View Full Version : High Prices!
I have been digging around an a certain auction site has nano Cubes in the states for the same price as here except in dollors which means the same nano in the USA is 50% cheaper than the UK!
I can understand this? can anyone else?
Which brings me on to the next point of where and who doe4s the cheapest Nano Cubes in the UK?
keith hellyar
31-10-06, 15:44
Thats pretty much the norm for everything. What you pay in dollars in USA is what you pay in pounds here.
Keith
Don't forget that UK prices usually include VAT, whereas US prices are usually without sales tax.
returns are a bugger as well!
lol
:)
Why not just build your own ??
Could do but cant be bothered and plus the price you pay for everything you can get a cube all fits nicely and comes with a stand cant go wrong!:confused:
*******s. The Yanks buy more, so they buy it cheaper. They also create and build more, so they don't need to import. We need to import because we don't make anything here.
That's why.
That comment pop don't cut it either, someones getting a fat cream off import which simply aint passed to the consumer.
You could order what you like from the states, delivered here, and funnily enough its cheaper, and were not talking pennies here.
The other thing you could do, is hire a van, and go locally over the water, i can pretty much guarantee the saving on a full setup would pay for the van, fuel, food for the day etc, and that'll be cheaper too, probably leaving ample enough spare from the saving after the whole trip too, just needs a little time and effort.
Now, time and effort most people can't be assed with, typical UK really, so we buy through the nose, and whinge like hell cos we cant be assed to do anything for ourselves, harsh, maybe, true, deffinitely.
So, if you want something cheap, go get it, or order it elsewhere, but just quit whinging cos you cant be assed.
Hold tight my friend!
Across the water where? the frequency is fifferent across europe so would the tanks work here?
The Escaped Ape
01-11-06, 14:30
I'm a bit puzzled by your reference to a certain auction site. I'm guessing that prices on that site are considerably below the usual retail price in the States as well. The ability of retailers on that site to prosper and undercut official retailers probably relates to the size of the US hobby/market.
Still you're right, things are much more expensive over here anyway. If you're after a cheap deal, check out the new STM nano waves. Looks like a pretty sweet deal to me.
"Hold tight my friend! Across the water where? the frequency is fifferent across europe so would the tanks work here?"
hmmm, click my link, most is german, and with a travel/shave plug - sweet as !
(edit - copy and paste it in your address bar if it doesnt work)
I'll give another scenario :-
i was looking at a water cooled pc case, fully computerised for the control of fans/temperatures/flow of water/alarms etc, this stuff is top of the line.
I search for it here, i find it, then i think, wheres it made ? are you with me yet :)
i search the internet for the actual makers home base, they've got a shop ! and they post almost worldwide, nice me thinks, and best of all, mailing to me is 6 quid, for a fully fitted solid aluminium case !
so i check prices, and this is the horror of it all, EVEN, i can board a plane 10 mile from me (wouldn't matter if it was 30 in a cab), fly for maybe 1/2 - 3/4 hour, cab to the shop, pick up, cab back to airport, fly home, cab home, in a day, eat while i'm there, and still save 100+ quid on buying the same here ! thats if the airline let me put it in the hold, and any extra cost of that dont matter.
And on fag runs, i used to know a chap who flew to a non-european country to do it, case full of cheap clothes to go, fags back.
Now, what i'm saying is if i can do this on one item, how much spare cash is there from a truckload, and no, it aint all swallowed in import duty/transport either.
Take mike above with his jeans, its perfectly true.
Its all down to "what ya gonna do about it", and my personal motto, if it aint built here, dont buy it here.
We are just a nation thats screwed, that creams off others.
And the best thing if it comes next year, the government are giving power for peeps to come in ya house and tax you more for nicely kept (new)furnishings, patio's, conservatories, exterior finish, landscaping, swimming pools etc, and what they gonna say to all you six footers ! gonna shout about that one ?
And the peeps who do/say something truthful about it, well, watch the following posts .....
The moral of it is, DO something, SAY something !
Or as the car maker says "hate something, change something", upto you, but you can guarantee, whilst you can be screwed, you will be.
rant over, love to all :)
simon garratt
02-11-06, 08:29
Being involved with the import, distribution and retail bussiness im not going to make comment about the reasons, why's and hows of pricing in the Uk becouse from a bussiness point of veiw i get to see why the prices are as they are after taking the whole network and overheads into consideration. so Im just gonna upset everyone here (:p ) and refer back to Martin Lakins talk at STM about tank costs and being realistic about what you can reasonably afford.
Simple answer, If the cost difference between a nano over here compared to the states grates you soooooo much, and you have to consider jumping in a van to go to France to save a few quid.
Then your in the wrong hobby.
Sorry about the sarcasm, but it does get a bit tedious after a while hearing the same constant complaints about prices on BB's. The truth of the matter is that if everything was dropped in price to what the complainers wanted, then 2 min later they'd be complaining again that some little chinese guy in a mud hut ("heres an ebay link") can maker it cheaper so why cant everyone else. Its not fair, boohoo...
What these people dont realise is that any industry needs a certain amount of profit to put back into product development and expansion to aid in its progression. without that, the industry falls on its face and goes stale.
That profit your complaining about, mostly goes back into these bussinesses 'and sponsorships for academic research' in order to bring you 'new' products that move you forward in the hobby.
