RIP OFF BRITAIN

[Jcorstorphine]

I have just contacted SIMRAD for a price on a WP 5000 autopilot which was about £475 + VAT After trawling the net, the same unit can be purchased in the US for about $495. At an exchange rate of $1.8 to £1 this works out at about £275.

Now! if this unit was made in the UK and exported to the State and then re-imported back into the UK, why should I have to pay import duty on it and why is it so much cheaper for a UK manufactured item in the US even allowing for the great exchange rate. Perhaps the WP 5000 is actually manufactured in the US, who know in these days of multinationals.

John C

 

[VicMallows]

You know the answer as well as the rest of us ....price is determined by what the market will bear ...and especially with 'boaty' stuff with limited competition.

On the other hand there are many general consumer articles (particularly electrical) where I would't have the faintest idea how to go about manufacturing ... let alone retailing... for the price you can buy them for in the shops.

Vic

 

[wooslehunter]

DVD players are an example. They're below 30 quid for the supermarket cheapies. Lot's sold in the EU are made in Turkey, eastern Europe or China. Even so, the manufacturers make less profit per box than the supermarket's that sell them. What really helps to get the price down is massive competition and the fact that they're made by the million.

There are two or three main manufacturers or autopilots and of course all boaters are loaded. The fact is we keep on paying the prices.

What if we all decided to buy no new toys for 6 months. Watch the prices tumble then.

 

[capt_courageous]

Many moons ago before I became a gentleman of liesure I had some dealings with US computer manufacturers. Even in those days we paid in Pounds Sterling what the Yanks paid in Dollars - almost regardless of exchange rate. I asked a major supplier why this was. He said it was what they knew as ' The Transatlantic Uplift Factor '. He appeared to be serious and I have never quite recovered.

 

[supermalc]

Apparently, we are in RIP OFF BRITAIN because the government slaps 80% or so (don't split hairs please...it's too late to do the sums) tax, whereas the US is only about 30% or so....hence the HUMMERS everyone rides around in that do 10mpg.

I'm sure Nigel, or someone can give us the exact figures.

The economy is all about oil, and the price of.

Well that's the excuse given on the telly recently, and believe it or not, the sums DID add up, and the profit on the item is actually LESS.

Now where was that chap who invented the hydrogen engine.

 

[pvb]

I\'m not sure that\'s the case this time...

Whilst I'd be the first to agree that UK pricing of marine equipment tends to be "creative", I'm not sure this is one of those cases. Instead, isn't it the case that the WP5000 is a discontinued (obselete) product? If so, the retailers who've still got stock may well be discounting it heavily just to shift it.

Whilst the WP5000 can be bought from the US for $495, by the time it arrives on your doorstep (with shipping, duty & VAT added) it'll cost the thick end of £400. But WP5000s were on offer in the UK recently at £350, except they're probably all sold now!

Having owned both belt-driven and integrated cockpit wheelpilots, I wouldn't want a belt-driven one again. But if you're keen on one, why not look at the Raymarine ST3000 (£449) which has a few more features than the WP5000. Or go for an integrated one, such as the Simrad WP10 (£495).

 

[Birdseye]

As someone has already said, by the time you have paid duty and vat the price wont be much different to the UK price. But in my experience, both will be much lower than the European price, so in the sense that you use the phrase its definitely "rip off europe" not just Britain.

The difference is mainly (but not solely) the tax. Why the tax? because you want an NHS etc. Because we have a bloated civil service (over 800,000 more of them since 98), becasue the US is running a huge deficit.

And because the US market is more competitive. Mr UK chandler order 3 autopilots. His US oppo orders 50. Who gets the better price?

Trouble is people seem to want the UK style of life, wages, social services etc but the price levels of other economies. You cant have both the penny and the bun. Pity.

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