Sony Pricing

[rabbie]

Looking this morning I see that the Sony PRS 600 is selling in the US for $167. UK Price for the same is approx £199-208. If you try to buy one in the US most retailers wont ship. Is there anything we can do to raise this issue? What a rip off!!

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by rabbie

Looking this morning I see that the Sony PRS 600 is selling in the US for $167. UK Price for the same is approx £199-208. If you try to buy one in the US most retailers wont ship. Is there anything we can do to raise this issue? What a rip off!!

Well, the advertised price doesn't include sales tax, which will be anywhere from 5 - 10% depending on the state. I checked the current exchange rate (7/15/2010) which was $1 to .6504 . so the exact same price is roughly 109 (hey! I don't have a British pound sign on the keyboard! We used to have them! when did they disappear?).

Don't you guys have VATs that get hidden in the prices? Could that account for the difference?

[fjtorres]

Sony isn't selling them at that price willingly; they're just matching US market baseline to stay in the game. Until Nook WiFi goes international and resets global pricing, Sony (or the regional players) won't drop their prices elsewhere. That's how followers operate.

[mike_bike_kite]

This topic comes up quite regularly. Some people have mentioned purchasing via the US and allow a special forwarding company to ship the goods to you. I haven't tried it so can't comment. This thread had a few companies mentioned. You'd have to check everything to make sure you're still getting a good deal at the end. Best would be to get a friend living in the US to buy it for you and send it to you as a "present".

[lustyd]

Import duty at 20% then VAT at 17.5% or 20% takes this to $240 which is currently about £160. I suspect there's a bit added for shipping, and you can get them here for £175 if you shop around so actually it's our government rather than Sony keeping the prices up.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by lustyd

Import duty at 20% then VAT at 17.5% or 20% takes this to $240 which is currently about £160.

Where do you get 20% import duty from? There is no import duty on such things as book readers; only VAT.

[lustyd]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Where do you get 20% import duty from? There is no import duty on such things as book readers; only VAT.

I'm pretty sure everything over around £20 has import tax/duty on it in this country, that's why they always mark everything as "gift" to try to avoid it. If you have enough stuff delivered from overseas then you'll eventually get to make a trip to the post office and pay up when they find an item where this has not been paid.

If you look into it you'll find that you pay a lot more tax than you thought you did, usually around 80% of your earnings will end up in some tax or other.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by lustyd

I'm pretty sure everything over around £20 has import tax/duty on it in this country, that's why they always mark everything as "gift" to try to avoid it.

No, you're thinking of VAT, which is payable on items valued at £18 or more. That's all you pay. No import duty.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, you're thinking of VAT, which is payable on items valued at £18 or more. That's all you pay. No import duty.

If it is valued over £135 there will also be import duty to pay, as well as VAT. Either way there is also a Royal Mail handling fee of £8 to pay. The value of the item is determined by the cost of the item plus the cost of posting it.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/internet.htm

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

If it is valued over £135 there will also be import duty to pay, as well as VAT. Either way there is also a Royal Mail handling fee of £8 to pay. The value of the item is determined by the cost of the item plus the cost of posting it.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/internet.htm

Duty is payable for items which are subject to it, but I repeat that eBook readers aren't. Goodness knows I've bought enough of them over the years to know . You're right, there will be a processing fee by the courier or post office to pay, too.

[loveangel]

only vat apply to these such products

[Fbone]

It's important to be specific on the CN-22/23 form and list the exact items and value.

I inadvertently made my friends overpay custom and VAT by my laziness in not listing individually and just guesstimating the value.

[rabbie]

Thanks to all for the info

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Duty is payable for items which are subject to it, but I repeat that eBook readers aren't. Goodness knows I've bought enough of them over the years to know . You're right, there will be a processing fee by the courier or post office to pay, too.

I ordered a Sony PRS-600 from Borders in the USA a couple of weeks ago and it arrived in the post today.

No demand for VAT or a processing fee came with it. Have I inadvertently broken the law or was I just lucky?

[HarryT]

If it arrives using the normal postal service, it's "pot luck" whether you get charged VAT or not. Technically, it's your duty to pay it; in reality, I should just count yourself lucky that you avoided it! If it gets sent using a courier service (FedEx, DHL, etc) then the courier will always pays the duty on your behalf, and then send you a bill.