Otherwise we'd all still be on UGF's instead of needlewheel skimmers.
Then you really would have something to complain about.
regards
Si.
Oh i see now, it all goes into research, I just dont remember buying deltec ugf's though.
And we pay 3 times as much as the world, course, thats it, silly me.
.... And as for saving a few quid, copy and paste my link and look at the piccies, i can tell you theres 3 grand plus there UK retail, when i had it.
Maybe if you see a fortnight in Florida of a saving as pennies, good for you, i'd rather have both !
And best thing as per your "research", the country of manufacture don't seem to do any research at all, going on price differences to here ? strange ?
Does anyone offer free Florida holidays for buying in the uk at RRP ?
simon garratt
02-11-06, 15:19
Well that little rant made about as much sense as a chocolate teapot...:D
Oh i see now, it all goes into research, I just dont remember buying deltec ugf's though.
And we pay 3 times as much as the world, course, thats it, silly me.
No, but where do you think the money comes from to pay for desighners, machining costs, tooling, development graphic software, packaging development, samples, advertising to bring you three new skimmers in the last 2 years and a whole host of other products.
rocket Science......erm...not...
Si.
PS:Does anyone offer free Florida holidays for buying in the uk at RRP ? why in the hell would I want to go to that scabby place when i can go to the maldives...;)
PPS: Dont be under the illusion from my attitude towards money that im rich. (i wish), Lets just say my bank balance is well under the influance of the Dark side at the moment with the new system, and i havent even got the bloody glass in yet. but, being sensible about it, its my choice to be in that position, and its part and parcel (imo) that im not willing to compromise the welfare of my animals by cutting corners. If that means paying for some guy to sit there and put all the research into new kit desighn for mine and my charges long term benifit. then so be it and im not going to begrudge it.:)
"its my choice to be in that position, and its part and parcel (imo) that im not willing to compromise the welfare of my animals by cutting corners."
who said that, 3 grand on a 27" is hardly compromise from me is it, its almost as if your saying its different gear from europe, Del**c, sch***n, aqua me*** is the same europe wide.
its nice to know that the uk funds all research, ok lets leave it there, i'd rather buy it un-researched then and save a stack, each to there own.
And next time i reset it up, i'll go to the maldives ok :)
(edit - if your in the import business, can you tell us where you import from out of interest)
simon garratt
02-11-06, 18:03
(edit - if your in the import business, can you tell us where you import from out of interest)
All over the world to be honest, Japan, India, Europe, America. you name it we bring it in. There are certain materials and tolerances that you just cant get made in the far east despite the wishes of the masses to get everything cheaper and cheaper. All the development takes place abroad and we pay the factories for that development. by the time youve added on minimal 1st batch charges, fluctuating exchange rate margins, shipping charges, etc etc etc. trust me its not a case of anyone 'wanting' to rip anybody off. its a case of trying to satisfy a selfish market (sad but true,) by selfish, I mean your caught between the devil and the deep blue sea as far as quality and cost goes, its a fine line to walk for any company these days, and if you slip off that line to either side your in S**t street.
Its all ok for people to rant and rave about the fact they 'think' they are being ripped off. but unless you know what goes on behind closed doors you cant possibly judge a situation on RRP alone.
Look at it this way. My company tried to get into the American Market with Tyre Warmers for race bikes...Becouse we are an unknown quantity over there, we 'HAD' to go in at a stupidly competative price for the first year to build American faith in our product. That entire stock run was sent out at a loss ( a BIG loss). becouse it was deemed a worthwhile 'longterm' venture. but to be able to do that, the loss has to be coverd somwhere. Otherwise, we would go bust, and not only our customers would loose a supplyer, but the market would be lacking in diversity and competition.
What im trying to say, is that: If i was to own a company, and expect 500% profit on everything i sell, would you consider that as greedy.....?
Well being in the import - export business you probably know that all these nano cube clones are all made in the same factory in china. So is it any cheaper to ship them to the US than it is to the UK?.
I personaly cant see where the big UK price hike comes from.
simon garratt
02-11-06, 18:32
it is cheaper to ship to the States than the UK.
its like jet travel in that When the ship refuels in any country they pay at that country's rate. so this has an impact on shipping charges from one country to another (our prices are astronomical), its not done on distance alone.
you also dont pay by item, you pay by container. If you cant fill that container then for every cubic foot spare, your product cost go up proportionally. not too bad if your doing multiple product lines, but a bich if your bringing in Nano tanks from a single source. You could probably fit around 3000 of them in a single container....Its no use if youve only got a market for 150 a year. By the time youve sold that stock, youde have made more by leaving the funds in the bank earning interest at normal bussiness rates.
There is a hell of alot of costs and steps involved that bump that £20 factory 'materials and labour' charge up to the £150 price bracket. and each and every person in that step cant do it for nothing. Hence the margin.
regards
si.
simon garratt
02-11-06, 18:36
Additionally, dont be fooled into thinking that all clones are the same. Chinese factories are renounded for copying each other (usually very badly) and selling to anyone and everyone. what you see from one source despite the appearence and packaging is quite often not even the same product, and made at a different location....
Then youve got the rejects sales, and by god is there a market for that.
This is exactly what you buy into when you demand cheaper and cheaper prices, rather sticking to trusted and known companies who are the ones that rejected that stock and shipped it back as not fit.
regards
Si.
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