Large Scale Central

Double grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

General Discussion
#1

Afternoom, all. My brother-in-law and I went over to the garden railway show at Llanfair Caereinion last weekend, with a view to investing some hard-earned retirement $$$ in his first steam locomotive - an ambition he fulfilled admirably by exchanging many retirement coupons for a Roundhouse ‘Katie’ in GWR Brunswick green. He was also looking for a couple of power trucks for his 16mm Funky diesel model.

Most everybody we noted as they left seemed to be pretty satisfied with the whole shebang, but this otherwise fine day was blighted somewhat for him when he found exactly what he was looking for in the form of a motor block for the railcar [Aristo-Craft’s recommended price is $55.00 stateside.]

The dealer, without a blush, offered to him for a special ‘exhibition price’ of £75.00 - currently $123.00.

We both looked at him closely, to see if he was jerking our collective chains, but he was, in fact, serious, and was pretty much upset when we advised him where he could put it.

AFAIK, he still has it, and will long continue to do so unless he returns to Planet Real.

tac
www.ovgrs.org

#2

Terry
Double GGRRRRR! indeed,at least he kept a straight face.
I think GRS in Princes Risborough has these for £70.
Regards
David

#3

I hear ya Terry, we get the same thing at shows here in the USA. A buddy that sells his stuff at a few shows to supliment his normal hobby shop sales, tells me those guys are married to those trains or really dont want to sell them, but if someone gives the out of line price they are asking, then they will sell them. Sad thing, someone that doesnt do thier homework will probably pay that price, not realizing they could get them cheaper somewhere else. Atleast he got a nice steamy at the show! Tell him we all want pics!!!

#4
david bunn said:
Terry Double GGRRRRR! indeed,at least he kept a straight face. I think GRS in Princes Risborough has these for £70. Regards David
Uhuh, that's STILL over $115.00..............but thanks anyhow.

Best

tac
www.ovgrs.org

#5

Only double?

A dealer here has several LGB F7s, NEVER OPENED brand new…for $1500 USD apiece.

You can get a DEAL on an A-B set for $3000–you know, the B units cost $1750 so it’s $250 off!

#6

Damn Robbie!! Guess that dealer is smoking some good ditch weed there. While the street price for those did go up, it didnt go up that much, even for NOS ones. Hope it come with a free bottle of lube for the screwing you get buying them.

#7

Shithead… can I say that ?

#8

What bugs me Terry is that no matter what the exchange rate is the price of items here in ‘rip off UK’ always seems to be the same as in dollars US.So us good old brits pay messrs bach/accu/aristo et al at least 50%,at current rates,more than they will accept on the other side of the big water.
It ain’t fair ref we’re being robbed.
Regards
David

#9

I used to work for a software company. One of our largest dealers was in London. They insisted on doubling the US Suggested Retail before converting to British Pounds. They purchased with US funds at better than 50% off US list, then charged double list to their customers. I never could understand the practice but they insisted that it was the norm.

Should train stuff be any different?

If you bought mail order from the states would you still pay less after shipping and VAT ?

#10
Jon Radder said:
I used to work for a software company. One of our largest dealers was in London. They insisted on doubling the US Suggested Retail before converting to British Pounds. They purchased with US funds at better than 50% off US list, then charged double list to their customers. I never could understand the practice but they insisted that it was the norm.

Should train stuff be any different?

If you bought mail order from the states would you still pay less after shipping and VAT ?


Yo, Jon, I don’t need to buy mail order - we go over to the USA about twice a year anyhow!

…and by the way, at the show here last weekend there was a mint LGB F7A/B New Haven set for £400…

tac
www.ovgrs.org

#11

Tac-

Does Jon’s citing another British/U.S.A. above, re: U.S. software being purchased at 50% U.S. retail and charged double for retail sales, indicate what is happening with U.S. model railroad products?

If not, is there high tariff? Surely, the VAT is not the issue. Correct?

What is the London dealer’s wholesale price with distributors in the U.S.?

#12

Can’t you find a US dealer who will ship items to you charging for the normal selling price plus the shipping. I would think that would be a somewhat better deal than these guys who are doubling the US price.

