Westmarine.com- So Fast

Chris_Robb

Chris_Robb

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 Jun 2001
Messages
8,075
Location
Haslemere/ Leros
Visit site
On Christmas eve at 19.30 I ordered 26 mast steps from West Marine in the USA. 10 am Friday 27th - they arrived.

Not only were they significantly cheaper than the UK - (I actually could not find any in the UK of the stirrup type) - it appears you pay no VAT on imports!

Even for the UK this would be almost impossible to acheive.



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Chris_Robb on 03/01/2003 11:30 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
Chris,
You will pay the VAT. Fedex will send you a love letter with the bill in a few weeks, unless they've managed to palm it off as safety gear. I bought the West Marine first aid kit ($99 and very comprehensive) and it was the only item I've bought from them which wasn't charged duty and vat.
John
 
I have often bought from various sources in the states and usually end up paying vat and import duty. Add this together with the shipping costs and I have found that the real cost is like $1 = £1. So if something is priced at $100 you will end up typically paying around £100. This is a very rough science and still usually results in savings.

Neale
 
A couple of seasons ago WestMarine used to publish a UK price list, that gave the approximate cost in sterling allowing for shipping, VAT, duty and exchange costs but they don't seem to do one now.

I think the £1=$1 approximation is accurate for reasonable size orders but for smaller orders the handling charges make their prices uncompetitive.
 
About 5 or 6 years ago West Marine contacted me for advice about opening a UK Branch. I gave them everything I could including advertising rates, location(s) and so on and they seemed quite gung-ho.
After that.... not a whisper.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk
 
UPS always asked me for payment of all charges on delivery, Fedex billed me later.

I have always had to pay vat, duty and a handling charge - and the tax is on the value of the goods + freight cost.
 
The thing you have to watch out for is if West (or others) split up the order. You will be charged carriage value in the UK even if the sender doesn't charge for the extra consignments. The last time I had this I told the carrier to refer the payment to the sender, as they chose to do it that way, and heard no more.
 
Brian
I certainly have been charged VAT, duty and delivery after a small item was paid for and delivered from West and the bill for that added 60% to the price of the goods (it was still very marginally cheaper than the UK price)
 
The only shipments that seem to frequently avoid the impostition of duty and vat are those whose UK logistics are handled by Royal Mail/Parcel Force. The same operates in reverse, my sales to the USA are always sent by Royal Mail/Parcel Force because they usually arrive with the client slowly, but without an extra bill!





John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>
 
I shouldn’t be surprised but I ordered some stuff from Mailspeed at the end of last week. Payment came out of my account yesterday and as yet no delivery. The last time I ordered from West, on a Saturday, the order arrived at work on Monday!
The moral is if urgent use West if no rush order in the UK (though you will probably still pay as much)
 
Well though they have deducted the payment for the order, yesterday, Maispeed have just told me the order will be sent today. As I understand it they should only take payment when an order is ready to send/sent. So much for orders being dispatched same day etc. it will be a week or more before I get the order from them. Is this normal for them? It looks like I will return to West
 
Well somthing improved the order was sent next day rather than 48 hour. But even so the contrast is great, 7 days for Mailspeed, 2 for West.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top