Some of the most dramatic price reductions in the High Street sales this month will be advertised by electrical retailers, frequently on computers and accessories.
But they are less of a bargain than they appear. For while the Government is introducing schemes to give children access to computers at school, such as donations of redundant PCs from business, British consumers are being penalised when they buy them from High Street stores.
What makes the scandal greater is that it is happening four years after the Consumers' Association revealed evidence of price-fixing of electrical goods. The Office of Fair Trading was supposed to be conducting an inquiry but little or nothing has changed since.
Even the world's largest maker of micro-processor chips for personal computers, Intel, has pointed out that PC prices in the UK are higher than on the Continent - let alone the United States where they are usually a third cheaper.
Intel chief executive Craig Barrett blamed ''ridiculous margins'' in Britain. Phil Evans, senior policy researcher at the Consumers' Association, says: ''If Intel are complaining about prices in the UK then we have to be concerned.
''The Treasury has already highlighted the price of PCs in the UK as being considerably higher than in other developed countries. There appears to be more evidence to support our concern that UK consumers are getting a raw deal.''
The latest edition of Computeractive magazine compares prices in Dixons, in Britain, and Future Shop, which trades in Main Streets in America and Canada - but it found similar prices charged by other British stores such as Argos.
Deputy editor Dylan Armbrust says: ''The result was astounding. Every single item in the US was cheaper than its UK counterpart.''
A Compaq Presario 5150 Pentium II 350 MHz multimedia PC cost #1199 in Dixons at pre-January sale prices. In America it cost #755 for a larger hard drive and double the memory, although with different software. Even with VAT added it would still be only #887, or #312 less - a 35% difference.
A 3COM Palm III handheld computer sold for #249 in Dixons but #151 in Future Shop. With VAT added it would be #177 - #72 less or a 41% difference.
Yet direct retailers can sell at comparable prices. Gateway's G6-350 multimedia PC cost just 2%, or #20, more in the UK with 17.5% VAT and 8% state sales tax in the US taken into account.
''Dixons controls over half of the High Street distribution of PCs,'' Evans says. ''They seem to be using this enormous market power to keep prices to consumers high.
''We think the competition authorities need to look closely at Dixons' monopoly position in the High Street PC market and force them to explain their pricing policy.''
Dixons denies it has a monopoly and says its share of the consumer PC market is only 14%, although it is not clear whether this includes direct as well as High Street sales.
It says the cost of retail space, different tax regimes and software bundles have to be taken into account and claims its average margin on PCs is about 10%. Chief executive John Clare has told the Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of Fair Trading he would welcome any pricing inquiry.
''The PC market seems to be divided between those who shop by mail order and on-line, who tend to be well-informed and price sensitive, and those who shop in the High Street,'' Evans points out.
''These latter consumers tend to rely on retailers to inform them of the technology and give them a good deal. They are the ones getting a raw deal in the market place.''
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