why do we get screwed??

[Arturo]

I was checking the internaitional websites for the european equipment manufacturers, specificaly german made stuff. They have 800N jackets for 243DM that is roughly 115.00
DOLLARS!!!!!!! While the US dealer has the same jacket for $290.00 more than 2 times the price!!!!!
WHY?

[cleghmor]

The answer is ,probably, import tax, tax, shipping ,handling,and profit margin. Don't like it? Then why don't you buy direct? I bet somebody has a web page wher you can buy it, but I bet the shipping will kill you. Man, if it's not one damn thing ,it's another.......

clegh

[Rapier9mm]

well - my mate just came back from ontario NAC & i go thim to buy me a couple of grips - the price he paid for them, i could have gotten 4 if i ordered from overseas - which we have to do here pretty much in NZ, makes it a little cheaper in some respects for us... for some of the best prices i have seen, go to: http://www.uhlmann-fechtsport.de
they have excellent prices there

[This message has been edited by Rapier9mm (edited 12-28-2000).]

[neevel]

Probably the biggest reason is simply sales volume in the U.S. versus Europe. Since there are fixed costs such as rent for business space, employee wages, etc., if you aren't selling as much stuff then you'll need to charge more per item to cover those costs (and keep in mind that many U.S. vendors are operating out of high-cost locations like NYC and the Bay area). Things like duties and shipping costs probably won't add more than 10-15%.

There are a places where you can buy direct-- Prieur and Negrini from their websites, and Fechtsport Langenkamp (a German Uhlmann/Allstar dealer with a link in the Equipment section on this site). The Fechtsport Langenkamp site is in both German and English, and includes a clear description of what's involved in ordering internationally (things like how they handle refunding VAT) and shipping costs. Basically, if you use a credit card things like currency exchange and VAT refund should be pretty transparent. To my understanding, the package will be shipped with some indication of it's declared value, and you'll just get a bill for import duty mailed to you from the government.

-Dave Neevel

[introspective]

why do we get "screwed?"
Because it is there.

[Moonitic]

When I worked in retail, they'd get, say, a figurine for $5....stores double that, making them $10, then add all their little costs in to make the final price for a little $5 figure at LEAST $20!

Isn't America great?

[Matt]

If it makes you feel any better, most of Europe pays the same amount that we do. I was in Italy last year and hoped to buy some cheap equipment. Turns out that German and French equipment is actually a little more expensive there than here. Negrini was cheaper, but since Negrini is very expensive to begin with it was merely the same price as the German equipment. You pretty much have to be in Germany to get the lower price.

Matt Pearsall
fencermatt@yahoo.com