The cheapest countries to buy a Pixel 8a

The Google Pixel 8a has arrived and will be touted as an affordable alternative to the Pixel 8. But it isn’t exactly cheap at $499 in the US, and then there’s sales tax to pay before you actually get your hands on it. The potential good news is that the device is retailing for a different price in other markets, which raises the question of whether you could save by buying it abroad. We were curious to find out and looked into the cheapest place to buy the Pixel 8a.

It isn’t just a lower retail price or a favorable exchange rate that can make flagship Android phones cheaper to buy in other nations. You pay sales tax when you buy in America because you’re a resident, and citizens of many other countries do the same under their rules. But sales tax or its equivalent often doesn’t apply to tourists, meaning you might be able to claim it back or avoid it altogether when shopping on your travels. This is worth keeping in mind as we run through the figures below.

What are the cheapest countries to buy a Pixel 8a?

We looked up the retail price of the Pixel 8a in the countries in which you can now pre-order it, then converted those local prices to US dollars at today’s exchange rate. The results for both the 128GB and 256GB models of the handset are in the table below, ordered from cheapest to most expensive.

We added an approximate 10% sales tax to the USA figure so that you’ll get an idea of how much you’d spend as an American resident, at home or abroad. It’s worth noting that the prices in the other countries are the most you should be charged, and you may be able to pay less as some countries include the sales tax in the retail price. It won’t always be the case, but if you’re able to avoid this tax or claim it back while passing through the nation, you may get the Pixel 8a for 10% or even 15% less than the stated amounts.

Japan is the cheapest place in the world to buy the 128GB model of the Google Pixel 8a. We specify the variant because, unlike every other country on the list, the 256GB model isn’t available for pre-order in the Land of the Rising Sun. The base model will cost you the equivalent of $469 in Japan.

Canada is the second cheapest place to buy the phone if you can avoid sales tax and the cheapest if you want to pre-order the 256GB capacity device. Taiwan is in a close third place on the list at $509 for the base model.

Even when you include the sales tax, the US is still one of the cheapest countries in which to buy a handset. America sits fifth on the list, and you only pay around $80 more than the Japanese on home soil. Compare that with most places in Europe paying around the $600 mark.

India is the most expensive place to buy the 128GB model of the Pixel 8a, with authorized retailer Flipkart offering the device for the equivalent of $635. We’ll consider why this might be the case below. While UK residents are paying marginally less than that for the base model, they’re paying the most in the world for the 256GB variant at $749.

Is there a chance I’ll find the Pixel 8a for less than these prices?

The short answer is not really. Perhaps you might find it cheaper abroad or in the US in a few months, but it’s still in its pre-order phase at the time of writing. We’ve already outlined that you might save a bit in a foreign land from a tax perspective, and there may be promotions like a free storage upgrade to make the 256GB model cheaper. But, in general, you’re not going to see straight-up discounts on the retail price for a little while.

That doesn’t mean you won’t see deals related to the phone, such as trade-in offers or even the chance to get the Pixel 8a for free, but no such offer will be no-strings-attached. Both in America and abroad, this is likely to relate to a carrier and come with a commitment to a monthly plan or something along those lines. Anyone who tries to sell you an unlocked Pixel 8a for half the retail price at this stage of the launch without any caveats is probably trying to scam you.

Should I buy the Pixel 8a from another country?

For US residents, there really isn’t a lot to be gained from buying the Pixel 8a in another country. The table illustrates that the savings you could make are fairly marginal. On top of that, there are practical considerations, such as whether it will come with a different software configuration than you’d expect in the States or a warranty that’s next to useless if it needs to be used in the country in which the phone was purchased.

And this is all on the working assumption that you just happen to be passing through a region where you can save on the phone. It should be obvious that there’s no value in traveling for the sole purpose of picking up the device. The cost of your airfare alone would probably supply you and a couple of friends with the phone at home.

Besides, it only takes a bit of patience and shopping around to avoid the retail price in the USA. There are already some Pixel 8a pre-order deals available, or you could wait a few months to see if you can get a cash discount on the device. Google has surprised us in recent years regarding how quickly we’ve seen cut-price Pixels soon after launch.

As is so often the case in the 21st century, the answer is capitalism. In setting the retail price of the Pixel 8a, Google has to consider the costs of bringing the phone to market and how much profit it can extract from the consumer on top of that. Both of these factors consist of many elements that are dependent on the region of the world you’re in.

For example, if a country has a big import duty on electronics being shipped in for sale, Google is going to pass on this extra expense to the end buyer in the form of a higher retail price. If the phone is cheap to get on the shelves but there’s huge demand from a population with deep pockets, the manufacturer is leaving profits on the table by making it a lot cheaper to buy. You get the idea.

The nature of this exercise also means that the table above is subject to change on a daily basis, as we’ve introduced exchange rates into the equation. It makes it easier for us to compare values, but the retail prices of the Pixel 8a were probably decided on months ago, and the global economy hasn’t exactly been calm recently. We’ll revisit the table in future months to see if your US dollars are going further when buying the phone abroad.