Cheaper To Buy From Us ?? (uk Buyer)

[KoH]

I feel its time for me to buy a gp2x again, I would like to buy a new unit.

I looked on gp2x.co.uk/ordergp2x.html and the price is £124.99 for the basic one

I also looked on http://www.gp2xstore.com/ (in the us) and the price is $189.99

Because of the current exchange rate $189.99 = only £96 which is £30 cheaper than if i was to buy it from the uk.



Am i right in thinking i will be saving myself £30 by ordering from the usa, or will the be any hidden charges ?

 

[krosfyah]

I doubt it will be a significant saving after shipping is added, not to mention if there are any customs fees. Plus returning it if there are any problems will be a pain.

EDIT: Play Asia is US$ 169.90 currently, that would be a decent saving.

 

[yodaofborg]

Depends how its packaged, but recently (I buy a lot of laptop DC input jacks from the states) the customs guys like to slap me with a charge(maybe they have my name on file >.<), sometimes I end up paying £45 for a jack that cost me £30 inc shipping. For a complete system board for a tosh a60 cost me £120 inc shipping, but cost me £180 after a customs charge!

So if you are lucky, you will get away with the customs charge, but that alone can push your unit up to around the £150 mark. (and then you have to wait days for them to release it).

 

[Godmil]

Yeah, Taxes are high here in the UK, but some times it's just easier to bend over and take it

 

[Toole]

Generally you run the risk of customs beating you in the head with insane charges. The best way to do it is try to get a package labelled as a gift or somesuch. Alternatively if you know someone you can trust stateside get them to buy it, give them the money and have them post it to you without any receipts etc.

Warranty support could also be a bit of a pain if you buy from there!

 

[GP2XZone]

If I get any sales for the UK or even Canada I refer them to the distributors in that area. Customs will give you a hard time, for example if you ship a GP2X and a case over, customs may notice the word case on the invoice, delay your shipment until they find what its made out of. Really dumb stuff I have been asked about. What turns out to be a few days delivery can turn out to be a week. Basically, you as the customer, may save a little money but it will take twice as long to reach you. Honestly, support your countries economy and buy local!!!!

Oh, and another important note, what the current exchange rate is, is never the rate you get from your bank or credit card. I think its nearly 1 GBP to 1.97 USD, however, the bank will probably give you a rate of 1 GBP to 1.89 USD if your lucky.

Just my two cents...

 

[PSyMastR]

But that 125 pounds is with VAT and stuff, which the US doesn't have.

 

[mrben]

But that 125 pounds is with VAT and stuff, which the US doesn't have.

Just what I was about to say - you'll need to pay VAT on top of your £96, which at 17.5% will make it almost exactly the same price

 

[krosfyah]

I thought not paying vat was one of the perks of buying abroad?

 

[Wonslung]

I doubt it will be a significant saving after shipping is added, not to mention if there are any customs fees. Plus returning it if there are any problems will be a pain.

EDIT: Play Asia is US$ 169.90 currently, that would be a decent saving.

yeah, i ordered mine there and they were great, i live in the us but it still got to me in 3 days and they're customer service has been excelent. i had problems with the sd card not working and they took care of it. They also send candy

 

[mrben]

I thought not paying vat was one of the perks of buying abroad?

*Hollow laughter*

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax

Following changes introduced on 1 July 2003 (under Directive 2002/38/EC), non-EU businesses providing digital electronic commerce and entertainment products and services to EU countries are also required to register with the tax authorities in the relevant EU member state, and to collect VAT on their sales at the appropriate rate, according to the location of the purchaser.

If you go to the States, and purchase an item, and then personally bring it back, I don't believe you need to pay tax on it ("Duty Free") but if you are purchasing items from outside the EU and importing it into the EU, then you will pay customs duty, which will include VAT. Some companies manage to beat this by using countries like Jersey, which I believe has a lesser VAT, to ship things like DVDs to the UK.

Having said that, IANATL so ICBW

 

[KoH]

would i still have to pay customs charges if i brought a 2nd hand one from ebay.com and it was posted from the usa.

 

[Toole]

would i still have to pay customs charges if i brought a 2nd hand one from ebay.com and it was posted from the usa.

Provided it's marked clearly as a gift and doesn't contain anything that looks like an invoice, you *should* be okay.

 

[GP2XZone]

The whole "gift" thing does not work, I have tried many many times to get past customs and it really doesn't make a huge difference. Invoice or not, if you ship you need to declare some value. You could mark the package down at 10 GBP or something, but then if it goes missing or gets broken, you are stuffed. Second hand also makes no differance, other than its a little cheaper.

Plus, lets just say you get the GP2X and its broken? Shipping out of the UK is very expensive if you don't have an account with a courier company, or you could ship via Royal Mail and wait a million years till the seller receives the package and ships a new one back.

Seems like you might be able to save a few GBP, but the overall risk is not really worth it.

 

[mdinire]

So how come there is no UK GP2X sellers able to sell a GP2X for less than £120 but most other foreign sellers can?.. Silly Taxes? <_<

 

[Thecko]

So how come there is no UK GP2X sellers able to sell a GP2X for less than £120 but most other foreign sellers can?.. Silly Taxes? <_<

Yep. VAT - 17.5%