Why are UK prices so expensive!?

[Skye]

I was just wondering, are there any reasons why we cant / dont buy car kits from overseas?

And also, why are we paying so much more than other countries in the first place?

For example....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kyosho-30079...item4aa6528f6a

This is a seller on eBay based in St Louis, USA. The car in question is the Kyosho FS2, so Japanese and would have had to be shipped there just as they have to be shipped here. It is brand new and is being sold by a business, as opposed to someone selling privately.

The price is $424.87 which converts to £257.48.

Add on the shipping to the Uk ($61.30 or £37.15) and the total price is £294.63

So the total saving is £50. Not enough to retire on but £50 is not to be sniffed at....

So, I was just wondering two things.....

A, Why isnt everyone buying their kits from overseas? Are the extra hidden costs that have to be applied?

and

B, Why are our prices so much more in the first place. Ignoring the shipping fees, our kit price on this example is £100 more expensive!!

Now I am all for supporting local business and the UK economy. I have never bought anything from overseas and am unlikely to do so.

However, I still feel that these are points worth consideration...

[footey]

if you buy from abroad you can get hit with INPORT tax which can be quiet expensive

[Skye]

Would that apply when purchasing from a seller on eBay, as opposed to buying from a manufacturer where you are the first importer?

If so, then it would explain why people are not buying from overseas all the time.

But the other question would remain, why are our prices so much higher in the first place?

If the car in question was an AE or Losi I would get it. But its Japanese......

[Naushad]

cos our vat is stupidly high...that's one thing!

[peetbee]

This has been covered in the past, but I can't find the old topic!

It roughly boils down to:
1) VAT gets applied in the UK
2) Import duties - gets applied to everything over approx £15 value regardless of how you bought it
3) UK distributors having to cover their costs - this can be advertising, sponsoring drivers, paying 1 & 2, replacing faulty/missing items, etc, etc
4) shipping costs

plus probably other costs too

[bodgit]

Type import in search then read all the old posts.

[Skye]

Originally Posted by peetbee

This has been covered in the past, but I can't find the old topic!

It roughly boils down to:
1) VAT gets applied in the UK
2) Import duties - gets applied to everything over approx £15 value regardless of how you bought it
3) UK distributors having to cover their costs - this can be advertising, sponsoring drivers, paying 1 & 2, replacing faulty/missing items, etc, etc
4) shipping costs

plus probably other costs too

But surely the USA has all these same costs with the only one perhaps being significantly different from ours being the level of the tax enquivalent to our VAT.

This isnt a UK retail bashing session, I think the vast majority of RC sellers we have in the UK are fantastic.

But it is aimed at bashing the system (by system I mean those who set the rules, not the sellers) a bit as I am yet to see a valid reason why we would have to pay £100 more for an identical kit than what they pay in the USA?

For the record, there is one particular UK based retailer who will be getting the sale for my next purchase as the level of customer service offered is out of the ordinary and so they deserve my support, even if it does leave me out of pocket by comparison.

So this is definately not an attack on our guys who do a great job, just me having a moan that we are once again getting screwed over by those in power, and looking for answers to justify it. As yet, I havent seen an explanation which suitably justifies the £100 price difference between UK and USA....

[Skye]

Thanks Bodgit, that confirms why people are not buying all their cars off ebay and shipping them over.

It doesnt explain why we are paying so much here in the UK though in the first place....

[tellor]

To give any correct anwer SKYE you will need to be financially aware of all the relevant countries VAT, TAX, NI, wages, inport export costs, GDP etc etc etc shall i go on

Lets just say it just as expensive over there as it is here, it's just that you don't live there, get paid by them and pay their bills.

If you want to buy overseas do it, take the risk, enjoying paying the postman COD and saving your tenner then regret it coz something is missing/broke and you have to send it back and it gets lost

Sometimes it's worth it, and the one time is isn't it's EXPENSIVE

[peetbee]

Originally Posted by Skye

But surely the USA has all these same costs with the only one perhaps being significantly different from ours being the level of the tax enquivalent to our VAT.

They may have the same costs but they may not be at the same level as that imposed by the UK government
Also, are you comparing a 'bricks and mortar' store against an internet store price?

[machinedred]

we pay oto because our government hit our tax payers so hard ie the shopkeeper because the government need the money to pay off debts