[Riley Elf]

Can anyone explain just who is ripping us off in the UK?

How often do you look for something from a UK supplier, find it costs £x,and then look it up from a USA supplier and find it costs $x?

Even with postal charges to bring it halfway across the World, this doesn't bring it up to the UK price.

Typical example is the Revell Kurtis Midget Racer Kit - £25 from UK supplier : $22 from US supplier. Postage of $13 still makes it a cheaper option.
It seems unlikely that the unit transport costs for commercial numbers would be $13.So who's getting the rake-off?

If it's not the retailers, is it the distributors/wholesalers, or the manufacturers - or who?

Regards,

"Perplexed of Yorkshire"(David).

 

[Ian B]

Riley Elf aka David,
Firstly welcome to the forum it's a great place to be

A Yorkshireman considering the price of things, never heard of that before

I think its probably a combination of all of the above, plus taxes!

 

[nigeldangar]

its ok saying its cheaper from oversea's but the fun gets knocked out of it when you receive a letter from the post office stating you have to pay import duty's and admin charges i must admit this is mainly from the US so the cost although cheaper is not that good now

 

[John Cahill]

I don't know anything about economics but I'll add to your comments. In the example you mention, basically it costs you a couple pounds extra to order from the US...which means if you accept the delay, you get a small bonus in price. From a basic "global economy" point of view that seems to make some sense. How about in reverse though? Every time I want something I can only get from Pendles or wherever, it costs me an arm and a leg...all that postage as well as paying those "high" UK prices.

Also, it's not as though all items are less expensive here. We buy our prescription drugs at much higher prices than even in neighboring countries (from the same manufacturers). I won't even mention health care, which can be a huge cost for those who aren't fully covered by insurance. On the other side, our gas/petrol has always been relatively inexpensive compared with the rest of the world.

How does one balance all this out for comparison? Comparing Consumer Price Index? I don't know really. Is it that there is an issue with unfair pricing in slot hobby products, or is there a funny balance from country to country...some things cost more, some less?

John

 

[injectorman]

Scale of economy. USA has 5 times the population and simply more buying power.

Rick

 

[SplitRim]

Besides hobby stuff is small fry,

Its bank charges, energy prices and insurance premiums that you should be worried about, not an extra £3 or £4 on a slot car.

Now thats rip off britain!

 

[Ember]

Just to add another penny to your equations. Don't forget the currency factor. The USD is available on the open exchange and therefore open to value fluctuations (that value is considerably down currently). The GBP is a fixed rate currency and does not fluctuate in value on the exchange market.

Embs

 

[Riley Elf]

Well, there isn't customs duty on model kits, but there is VAT on total purchase price+postage+insurance if it comes to more than £45 (or thereabouts), and there can be an exorbitant "handling charge". However, it seems to be a bit of a lottery whether or not these charges are made.

No it isn't a problem specific to slot-related commodities.

It is only a few years since the scandal of high real car prices in Britain was revealed.Even without taxes, manufacturers were brazenly charging higher prices here "because the market will stand it".

Similar principles seem to apply in many other fields.However the car modelling world is a relatively small one, so it seemed the culprits might be easier to identify.

I should say, I can understand why things might be expensive from small-scale, or home-enthusiast manufacturers;but I really don't see it in the case of large international companies, when their products come from the same factories in China, wherever they are sold.

David.

p.s. Thanks for the welcome. You clearly know about the mission statement of Yorkshire:

"See all,hear all,say nowt - eat all, sup all, pay nowt"

 

[pressbutton]

When you buy imported goods from a local shop, you are bound to pay more than buying direct. The official distributor imports the item and pays the duty, then the local shop buys from the official distributor, who takes a bit of profit, and finally the shop sells to you after adding its own bit of profit. Nobody is going to work for nothing!

 

[Guest]

QUOTE (Riley Elf @ 23 Aug 2011, 21:41) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>However the car modelling world is a relatively small one, so it seemed the culprits might be easier to identify.

"See all,hear all,say nowt - eat all, sup all, pay nowt"
Please name the "culprits".

Surely all Yorkshiremen aren't as "tight as a ducks arse"

 

[Riley Elf]

Well now,if I could name the culprits I wouldn't have needed to make the post in the first place, would I?

And you're right, not all. But a lot are!

David.

 

[Guest]

At first sight your argumentation makes good sense. If one can earn a couple of pounds (or euros) on every car bought and one buys a certain amount of cars per year this could add up nicely.

