Dave, you describe the well-known phenomenon of "Rip-off Britain". It exists
because most Brits are stupid enough to just pay up rather than shop around,
hence both the government and businesses get away with applying huge mark-ups
and additional costs.
Items sent by USPS are more likely to escape the thieving Customs parasites.
Dave G0OIL
--- On Wed, 15/9/10, Dr. David Kirkby <david.kirkby@onetel.net> wrote:
From: Dr. David Kirkby <david.kirkby@onetel.net>
Subject: Re: [Amps] What aluminum alloy to use for making PSU and RF deck
To: amps@contesting.com
Date: Wednesday, 15 September, 2010, 22:56
On 09/15/10 09:05 PM, LB3HC wrote:
> Thank you for this good link Samir. Looks like K3IWK is specialising
> in just cabinet work. Only problem is that I am located in Europe, but
> flat packed kits may perhaps be possible to send. The shipping cost
> would have to be checked out eventually.
>
> 73
> Marius
> LB3HC
I would not let that worry you too much. I've found it often cheaper to buy
things from the USA and get them shipped over to the UK than it is to buy the
same item in the UK. I bought a Sun Blade 2000 computer, which weighs around 20
kg, an RS/6000 which probably weighs close to 30 kg.
Only last week I needed a power supply for an old computer - not a PC. I got
quoted £175 here in the UK. It cost me $50 from the USA. Certainly for computer
items, it has historically been much cheaper to buy from the USA and pay the
carriage costs.
The same goes for cameras - I've bought Nikon camera equipment from Hong Kong,
since it was very significantly cheaper than buying from the UK, though
warranty
issues are a bit more difficult with Nikon. But the saving have been so
dramatic, it was worth it.
The only thing to be aware of (at least in the UK), is that you get stung for
some extra charges
* VAT
* Import duty
(The above are based on the cost of the item PLUS the cost of carriage).
* The courier normally pays the duties on your behalf, then you pay them. But
they add a cut too.
If you are lucky, things escape with no duty at all.
Since people tend to send high-value items via Fedex or UPS, I've tended to
find
that their parcels are more likely to attract duty.
I would ask the sender to put a telephone number on the outside of the box too.
I once had some batteries I bought from China get to within a few miles of me,
but the courier decided my house did not exist, so the batteries were sent back
to China. Fedex admitted the parcel was properly addressed, but claimed that
the
carriage would need to be paid again as there was no telelphone number. I don't
know if the sender paid the carriage the second time around, but I hope he
managed to convince Fedex it was their fault.
Even books I quite regularly buy from the USA. Often books on Amazon.com are
less than those on Amazon uk. So if I'm in no hurry, I get them shipped across
the Atlantic.
Dave
_______________________________________________
Amps mailing list
Amps@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
_______________________________________________
Amps mailing list
Amps@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
|