Popcorn Pricing for the UK

[carmen]

So there I was, mouse a hovering over buy now in the shopping cart, when the P and P shot up, and then there was a caveat about import duty and Vat.
Call me stupid but im not a fan of paying an initial $199 plus or minus the bits above which could add upto 30% to the price.
Are there any uk buyers who can give an indication of the extra we are expected to pay for simply living over here.

Bottom line was, I was happy to pay $199 plus p and P but not happy to pay $199 plus p and p plus import duty plus vat.

[chris57]

Then buy from a reseller rather than direct from the manufacturer.

Blame the EU or your UK government as PCH has absolutely nothing to do with import taxes or VAT. It is our government that decide we must pay VAT on imported goods and the EU that decides what level of import tax into the EU.

[nuke12]

In all fairness, if goods are mfged in a foreign location and we import from there, then we pay VAT and many times duties. If we buy the same item from within our country, the dealer paid both and it's added onto their price and then we still pay the VAT.

So, if your going to compare (just costs, [add in shipping also]), add up all the numbers. There are also advantages when buying within your country. You have to figure out what they are worth to you.

[carmen]

@chris57.
If I were to buy direct from the manufacturer, i have to pay $180 for the non wifi a-200 plus p and P.Its imported to the usa, where, I am assuming an import duty and local us tax has already been paid to reach the $180.
Now it seems as a uk citizen, I would need to pay first for the the us import duty and tax, and then the uk import tax and duty.
These figures equate to what UK resellers are charging.
It would appear Uk resellers are not getting the goods straight from source but via the US.(and as such paying 2 lots of tax and 2 lots of import duty)
The cheapest Ive found in the uk(give or take) is $277 for the none wifi version. $100 difference.

Guess I'll just have to wait till the 2nd hand market picks up or uk resellers go direct.
$100 difference is too much for now.

[nuke12]

Not sure, why they would do that? AFAIK, PCH ships all units out of China. That goes for dealers and regular purchasers.

I only know of RMAs coming out of the US.

[DPlettner]

(07-23-2010 10:23 PM)nuke12 Wrote:  Not sure, why they would do that? AFAIK, PCH ships all units out of China. That goes for dealers and regular purchasers.

I agree. The units ship from China, so I would expect there would be no US tax.

I live in California, and I recently ordered an A-200. The price was $179.00, shipping was $17.95, and California sales tax was $17.45. I would expect that if the unit was shipped to a state without sales tax, such as Oregon, there would be no sales tax.

As a matter of fact, it is possible that I only paid sales tax because Syabas is based in California. In the US, vendors outside the state are not obligated to collect state sales tax. For example, Amazon does not collect sales tax on most of my purchases, but I am obligated under state law to report and pay such sales taxes on my yearly tax return.

-Dave

[chris57]

(07-23-2010 10:13 PM)carmen Wrote:  @chris57.
If I were to buy direct from the manufacturer, i have to pay $180 for the non wifi a-200 plus p and P.Its imported to the usa, where, I am assuming an import duty and local us tax has already been paid to reach the $180.
Now it seems as a uk citizen, I would need to pay first for the the us import duty and tax, and then the uk import tax and duty.
These figures equate to what UK resellers are charging.
It would appear Uk resellers are not getting the goods straight from source but via the US.(and as such paying 2 lots of tax and 2 lots of import duty)
The cheapest Ive found in the uk(give or take) is $277 for the none wifi version. $100 difference.

Guess I'll just have to wait till the 2nd hand market picks up or uk resellers go direct.
$100 difference is too much for now.

You are still making incorrect assumptions.

All units bought direct are shipped from China, Shenzen to be exact.

The only involvement that the USA has is that it is the location of the PCH RMA centre. No new units are shipped from the USA to other countries.

Resellers stock is shipped direct in shipping containers from China/HK. Individual orders are shipped using couriers.
Why you would think that resellers are being charged twice again no idea. It is against the law to have to pay two lots of import or VAT on the same product.

[tux99]

carmen, I higly recommend you buy from a UK reseller, because in case of defects under warranty it will be much easier and cheaper to send the player back to a UK address than to a US address (and as experience tells us, you will have to deal with VAT and customs again when you get your repaired unit back from the US, even though it shouldn't be).

Buying directly from PCH only made sense before it was available locally, the possible savings of buying from PCH direct are not worth the extra hassle and expense later on when you might have a warranty claim.

[chris57]

There's very little in it in terms of pricing if you have a warranty issue in year one :-

Reseller
£176 delivered, warranty cost nil for most reputable resellers although some do charge you postage.

Direct
$199 plus VAT ($199*17.5%=$34.83) = $233.83 = £151.51
No import tax should be charged.
Warranty Return Cost:-
Shipping to RMA centre in USA approx £20
Some are finding Fedex are charging duty on return of their RMA from USA. If you tell PCH via email your ticket number etc. they will sort it out.
If you read the HMRC website you can see that the duty should not be charged twice as the repair is free of charge:-
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPorta...P444_72464

Buying direct made great sense when the exchange rate was £1:$2 as even if you returned the product numerous times you were still paying far less than resellers were charging. These days it doesn't make as much sense although I have seen resellers hold onto repairs for a couple of months before sending them back to PCH for repair, if bought direct then you have control over that but you may never run into those circumstances. There are examples of poor behavior for both ways of purchasing.

If I was to ask myself today if like you I was thinking of purchasing an A200 I would pay the £176 and buy from a reseller, if I was asked for £199 then i'd buy direct.

[carmen]

Ok Thanks everyone for your input.
I hadnt realised there was still taxes to go on the initial $179 - for usa folks, I thought the $179 included your taxes - hence why i was concerned about paying twice.

Ive since found one at Pixmania for £150 plus £8 shipping.
Much better.

[accident]

The sales tax the user mentioned is because they live in california where syabas has an office. It's not like the import fee/duty you may need to pay and buying a candy bar from the store will also have a sales tax on it. those of us outside of california in the US don't get charged the sales tax at time of purchase.

[chris57]

(07-24-2010 01:44 PM)carmen Wrote:  Ok Thanks everyone for your input.
I hadnt realised there was still taxes to go on the initial $179 - for usa folks, I thought the $179 included your taxes - hence why i was concerned about paying twice.

Ive since found one at Pixmania for £150 plus £8 shipping.
Much better.

Even if they aren't charged any taxes in USA it is nothing to do with PCH and everything to do with USA laws. It is the EU and UK government that charge taxes not PCH.

That price at Pixmania is an excellent price at £150 plus £8:-
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/4873908/...ed-mu.html
It makes no difference it being a French version and it wont require an adapter, all you need to do is have a spare PC power cable ready, aka a kettle lead in UK. Plug that cable into the power transformer as opposed to a lead with a EU plug on it and youre good to go.

Pixmania had a very bad reputation at one time. I believe Comet have bought them out and they are a little better nowadays.