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World Cup Sticker Shock Has Swiss Paying Triple Brazil's Cost

  • Italy-based Panini Group has sold soccer stickers since 1970
  • Price variation across the world is similar to Big Macs
Panini sticker production in Modena

Panini sticker production in Modena

Photographer: Lena Klimkeit/AP Photo

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Soccer’s governing body FIFA may be based in Zurich, but that doesn’t mean the Swiss benefit from any kind of special deal as they race to gather hundreds of World Cup stickers; nowhere else are the collectibles more expensive.

A packet of five stickers, which soccer fans use to complete an album of national teams, costs the equivalent of $1.8 in the European country, triple the $0.59 they cost in Brazil, a fact which Banco Santander economist Luciano Sobral acknowledges could offer fans a money-making opportunity.