodaev
"When I saw the price of Listerine and translated it into shekels, I was shocked. I use Listerine regularly, and I usually buy it at Super Pharm for about NIS 40. When I returned at the end of last week, I went to Super Pharm to check the price again, and discovered that I hadn't made a mistake. Listerine was on sale for NIS 40.80. They make a pile of money on this product in Israel. There's no justification for it," Khodjaev told "Globes."
Khodjaev says that the price in Germany includes VAT, but even if it does not, the price gap is still incomprehensible. VAT in Germany is 19%, so adding VAT makes the price NIS 13, meaning that the price at Super Pharm is still more than triple the price in Germany.
It should be noted that the shekel-euro exchange rate has recently fallen, but this change is also far from explaining even a significant part of the gap in prices.
No response from Super Pharm has been received.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 20, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015