'A' Levels in "Stating the Bleedin' Obvious"

[3rtt]

Recent visit to the Autosport show highlighted the difference between purchasing goods in the UK, against the US.

With the GB pound v US dollar working in our favour and predictions of GB pound = 2 US dollar, I have just ordered a new helmet (ding dong) via the net and saved a fortune even with the 45 Dollar freight cost.

I'm sure there are other goods that you could enjoy also.

[ashp]

such as the new 45k USD Corvette or 20k USD Mustang ? (see yesterdays Driving section of Sunday Times)

[rico]

Yeh, all the guys on Ferrarichat are going nuts as it looks like Ferrari will be putting their prices up quite a bit, same with all the european makers exporting to America.

Great news for us though

>> Edited by rico on Monday 12th January 15:03

[pesty]

3rtt.

Just a warning the last time I ordered a bargain form America when the carrier arrived he needed me to pay Import tax before he would hand it over! Wasn't much of a bargain after carriage and tax!

[sidekick]

I just took delivery on the lastest Sony Ericsson T630 SIM free which I ordered from Hong Kong, which was a bargain at £238 compared to the c. £430 being asked for it by UK retailers.
What wasn't a bargain though was the £14.30 admin fee charged by Parcelforce to pay the £3.20 import duty!

[londonstoke]

just imported new mustang conv cobra unreg looks fan goes like stink 390 bhp also have chip to upgrade to 430bhp! also have new black noble gto3r in store unreg which one should i sell cant decide

[3rtt]

pesty said:

3rtt. Just a warning the last time I ordered a bargain form America when the carrier arrived he needed me to pay Import tax before he would hand it over! Wasn't much of a bargain after carriage and tax!

Thanks for the warning pesty.

As a business, I run the UK branch of an International Sports Goods Company, and have everyday experience of fixed and hidden costs of importing and exporting.

You are correct in making the point of being careful when calculating the real cost savings of doing this exercise. Don't take it on face value of what you think you are saving. There will always be freight, duty and local taxes to take into consideration. Plus admin costs.

An example from a few years ago. I bought a large 34 foot motorhome for our company from Florida. The UK list price was £85 K. I went to Orlando bought one new, shipped it back to the UK. Total cost icluding freight, duty VAT and UK registration. £53 K. That was when GB pound was 1.65 against US Dollar.

Guess where I'm off to in Spring ?

Pesty, be careful on that bike.

Cheers,
Ian.


>> Edited by 3rtt on Tuesday 13th January 08:02

[3rtt]

3rtt said:

Recent visit to the Autosport show highlighted the difference between purchasing goods in the UK, against the US. With the GB pound v US dollar working in our favour and predictions of GB pound = 2 US dollar, I have just ordered a new helmet (ding dong) via the net and saved a fortune even with the 45 Dollar freight cost. I'm sure there are other goods that you could enjoy also.

To share this one with you.

Nice Fedex man delivers a box containing a new Bell Mag 5 open face helmet this morning. Total cost including shipping etc. $349.95. That's £194.

Cost of Mag 4 helmet (cheaper and heavier version) from UK mail order. £267.

I know it's not always wise to order helmets via mail order without trying them on, but as I knew the Bell size required I'm happy to do it, and save some cash for the Noble Track day fund.

Cheers,
Ian.

[bluekawala]

mr. londonstoke i say sell the 'stang... wait, sell the noble. to me!