Hi everyone!

the site www.ebookmedia.de will be offering a preorder option for the iRex Iliad. I had an email conversation with the owner of the site and he said that he's in contact with iRex and he (or rather his company) will be "supporting the launch of the Iliad in Germany".

The bad news is that his latest price-info was 649Euro inkl. shipping and VAT...I HOPE that is wrong...because that would mean I'd have to wait for the price to drop before I order.

The guy (Jörg Wrobel) also told me that iRex is totally overwhelmed by the numer of customers that are interested in the Iliad. this is apparently also part of the problem concerning emial replies... :scholar:
I must admit however, that Mr. Wrobel sounds like a very good salesman and is quick to discard both the Hanlin and the Sony reader..so maybe he has some kind of contract with iRex...so take whatever he says with a bit of sceptiscism (no idea how to spell that... :kid: )
He does however have a point...he got the software from Jinke (Hanlin V2/V8 software) and was not impressed...and we have had the same impression about the software we downloaded from Jinke (as you can read in the Hanlin V8,V2 thread)...so maybe he really isn't so wrong about the Iliad being the right choice.

Can somebody/anybody/everybody with iRex contacts try to clear up that pricing issue? It's starting to make me nervous... :rolleyes5

So the iRex will make it this year! Wonderful news. Regarding pricing, I am confused. Here is the relevant part of the official reply I received from a Mr Loeki van der Lee of iRex not even three weeks ago:

Thank you for your interest in our solutions for electronic reading. We expect that the first generation of the iLiad will be available by April 2006, by that time you can buy one via our website. The price of the iLiad will be EURO 549,00, inclusive VAT, exclusive transport costs.

Perhaps it's EURO 100,00 more expensive when you order it from a third party? Doesn't make much sense, though, at least for Europeans who can now benefit from open boarders. Right?

no...that can't be it...Mr. Wrobel simply passes everything on to iRex...he's just a frontend...I think he wants to be/is a content parter of iRex.
The order itself is passed on to iRex...all Mr. Wrobel wants (as far as I could find out) is that I write "Recommended by www.ebookmedia.de" or something... :huh:

Any word on when this month the Iliad is going to be released?

nothing yet, not even whether it will br this month...but i'll talk to the ebookmedia guy again and see whether he has any more information...maybe iRex talks to him...:-)

The irex page has a new message on the home page, "available second half of april", and you can leave your email to be notified when the shop opens. :)

Regards, Ela.

BAD NEWS!!!

I just received a mail from iRex.
Mr. Wrobel apparently does have good connections...they never answered my direct mails... :uhoh2:

well...the bad news is:
"I herewith would like to inform you that we are planning to make the iLiad available for individual purchase via our Website.
We expect that the first generation of the iLiad will be available by the second half of April 2006. The price of the iLiad will be EURO 549,00, exclusive VAT and exclusive transport costs.
You may want to visit our Website (www.iRexTechnologies.com) again by that time and find the latest information about availability and how to place an order."

this is the exact text I received from iRex...please take a close look at the two "excluded" :huh:

that would be about 650Euro if you include VAT and shipping...BAD...REALLY BAD!!!

So they replaced "inclusive VAT" as it was stated in my e-mail from iRex with "excluive VAT." I wish they would handle this pricing issue a tad more professoinal.

more professional and less expensive would be nice...

Hmm, bad indeed. $650US plus shipping is about the limit on how much money I am willing to spend, so if it is going to cost a lot more then I'll just have to wait.

*sigh* I guess it gives me more time to find a good way to remove the binding from my books so I can put them through my high-speed scanner.

Is VAT something us dirty Americans have to deal with too? I've never ordered anything overseas. Does the company have to pay it for each good it makes or each one it sells?

I'm afraid you'll have to pay VAT too...import VAT as far as I know...I ordered something from US a while back and had to pay 16Percent import VAT (same as our local VAT). So 650$ will probably not be enough...

VAT is something you as individual pay for any product you buy by the way...but don#t aks me more...I'm no expert.

Hi,

As far as I know if you live here in the USA and order from Europe you do not pay VAT. I routinely order books and ocasionally DVD's from England and France (Amazon.uk/fr which charges VAT on local buyers) and they do not charge me VAT. I do not know if the same rule applies on electronics (and note that many sites do not allow sales of electronic equipment outside their region) but I expect that you should not have to pay VAT.

Liviu

Thanks for the info, Liviu_5.

I'm afraid you'll have to pay VAT too...import VAT as far as I know...I ordered something from US a while back and had to pay 16Percent import VAT (same as our local VAT). So 650$ will probably not be enough...

VAT is something you as individual pay for any product you buy by the way...but don#t aks me more...I'm no expert.

We don't have any VAT in the US, so I guess we don't have to pay it...assuming we can order it.

