 Poster: A snowHead
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I have a question/observation which is why is the loyal British snowboarder being ripped off when spending his/hers hard earned cash on snowboard gear over here in the UK?
I raise this question because I’m going away to PDS soon and thought it was about time I traded in my knackered Todd Richards. Being totally skint I decided to scour the internet for a bargain. I quite fancied a Palmer of some description and after about 5 minutes of searching I found a HoneyCircle 2 from a German retailer for over £100 less than the UK RRP! It arrived just 3 days later in pristine condition. This got me thinking about what else was out there, and despite being skint I thought some nice new shiny bindings would go down a treat (after all I’d just saved £100). This time I concentrated on the States and low and behold without hardly any effort on my part (typed Burton mission into Google) I found a pair of said bindings for just $130, about 70 quid! What is all that about? I plumped for a pair of Salomon SPX5’s in the end and made a saving of over £50 (even after taking the $50 postage cost into account)!
Surely the British snowboarder deserves better than this?
P.S. my bindings arrived a few days ago and I was hit with a import levy and tax, but my question still stands as to why we are being ripped off. 
cheers for listening
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stuza, you mean you pay the RRP over here? 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Same old excuses - VAT on everything from the item you're buying to transport costs; smaller market; higher import costs; blah blah blah. You must realise how expensive it is to cross the Channel - it costs millions.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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maybe maybe, but if you check the 'made in' label on your snowboard, boots, bindings etc etc i'm sure it won't say 'made in america', rather its much more likely to read.. made in China, Indonesia or Timbuktu which is then shipped over to the american market. so why not over to us for the same price!?
I'm all for globalisation (sort of) so long as we see some of the benefits too!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It's not just snowboards - you guys pay more for almost everything. Whenever I go to England or Scotland, which used to be virtually every year, I am always surprised by how much more things cost. Many products cost as many pounds as they do Canadian dollars in Canada, except a pound is worth over 2 dollars!
However, I assume that you guys get paid more? In British Columbia, minimum wage is $8/hr (3.37 gbp/hr), and last time I worked in Ontario it was $7.15/hr (3.01 gbp/hr) - they're bringing it up to around $8 in small increments though, so it's probably slightly higher by now. Not sure about the rest of Canada, but it would be in the same ballpark.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Same question comes up whatever it is you are comparing the prices of around the world.
Basically, it boils down to three things:
- prices in the US/Canada are *before* tax, so you need to add on the local sales tax (8 to 17%). Not payable though if you buy mail order from outside that state, and some states don't have sales tax.
- import duty into the Europe. This *averages* about 5%, but on some goods can be 20%. There is a EU government website which tells you the tax rates, but you need to find the classification of the goods first - which is on another website. .
- VAT. In UK, another 17.5% (payable on the goods *and* the duty!).
The latter two (which total between 23% and 40% depending on what you are buying) you'll probably have to pay if you order over the 'net - although under about £18 they don't bother. Go to www.customs.gov.uk and follow the 'Internet Shopping' links for chapter and verse.
Another reason is purchasing power: look at the Economist's Big Mac index - aka Burgernomics - at http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/index.cfm and Starbuck Latte index - aka Lattenomics - http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2361072
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