The cheapest countries to buy a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6

Lanh Nguyen / Android Authority

The most advanced foldable phone Samsung has ever made is also the most expensive. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is undoubtedly a stunning piece of hardware, but those looking to pre-order it in America are looking at a retail price of $1,899 for the base model, plus a sales tax of maybe $200 more. What if we told you that you could buy it abroad for a lower price and avoid the tax? It’s possible, so we looked into the cheapest place in the world to buy the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Not everyone is aware of this tourist perk of avoiding sales tax abroad, but it’s worth knowing. In many cases, only the residents of a country pay this extra charge, with visitors either able to avoid it or claim it back at the airport before they leave. Not only might you find the latest foldable phone cheaper on your travels, but you might be able to save even more with this tip.

Anyway, let’s get into the numbers.

Almost all of the amounts shown in the table are the maximum that a foreigner in that country will pay. Some of those prices will include the country’s sales tax, which you may then be able to claim back when you leave and effectively get the phone cheaper. We’ve added a 10% sales tax to the US figure for the purpose of the comparison so Americans know how much they’d be paying in total at home and abroad.

The results of our investigation show that Malaysia is the cheapest place in the world to buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. The 7,299 Malaysian ringgit you’d fork out for the base model of the phone is the equivalent of around $1,564. When US sales tax is taken into account, that’s over $500 less than you’d be paying at home.

Japan isn’t far behind in second place, where the phone will cost you around $1,587. Samsung’s home country of South Korea is third on the list at the equivalent of $1,609. No other country has the device available for under $1,800.

As with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Turkey tops the list of most expensive places to buy the Z Fold 6 at over $2,700. Buyers from Mexico and Ecuador also pay around $2,500 in US dollar terms. There may be particular reasons for outliers like this, which we’ll explore further below.

Our data suggests that US consumers are neither getting a particularly good or bad deal, with America falling around the midpoint of the table. The sales-tax-adjusted US price tag is somewhere between the more affordable Southeast Asian countries on one end of the scale and the pricier European nations on the other.

It’s possible that an authorized retailer of the phone could decide to sell it at a lower price — perhaps to be a loss leader and sell other products. Any such deal should be a red flag in your mind, though. In most cases, it’s much more likely that you’re being misled, either by a stolen or replica model or a reconditioned device.

It’s obviously a different story when it comes to carrier offers. The big providers may advertise the Galaxy Z Fold 6 as much cheaper or even free, but any such deals will involve trading in your old device, committing to a long service plan, or a combination of the two.

You’re almost certainly not going to feel the benefit of any price disparity if you travel with the sole intention of getting a lower price on the Glaazy Z Fold 6. The airfare alone to get to one of the cheaper countries will immediately offset any savings and then some.

Just because you won’t get a straight cash discount on the base model at home doesn’t mean there aren’t good ways to save. Samsung will offer you a free storage upgrade to the 512GB model of the device when you pre-order, as well as some solid trade-in incentives. Amazon matches the free upgrade and also throws in a $300 gift card for free. If you plan on picking up anything else from Amazon in the medium term, that perk is as good as a $300 discount on the Z Fold 6.

Why is the Galaxy Z Fold 6 cheaper in some countries than in others?

Alex Walker-Todd / Android Authority

Business 101 tells you that, before setting a retail price, you work out all of the costs of selling the product first. The costs to Samsung of selling the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in each country are different due to factors like import tariffs, shipping costs, labor, and many more. It stands to reason that Samsung would choose a retail price that reflects those costs, which may be part of the explanation for such a high retail price in places like Mexico, where taxes on importing electronics are high.

Once a product has been costed up, the manufacturer will not just add a profit percentage on top to work out a retail price. Samsung will have whole teams of economists working on much more complex models that consider the average disposable income in each region, the demand for the phone, and other such metrics. This is one of the most profitable electronics companies in the world for a reason.

The other thing is that we’re converting all prices to USD for this exercise, which means the list will change regularly as global exchange rates fluctuate. For example, if the dollar starts weakening against other currencies, the US will climb the table as the phone will appear more expensive in other countries in USD terms. The table probably looked quite different months ago when these retail prices were decided, and it will look different again six months from now. We’ll periodically update this post for that reason.