Persil and Ariel cost no more in Europe, than what Americans or Canadians pay for Tide.

Persil sold in the USA and Canada are price affected due to import fees and taxes.

I am always amazed, when I am back in Germany or Sweden and I buy a big bottle or box of Persil...and it comes out to like $7 or $8.

I also think good old fashioned greed plays a role in pricing. I can't believe a $7-$8 item becomes a $50 item due to import fees and taxes. I read somewhere that Miele is the sole importer and distributor of German Persil in the USA, and they have marketed and priced the product as a "luxury" item here in the states. It's fair to assume the vast majority of what you pay for Persil here in the USA is pure profit for the dealer or distributor.

The prices appeals to people who like to say "you get what you paid for" :-)

I would tend to agree with many comments above, except that visiting the EU many times I find that the price of products are not that much cheaper that in the US prices anymore. Large size Perwoll is around 9-12 Euros. Fabric softeners about 5 Euros. Have not seen the Persil and Perls. And given the current exchange rate, the price advantage in EU (at least for US consumers) is even less than it was even a few months ago.

I have no clue as to how much it cost to transport, but I'm sure it is very expensive to transport heavy boxes of a relatively "incidental" product which adds a huge amount to the cost.