+artemisworks Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Alright, I am fed up of getting ripped off just because I live in the UK.... I think we consistently pay more money for most things here in the UK than in the US (books, CDs, photo equipment, electrical equipment, computer equipment, the list goes on..) Have any of you tried buying a GPS unit from say, Amazon.com in the US, and shipping it over? What are the taxes + custom charges like, and is it worth it? I'm eyeing up the Delorme GPS unit which costs $180 US, which I can't even find in the UK and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. I can't find it selling in the UK, and I suspect it'll probably retail at a higher price if it went on sale here...just a suspicion of course. I know many years ago, I bought photo equipment etc. and shipped it from the US and even with customs charges added, and VAT, it was still cheaper than if I bought it in the UK. Just wondering what everyone's experiences were. Artemisworks Quote Link to comment
+keehotee Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'm eyeing up the Delorme GPS unit which costs $180 US, which I can't even find in the UK and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. I can't find it selling in the UK, and I suspect it'll probably retail at a higher price if it went on sale here...just a suspicion of course. I know many years ago, I bought photo equipment etc. and shipped it from the US and even with customs charges added, and VAT, it was still cheaper than if I bought it in the UK. Just wondering what everyone's experiences were. Artemisworks Which deLorme GPS? The PN series were made to work with US mapping, and there aren't any (publicly available) maps to use with them over here...which is why they won't sell it in this country. I spoke to one of their blokes a few weeks ago, and they have no plans to roll out an international version. Quote Link to comment
+HazelS Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I was recently in the USA and went in search of a Colorado... I went to one of the cheapest places around for one, and because of the exchange rate (which has only got worse since my trip) it was still more expensive than buying one in the UK. Since I'm not desperate, I'm gonna hang on til the next time I go and see what's happened to the exchange rate!! Quote Link to comment
+SidAndBob Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) Are Delorme doing UK mapping then? (I see Keehotee has confirmed that they aren't. I should refresh the page before posting.) I know a couple of people who bought 60CSx's from the US a couple of years ago. I recall they both got stung for import duty which was very expensive. I'm sure some have got away with it though. They were much cheaper in the US then, almost half price. I think the gap is much narrower these days? Edited February 3, 2009 by SidAndBob Quote Link to comment
+artemisworks Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 I guess not, the Delorme was suggested to me by a US geocacher. Oops. Oh well, I suppose it is good to know that the price gap is narrowing!!! (although it's still cheaper to buy a lot of books/CDs from the USA.... sigh). I'm caching on a budget and want to upgrade my GPS (from a Edge 205 bike computer which isn't exactly designed for geocaching and I can't enter coordinates into it for some reason even though the online docs suggest that I should be able to). Maybe I'll trawl Amazon for special offers! Quote Link to comment
+currykev Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Maybe you could do a long weekend trip to the US of A. Kill 2 birds with..... PS.....if you get a shopping list from fellow cachers, you maybe able to do the trip for free. I've had a holiday in the Far East the same way before! Edited February 4, 2009 by currykev Quote Link to comment
Chudley Cannons Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Make the most of UK pricing while it lasts. When UK sellers come to restock and have to buy at the current exchange rates you can expect UK prices to rise somewhere in the region of 30%. The pound is down the pan and buying a lot less that it did 6 months ago. Quote Link to comment
Chudley Cannons Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I've had a holiday in the Far East the same way before! That was when the pound was worth something. at $1.38/pound, stay at home. Quote Link to comment
+Sue and Bernie Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) Funny enough, I killed the debate on a thread at "moneysavingexpert.com" on these lines when some-one was banging on about the "advantages" of the devaluation in Sterling. As I spent 13 years living and working in Germany, and having had to cope with the politicians mucking about with the exchange rates all the time, I have always wished we had gone to single currency. I pointed out (as above) that we had just had 30% lopped off our salaries, the value of our homes, our pensions, our savings - everything we'd ever worked for. I too have followed the above sage advice - new car, camera, a neat 1.5 TB second hard drive, Nintendo DS all round - had the decorators in, spent a small fortune while we're in the "phoney war" phase. Noticed how petrol has crept up in price when the dollar prices is the lowest it's been in years... ...whoops! Sorry! Went off on a hobby horse there. Do as suggested - buy now while stocks last... cos the next lot is gonna be much more expensive. Edited February 9, 2009 by Sue and Bernie Quote Link to comment
+JeremyR Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 That was when the pound was worth something. at $1.38/pound, stay at home. Don't be so sure. I agree that shopping is going to be cheaper in Britain but have you not seen what's happened to transatlantic flight prices lately? For example, departing Manchester for Atlanta early next month, returning two weeks later: £276. That's the cheapest I've ever seen (three-four weeks from now, departing on a Tuesday is almost always the cheapest way to buy a transatlantic flight). Last summer, when the exchange rates touched the £1=$2 point, I looked at bringing my mother over here - the cheapest prices were almost seven hundred quid . Quote Link to comment
+HazelS Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 That was when the pound was worth something. at $1.38/pound, stay at home. Don't be so sure. I agree that shopping is going to be cheaper in Britain but have you not seen what's happened to transatlantic flight prices lately? For example, departing Manchester for Atlanta early next month, returning two weeks later: £276. That's the cheapest I've ever seen (three-four weeks from now, departing on a Tuesday is almost always the cheapest way to buy a transatlantic flight). Last summer, when the exchange rates touched the £1=$2 point, I looked at bringing my mother over here - the cheapest prices were almost seven hundred quid . Jeremy is right.... <Sigh> I know I said that a Colorado would be cheaper if I stayed at home, but taking Jeremy's point... I went to the USA last March and paid £400 return, at New Year, I went again and only paid £320.... and that was only so dear cos there were no direct flights to DC from Manchester.... If I was a softee southerner, I could have paid £260!!!! So - what you lose on the dollar, you make up for in the flight! Quote Link to comment
+SaltercreaseRangers Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Have any of you tried buying a GPS unit from say, Amazon.com in the US, and shipping it over? What are the taxes + custom charges like, and is it worth it? I get customs charges only maybe 10% of the time - and was not charged anything extra when I last bought a GPS online from Texas In my experience, it's some of the mainstream online dealers get picked up more often than smaller outlets on the web - Amazon Shops ship independently and always seem to slip straight through. ATB Mac Quote Link to comment
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