I've just noticed that 1and1 have very different prices depending on where you live. Go to each of these sites and click the Managed Server link in the left nav:

www . 1and1 . co . uk
www . 1and1 . com
www . 1und1 . de

If the price differences aren't blatantly obvious, take a quick trip to www . xe . net / ucc and convert them into your currency of choice.

All three sites have slightly different deals, but the cheapest US deal is $49 and the cheapest UK deal is 49 GBP. Ah yes, the US server is lower spec... but it has an awful lot more bandwidth!

Do 1and1 host these products in different datacentres? If so, then the price differences might be understandable.

*But* - try signing up for the USA deal when you don't live in the USA. Now, why would a company in Germany prevent a UK resident like me from buying their products in the USA? This looks like blatant market manipulation to me.

Not sure whether or not this is legal or moral - that's probably a bigger debate than I'm prepared to go into - but how can they expect customers in the UK (or Germany) not to be put off by this? I would resent paying the extra for UK service, and would rather just buy from some other company in the USA. Or Germany. Or anywhere.

An example of a better way to do this is Amazon. I tend to buy from amazon.co.uk, but if I pop along to amazon.com they don't tell me to get stuffed. That's just bad for business!

Greetings:

"Not sure whether or not this is legal or moral"

I cannot speak for other countries, but in the U.S. it would be considered legal, ethical, and moral.

A company has the right to set pricing on the services and products it deliveres; and different markets can have different prices.

Thank you.

Just look at the other discussion board thread about them:
over here (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2362437#post2362437http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2362437#post2362437)

Bandwidth costs vary from country to country, I think you ill find thats the reason why.

Have you heard that US customers cross the border to Canada to buy pharmaceuticals? Guess why?

It goes on all the time all over the world.

Originally posted by Trilux
Have you heard that US customers cross the border to Canada to buy pharmaceuticals? Guess why?

It goes on all the time all over the world.

Yes, but would it be fair for the Canadians to say "Sorry, you are from the US, so you can't buy it"? That I think it is the issue at hand. 1&1 does not allow a UK citizen for example to buy from the US-based brand. It is OK to have differnet prices, but it is fair to not allow a purchase from an online, world-wide source, based on where you are at?