On the other hand, if the local shop sells less because of this behavior he'll have to raise prices to keep his business profitable so more buyers will follow your path and the local shop will end up with less and less sales until it's all over and the shop closes down. Also for a few parts (rims, tires, axles etc) the shipping costs from overseas will be too much. But when there's no local shop available to sell these because he got out of business you ended up shooting yourself in your own foot.

However if the local shop sells more cars he'll be able to lower prices because he will be able to make bigger orders at the importer thus getting a higher bonus/rebate from the importer.

So I suggest what has been written on this and many other forums: support your local hobby shop!

 

[Julian_Boolean]

Another thing to be considered is the relatively high cost of unloading and moving of containers within the UK.

 

[chris99]

QUOTE (Ember @ 23 Aug 2011, 22:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Just to add another penny to your equations. Don't forget the currency factor. The USD is available on the open exchange and therefore open to value fluctuations (that value is considerably down currently). The GBP is a fixed rate currency and does not fluctuate in value on the exchange market.

Embs
Ember, GBP does fluctuate on the international exchange market as I know to my cost having moved to France when it was 1.50€ & now it's only worth 1.15€ today although it did go down lower

Btw weren't you once a trader or was that just for vegemite & koalas!

 

[superhornets]

Hi
I was once told by a yorkshireman that " a yorkshireman is like a scot ,but with the generosity removed "

Cheers tony

 

[glengtl1]

Its not specific to the uk or the slotworld, for instance i can buy 2 yamaha cv joints complete for my atv at my local yamaha dealer for $850.00 which is steep but hey i want to go riding sorry we will have order them in 3-5 days ,I can buy 2 of the same from the states take 8 - 10 days and costs $360 including postage and handling now im all for making a profit as im a business owner myself .As mentioned before it is importatnt to frequent your dedicated local store as much as you can as the pressures of competetion come from all side now, who can remember when a petrol station's soul purpose was to sell petrol not bread /milk chocolates ,chips ,toys,sunglasses,ect ,all i want is petrol and the guy in front is
doing his weekly grocery shop, i must be getting old .it also depends on how much your goverment is protecting your manufacturing industry and how much they feel they must keep
your nieghbours happy by not imposing high taxes on imports .
lots of factors involved yes some are just plain and simple money grabs most are caused by usless governments anyways enough whinging theres slotcars to race beers to drink

 

[Ember]

QUOTE (chris99 @ 25 Aug 2011, 03:09) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Ember, GBP does fluctuate on the international exchange market as I know to my cost having moved to France when it was 1.50€ & now it's only worth 1.15€ today although it did go down lower

Btw weren't you once a trader or was that just for vegemite & koalas!

It does fluctuate but not to the same degree as the currencies that are on free float.

Trader support rather than trader. No licence.

As far as the variations in the price of goods goes, the same sort of thing happens everywhere.

At the moment I can by slot cars from the US or Britain and have them shipped to my doorstep for less than I can from a domestic retailer (even with AUD in super strong mode). Each time I make a purchase I have to weigh up the pros and cons of local or international purchase, and usually the local purchase wins even if it's a few dollars dearer. If I buy something I want it NOW! Domestic turnaround time is between 3 and 5 days. International 10 to 20. And certainly the price of shipping for aftermarket parts and spares means it's just not worth looking offshore.

Embs

 

[mattcrackers]

Hi,

Thought I'd reply to this thread but change it to Rip Off Australia. I purchased the APB, 2xXLC's,1xCLC,1xLH Pit Lane,6 Controllers and 6 Chips from the UK and easily saved $500AU. Could have purchased the same items from the local hobby shop 2 mins from home but when the bloke behind the counter bragged that they mark most stuff up 100% and the total for all these items exceeded $1000AU it was an easy choice to make. Must say when I first looked into going digital the price of scaley stuff here in Oz really was a put off, glad I had did my homework and I now purchase 99% of anything slot from either the UK or US.
Cheers
Matt.

 

[SSD slotguy]

QUOTE (bleep @ 23 Aug 2011, 21:25) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Riley Elf aka David,
Firstly welcome to the forum it's a great place to be

A Yorkshireman considering the price of things, never heard of that before

You forgotten the time I saved a penny on the APB then?

 

[SplitRim]

Like I said before, it's all relative.

My wife was in Geneva Airport on Friday, KitKat, 4 finger mind, 3.80 Euros..............