We don't have any VAT in the US, so I guess we don't have to pay it...assuming we can order it.

Yes, but iRex has to pay VAT for products they sell, since they're a Dutch company. So you have to pay it anyway.

Yes, but iRex has to pay VAT for products they sell, since they're a Dutch company. So you have to pay it anyway.


Hi,

It is an interesting question, does a company charge VAT based on its location, rather than on the buyer's location? I have not thought of this, since I assumed that Amazon.uk and Amazon.fr are locally incorporated (they do not sell electronic equipment outside EU as far as I understand their policies). The only way to find out about the Irex is to check with the seller I gues, but I think it will find its way here very quickly (if the Librie found its way from Japan...)

Liviu

As far as I know the local vat rate for the exporter will have to be paid. If the companys exports into anther country exceeds a certain value then the other countrys vat rate will have to be paid if higher. You will also have to take duty into account for goods going to america. If you are buying anything from america exceeding a certain value a duty rate will be applied so similiar will probably apply in reverse. These are all dependent on the countries local tax laws.

If I remember correctly, when I was in Europe we had to pay VAT, but when we came back to the US we could file for a VAT refund on everything we brought back with us. Which makes me suspect that VAT wouldn't be required for people in the US.

please check the irex homepage...is it possible that they put the old specsheet pdf back???
what's going on???

please check the irex homepage...is it possible that they put the old specsheet pdf back???
what's going on???
You are right, they did. I think the last specsheet was updated in Feb 2006; the one currently online goes back in September 2005.

Perhaps they had to restore an outdated server backup?

You are right, they did. I think the last specsheet was updated in Feb 2006; the one currently online goes back in September 2005.

Perhaps they had to restore an outdated server backup?

You are mistaken, Alexander

Here the dates of all three pdf specs:

1) december 2005 pdf document properties (20051215WE product sheet ER 0100) - old one

2) march 2006 pdf document properties (March2006WE product sheet ER 0100 Released) - was 2 days ago

3) september 2005, pdf document properties (Iliad Product sheet ER 0100, created 19.01.2006) but the date at the right side of the document is 2006 )))) - now at Irex site.

I have all three of them, they are different even by file size ))

the ways of iRex are mysterious...^^

Finally an answer to the battery-question:

"Dear Mr. Rohde,

The iLiad only uses power when a page is updated, the 10000 page turns is based on the available battery charge divided by the amount of energy needed for a display update. A more realistic model is that users download (wireless/wired) ones a day available content (like a newspaper) and read for 3 hours per day on the device in which case the battery needs to be recharged every week. If more frequent connections are made or the device is used interactively (e.g. writing on the device) the battery life is of course reduced"

That is good enough for me...now if they manage to finalize their pricing and make it a bit moe affordable...then I'll get one right away... :deal:

Well, Mr. Rohde, here's hoping for a sub $700(US) price. I'll be crossing my fingers with you.

It is an interesting question, does a company charge VAT based on its location, rather than on the buyer's location?

I'm a small business owner in the EU with a lot of customers from outside the EU (mainly American).

As an EU based company I do not have to charge VAT to customers outside the EU. It is expected that non-EU customers pay VAT in their own country, should this have a VAT of course.

Hope this helps!

Marc.

As an EU based company I do not have to charge VAT to customers outside the EU. It is expected that non-EU customers pay VAT in their own country, should this have a VAT of course.

This is correct. I was wrong earlier. For exporting products outside the EU, a EU-based company does NOT have to charge VAT. Actually, they'd have to use the "0% tariff".

So yes, the 549 euro price would be correct for US customers. However, since the dollar is so weak (or, conversely, the euro is so expensive) you still end up with a price of $675 against the current exchange rate.

Hi,

Also note that if the company marks the item as a gift, you probably do not have to pay duty on it as long as it is under some ceiling. I do not know whether this would apply to the Irex since I bought only books/dvd's from Europe/Asia and they are definitely cheaper :)
However I presume there will be a company selling Irex specifically for N. America pretty soon after Irex will get released, like the companies that sell the Librie.
The price is still way too high as of now. I own a used but decent Fujitsu tablet from 2002 got last year under 300$ on Ebay with original price in the 2-3k range, and now after several years you can get a new or almost new far better tablet under 1k. I do not need one but the offer is there. So at ~600$ I do not see the Irex getting a foothold outside business (if even there). I like how it looks and the specs, offer it at ~400$ total cost, I would get it.

Liviu


This is correct. I was wrong earlier. For exporting products outside the EU, a EU-based company does NOT have to charge VAT. Actually, they'd have to use the "0% tariff".

So yes, the 549 euro price would be correct for US customers. However, since the dollar is so weak (or, conversely, the euro is so expensive) you still end up with a price of $675 against the current exchange rate.