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Competition for Garmin in the UK


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Magellan eXplorist GC can be found for £140...but it's only £118 in the US :mad:

Well, it's pretty common for electronic items to be cheaper in the US than Europe, even when you don't take 20% VAT into account. You did take 20% VAT into account, didn't you? And of course, US prices are always quoted without sales tax, which can get close to 10% in some states.

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I dont get it as I see it, the GC they are launching in the UK is the same as the US version, it has a worldwide base map on it from what I have read. You can buy it for under £100 on ebay from the US brand new inc P&P

 

The eXplorist GC does only come with a basemap, so it would not matter where you brought it from, unless you need a repair under the warranty! It could get expensive sending it back to the US for repair.

 

The Magellan pages seem to default to the US pages, a change of location brings up the European versions of the other units, which have european maps on them as well as the basemap, see this link:

 

http://www.magellangps.com/eu/en-gb/explorist-710.htm

 

Under specifications the maps are shown as:

 

World Edition, Summit Series Europe, City Series Europe.

 

The prices on the Magellan website are their list prices, no doubt the price paid to retailers over here will be cheaper. I would guess the Garmin list prices do not really reflect the actual price you would pay a retailer for the unit.

 

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Magellan eXplorist GC can be found for £140...but it's only £118 in the US :mad:

Well, it's pretty common for electronic items to be cheaper in the US than Europe, even when you don't take 20% VAT into account. You did take 20% VAT into account, didn't you? And of course, US prices are always quoted without sales tax, which can get close to 10% in some states.

Even when you add the state tax its a lot cheaper over there. I guess it may be due to demand?

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Even when you add the state tax its a lot cheaper over there. I guess it may be due to demand?

 

Having been to the US, there are several large out of town stores that we visited, including Best Buys (now appearing over here) Target (similar to Woolworths) and then outdoor leisure type shops and all stocked a range of GPS units, plus maps and in car kits etc etc. Over here you struggle to find any shop keeping more than an odd unit, so I guess a mix of supply and demand, does help to push the prices down.

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Even when you add the state tax its a lot cheaper over there. I guess it may be due to demand?

Any difference is probably due to marketing choices and/or how the company perceives the costs of making sales in the two countries, but my main point is that 118 + 20% is very close to 140. The UK price is probably including VAT and the US price is probably free of any specific state sales tax. (Disclaimer: I haven't seen the ads.)

 

Also note that if you import directly from the US, you'll quite likely have to pay the VAT, plus a fee for customs to collect the VAT, plus a fee for the shipping company to collect the VAT and the customs fee. :blink:

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Also note that if you import directly from the US, you'll quite likely have to pay the VAT, plus a fee for customs to collect the VAT, plus a fee for the shipping company to collect the VAT and the customs fee. :blink:

 

... including VAT on the fee for the shipping company to collect the VAT on the item.

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