Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by lucky trigger
James you have pm...
nice one
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James you have pm...
In starting and waging a war it is not right that matters, but victory. -Adolf Hitler
Registered User
James you have pm...
nice one
!Think before you shoot!..... always wear protection.......
4% if I remember rightly.
I personally, don't have a problem paying the Duty when they're still 50% cheaper than here.
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Berepared for the import duty and vat + additional parcel force charge approx £10.
Just ordered a PR boosted Leupold fully modded and extras, still cheaper than a standard boosted secondhand one. I expect it in about three weeks, not saying how i have done it.
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ive been quoted a $59 shipping fee from bearbasin
!Think before you shoot!..... always wear protection.......
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I recently imported a 'scope from the U.S. Do not pay for it with a Debit Card, use a credit card of the type which has inherent purchase protection. Buying from an individual is totally different to a retail purchase from a dealer. When I bought a Simmons 'scope from a guy in Wisconsin, late last year, he "declared" the goods as "the return of a commercial sample" and I neither paid v.a.t. or import duty, even though he had to declare its value. When I purchased a 'scope from a specialist optics dealer recently, they used U.P.S. to ship the goods. U.P.S. have their own bonded warehouse (and distribution network) in this country. Before anything is released from the bonded warehouse the relevant v.a.t and import duty has to be paid "up front." U.P.S aren't ever cheap but they are utterly reliable and their parcel handling is "respectful" - very important when you're talking about £700 worth of fine glass. Regards ... Geek
PauL H. - Shotgoon
Brownings: 1999 Ultra XS; 2004 B525 Field; 2010 Maxus Hunter: Air Arms 1998 Mk.2 Pro-Target, 2001 Mk.2 Pro-Sport & 2003 S400C
I am the Grinch.
When there are no more local dealers for your sport
please don't complain.
The cost of running a small buisness in this country is obscene.
shops of all types are closing at an alarming rate in this country. if they get no support from you they cannot stay open.
I would rather pay a little more and keep a local shop and have product support on my doorstep.
How would you feel if you got to work and someone had taken over your job for half your wages!
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they come through the tunnel Every-DAY
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sure, i understand where your coming from, im all up for supporting the retail side of the sport in this country, and it would be nice to have a bit more in the way of dealers and general support, however im like many im fed up of paying the rip off prices in this bl00dy country, and having any chance to buy somthing and be able to save alot of £££s i will take it!
Its not my/(OUR) fault or problem that the dealers find it so hard to make it worth while trying to make a buisness in this country. If things wern't so inflated the prices could be dropped a bit and sales would probably increase enough to become stable. The reason the dealers a struggling to keep afloat is because the customers are struggling to afford the products.
Ifully understand that i won't get the warranty back up, but im willing to take the risk for the massive price cut, and save some money which maybe i can use to buy other shooting products from THIS country.
sorry if this sounds abit arrogant.
i have reccently spent over £600 from my local!
Last edited by james.22; 24-04-2005 at 07:40 AM.
!Think before you shoot!..... always wear protection.......
I would be more than happy to suppoprt my local shop if his prices were closer to what I can get on the internet, but a difference of 50% on a fairly expensive item like a scope and no, I would not. All economic activity has to be profitable and thus sustainable. If the prices are so high that its driving customers away, then retailers have to get smart and try to get their prices down by for example pooling their buying power or renegotiating with the importers. I have noticed that for knives, there are often only one importer for each brand and that tends to keep prices high. If there were more importers, then prices could be lower.
What we are seeing is economics in action. Comsumers will always buy the cheapest and the internet has opened a whole world to them, the economic model used by importers, that they can control the supply and thus the price of goods has been superceeded. If they loose enough business, they will change their ways and maybe we can all benefit.
The car sales industry is a good example of consumer power reducing the difference in the cost of cars between the UK and the rest of Europe. If comsumers did not vote with the wallets, then cars in this country will still cost more. Maybe, each time you buy something cheap in the US or elsewhere, send a copy of the paperwork to the UK importer so they know how much business they are losing.
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Its the distributors and shops that make the excess dosh. The products are sourced from the same manufacturers with the same constrictions.
We are not talking about a little bit more here, we are talking 100% or more.
True, there will be no retailers or very few of them, but why should they make obscene £ for a phone call, after all they dont produce anything.
I've sent several items I sold on to the UK. I always use US Postal Service Global Priority Mail. The VAT issue may be different since I'm mailing used goods. I even list NIB items as used on the customs form to hopefully help the buyer avoid your horrible VAT.
I've also been the successful bidder on items from the UK and had no problem at all receiving them. No VAT or other taxes here!
On the other in the late 1970's I made custom bicycles and ordered my supplies from Holdsworthy in London. At that time there were no bicycle frame maker suppliers in the US. Our Customs officials acted like pirates! They once charged me 14% import duty, which is for finished goods, rather than the 7% duty that applies to unassembled components. I even showed the agent the different import charges in his book and was told that if I didn't like it they would impound my goods until a court date came up in maybe 6 months or so. I paid the higher duty so I could get my stuff, but I was sorely pissed. So things can be grim on both side of the coin.
As for paying for goods: Everyone on this side of the pond I know of who sells via the internet uses PayPal. I also accept Cashiers Checks, Money Orders for international sales but it really slows down the transaction due to mail transit time. PayPal is fast, reliable and painless.
Are you suggesting major US retailers pay wages of £2.50 equivalent an hour - I think not. Frankly shops selling overpriced goods deserve to fail. Like it or not we live in a global marketplace. I fully appreciate that in most instances of high prices on scopes it's the importer not the retailer that's doing the ripping off. The retailers should stop dealing with these people and sell grey imports instead like one or two already do. Dealing with rip-off importers only encourages them.
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please folks if you have used reputable firms / people in the US please let us all in on there web address etc so we to can make good savings....
D+R Sports @ http://209.35.233.21/miva/merchant.mv
Straight Shooters @ http://www.straightshooters.com/
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