I'm not just talking about prices and deals, but I can get to that. It just has so much more to offer. You can trade in two items instead of one on a product that has trade in (was up to $900 off max for S22 Ultra via 1 or 2 items, $1000 through some verison deal).
They have a dedicated, though limited, certified renewed section which is something Samsung should attempt to expand if they truly are wanting to be more green, I have my doubts they do. You can also enter more than one code at checkout as at the top at checkout it says "Enter Promo/Referral code(s)".
Why I find the two codes thing to be a good idea is because I have everything in settings for my account and specific apps set to receiving marketing/promotional information but everytime I receive an email it's for £50 off the S21 Ultra or £60 off the S8 range, but I can usually get a 10% code so if I could use the code I signed up for that would make it more worthwhile. Now I'm just wondering why I even have the option turned on everywhere at all (other than 15% birthday discount which is pretty good).
Anyway I'm not mad at the pricing, we have 20% VAT added, theirs doesn't include sales tax/state tax (usually 5-7%, can be up to 9.55% or nothing). It's the deals. If I was to splurge I'd go for Green Ultra 512GB and the Tab Ultra 256gb. We get 5% autosaving.
In the UK this year there is free Buds Pro and Disney+, which I don't want or need either as I got the buds already over a year ago with the S21 Ultra pre order and the Disney+ will be tied to your account and I don't watch it so has no real value to me. If you truly want the buds you can get them for under £80 brand new inc. delivery from eBay due to the crazy cashback offer recently where you could get the Buds Pro half that price under the right circumstances, I can only see them going lower now. Besides lumping products together to incentivise the launch, it just devalues the free item from too many people reselling to bring the cost down or just people who don't want the item making the RRP too expensive afterwards also more waste/environmental impact. Last year I got my S21 Ultra in a big Samsung box, with 3 more boxes inside (phone, buds, tag) , then for the charger I had to buy it afterwards which took another delivery and another box within a box. Hense why I don't believe the environment claim.
So in the USA this year, the S22 Ultra has a free memory upgrade from 128GB to 256GB and from 256GB to 512GB too, $200 free store credit just some free months worth of subscriptions for Spotify/YouTube. Much less waste. More towards making the product you want cheaper if you want to buy another product or increase your storage. On the next page additional products to combine at a promo discount. There was the Tab Ultra 256GB model being offered for a 25% discount with the purchase of the S22 Ultra, which after taking the $200 credit off the price took the total of the tab down to $699.99 and that includes the free keyboard cover too which I do want.
Comparing price then we get the two products + free stuff for £2373.05 in the UK (remove the 20% VAT we get £1977.54).
Same two items in US + free stuff. $1999.98 or £1471.20. I hear a lot about the cost being down to trade deals/VAT but here is VAT removed and the UK has a free trade deal just like the US. The Buds Pro cost Samsung very little to manufacture so hard to add it into the cost other than the resale value to a current consumer which is £80 and with these two items you get 13 months total of subscription services free in US vs 12 here, yet £420 difference?
My main point is I wish Samsung would just offer the products cheaper or with deals that make the products you actually want cheaper and not default to adding extra products on top. And to offer all the little additional extras the US page has. With a dash of give us a slightly better deal (but I understand the US is a market you wish to grow in due to Apple dominance).
Just late night thoughts to tire me out. G'nite.