Location and prices

[Ian Grant]

I went to my local framing suppliers today for some mountboard but also bought some blades for my mat cutter they come in 5's only. No issues here but they don't stock many,

When I got home I did a search as I'd like to buy 50 or 100. What shocked me was the price differentyials between the UK, US and Australia for the mat cutter itself.

Amazon.com (US) Dexter mat cutter US $27.25

Amazon.co,uk (UK) £38.31 - US $61.67

Australian ebay AU $65.50 - US $68.58

The replacement blades were actually not far off the same price which was surprising.

Ian

[pentaxuser]

Amazon.com (US) Dexter mat cutter US $27.25

Amazon.co,uk (UK) £38.31 - US $61.67

Australian ebay AU $65.50 - US $68.58


Ian

Now be fair Ian. Amazon pays very little corporation tax in the U.K. so presumably has to charge this kind of price here so it can use the revenue to pay its taxes in those countries such as the U.S. where the tax authorities are not asleep and have not read Mr Dickens' "Christmas Carol", do not believe in ghosts of Xmas, be they past, present or future and still eat gruel

It seems like we are back to "what the market will bear" scenario which is where we came in when we discussed other pricing differentials between ourselves and the U.S.

pentaxuser

[squinonescolon]

Yep, just moved from US to Australia for a job. I lived in the UK for a year about a year and a half ago, and silly me, I thought UK was expensive. Was I in for a shock when I got to here! Thing is, I didn't mind it in the UK, it seemed to me being where I was (London), you get what you paid for in general, I found the UK 'rate of return' to be fantastic. Here, the jury still out.

[mrsmiggins]

I, like many others here, buy photographic bits from overseas, usually from the US, simply because they can't be found here. Those few items that can be purchased in Oz are about 3 times more expensive. Thank God for the internet and the mail service!
(.... miss those Holborn camera stores from the 70's)
/Frank

[Ian David]

I would not have though that an eBay price, for an item that is not widely available here, is a very reliable indicator of anything. That being said, retail prices in Australia do often seem scandalously high for a lot of stuff - especially photographic equipment.

The good news is, we can escape the mark-up by buying online from overseas. So I get all my film and most other photo gear from the US.

Alternatively, on those rare occasions when the UK has something at a sensible price, I can order from there. The Australian GST-free threshold for imported purchases is AU$1000. So if I buy something from, say, Silverprint in London, I don't pay the 20% UK VAT, and the cost of shipping to Australia is often less than the UK VAT saved. If the order value is less than $1000, I don't pay any tax at this end either. The result is that I can generally get goods from the UK sent to my door in Australia more cheaply than a Brit can buy them on the street there himself. Strange but true.

Ian

[Ian Grant]

Ian, I should have added that the normal UK price for this item is £54 so more than 50% higherb than the UK Amazon price.

What frustrates us is some items made in the UK are so cheap in the US and even allowing for shipping, import duties, then the 20% VAT all of which compound it's still cheaper to buy from the US. So much for free trade which was supposed to equalise market prices to a certain extent.

So it's cheaper for me to buy Ilford films from the US and even with taxes I make a considerable saving.

Ian

[pdeeh]

I find that quite extraordinary, Ian.
Would that be for bulk reels or quite large quantities of rolls/sheets?

[Noble]

Ian, I should have added that the normal UK price for this item is £54 so more than 50% higherb than the UK Amazon price.

What frustrates us is some items made in the UK are so cheap in the US and even allowing for shipping, import duties, then the 20% VAT all of which compound it's still cheaper to buy from the US. So much for free trade which was supposed to equalise market prices to a certain extent.

How many people in the UK have $100K student loan bills at 22? How many people in the UK go into bankruptcy because they got cancer or were in a bad accident?

The socialist safety net needs to be funded somehow. Personally I would gladly trade my student loan payments and health insurance payments for a 20% increase in the price of film. I know the socialist system doesn't explain all of it but you have to take a holistic look at expenses.

[pdeeh]

wow you really are the master of the non sequitur aren't you?

[Noble]

wow you really are the master of the non sequitur aren't you?

That 20% VAT exists for a reason. I've lived in the US and in Europe. I've budgeted in both. I've also had friends that came over and visited and were astonished by the cheap price of one thing or another. They sobered up a bit when I pointed out things like the cost of education and healthcare.

Anyway England and Australia are islands. Not sure how much that factors into it. I know that on mainland Europe there are some deals to be had. A friend of my actually stocked up in Germany on Agfa APX. They picked up some HERE.