#13

Whilst I don’t wish the following to be read as a defence of the rip off merchants, you lot Stateside might like to know that in the UK the 17.5% ???Sales Tax is always included in the retail price and not added afterwards at the checkout, like it is the the USA.
That is the same way we do it here in OZ although our sales tax is ONLY ??? 10%.

Why do the Brits and OZ do it that way?

Who knows, but building the tax into the advertised retail price tends to disguise from the consumer exactly what the Govt rip off is.
In OZ, the actual amount of tax must be printed on the sales docket but it can be buried anywhere on the slip and is very rarely the second last line item.

#14

Each state sets their sales tax here. Ranges from 0% in Delaware to 6% here in Pa, maybe higher in other places, so posting it on the sales slip where it’s easy to find is kinda of must. People in this neck of the woods tend to head to DE to shop for big ticket items.

#15

Ken.
Correct me if I am wrong, but don’t the USA Federal Guvmint and local Guvmint also set sales taxes as well as the various States?

In the UK and OZ only the Federal Guvmints have that right.

#16

In the US Sales Tax is a State and/or City government tax. The Fed’s stay out of it for the most part. In NY City it can run as high as 9%. We paid 8% in Lake George, NY two weekends ago.

#17

Here in the boonies of Missouri, we have state/local sales tax rates of 4.475% and 7.475%: food items are taxed at a different rate than dry goods and receipt I’m looking at has both categories on it.
I think dry goods are 7.475% and food is 4.475%

#18
Forrest Scott Wood said:
Here in the boonies of Missouri, we have state/local sales tax rates of 4.475% and 7.475%: food items are taxed at a different rate than dry goods and receipt I'm looking at has both categories on it. I think dry goods are 7.475% and food is 4.475%
NJ does not have a tax on food and clothing but everything else is taxed at I think 6%. Of course we pay for it by having the highest property taxes in the country. If I were to place an order over the internet or phone from a store in another state I dont pay that states sale tax only orders placed in that state get taxed. But if I were to go to the store in person I pay the tax.
#19

Here in yUK the VAT [sales tax] has recently been reduced to 15% - except on gasoline, where it stays at 17.5% [not including the whopping 75% tax on the stuff anyhow that makes it some of the most expensive on earth].

Aristo-Craft imports into the yUK via Bachmann [Europe], based in Leicester, a long way from London. USA Trains have no importer to the UK. AccuCraft [UK] manage the yUK-type AccuCraft stuff, but NOT the US/Canadian outline stuff - they are all individually imported by specilalist dealers like PPS.

Let us say that I order a new AccuCraft Royal Hudson from a dealer in the US of A.

Cost, for argument’s sake, is $4000.

It has to be shipped - $300

and insured - $300

Sub total $4600

It arrives here in yUK at Royal Mail ParcelForce depot near Coventry airport, or FED-UPS - it’s all the same here.

HM Customs and Thieving look at it, and assess its value for taxation purposes to require an import duty of 20%. Of the sub-total, so far…

That’s $4600 + $920 = $5520

THEN they tax the WHOLE amount at 15% - $5520 + 826 = $6348 [presently £3847.27]

There is then a ‘handling charge’ of £8 added to that = £3855.27

What started off costing $4000 now costs me $6600.

And the dealers wonder why we get pissed at their prices?

The actual dealer price here for this loco - and remember they buy it a a MUCH cheaper price than I do, even stateside - is £4250 [$7012.25].

tac
www.ovgrs.org

#20
TonyWalsham said:
Ken. Correct me if I am wrong, but don't the USA Federal Guvmint and local Guvmint also set sales taxes as well as the various States?

In the UK and OZ only the Federal Guvmints have that right.


The Feds do have a sales tax on fuel (gas and diesel) along with each state. Those taxes are built into the price at the pump. Which is why fuel costs vary so much from state to state. Plus we also have an “Interstate Fuel Tax Agreement” which is levied against trucks that do long haul shipping. What that does is charge so much a mile for every state you pass through whether you buy fuel in that state or not. And again, that varies from state to state.

Tobacco and liquor is also taxed at the Federal level too, I believe, with what is euphemistically called a “Sin Tax”.

And as Shawn pointed out, PA doesn’t tax food or clothing either.