Vendors Blacklist

[michelekingtiger]

just wish to jump in and say about tankzone, ive only ever bought from them once and nothing went wrong, they were very polite and helpful finding me the part i wanted (plastic king tiger sprockets), they posted quickly and i recieved the parts within a couple of days! I kno its just one experience and you've all probably bought from mthem many times and may have had bad experiences, but its not exactly the easiest job, running a very busy and popular website

[wibblywobbly]

As regards Impact I would guess that they have a UK/European distributor somewhere with sole distribution rights. That would explain why they won't ship here.

[nibelungenwerk]

As the UK distributor for IMPACT, I assume nibelungenwerk is referring to Welsh Dragon Models.  I can well understand his frustration that US prices are not available in the UK, although it is worth pointing out that, if they were, UK purchasers would still have to pay import taxes on top of the advertized prices.  IMPACT no longer has any US distributors so they have started selling directly to the US public on ebay, to 'protect' their UK distributor they specify that they will not sell to the UK.

I can assure members that WDM is not charging 'rip off' prices.  Our prices are governed by what IMPACT charge us, on top of their prices we have to pay freight, import taxes and bank charges.  The King Tiger Late tracks cost us more than £89.99 after tax. 

I have been concerned that many of the products IMPACT sell on ebay are less than what they cost us (after freight etc), some prices are even lower than IMPACT's listed trade prices.  I can understand IMPACT trying to stimulate sales in this current economic climate but they will not reduce their trade prices to WDM to enable us to pass on the benefit to UK customers.  That said, the Singapore dollar is falling in value against the £ and we have made some modest price reductions, forum members also get the benefit of their forum discount.

I hope this goes some way to clarify the position, needless to say I am very frustrated about it all!

(Incidently, as regards our postage costs, they are based on weight and the charges are set out under 'terms and conditions')

Regards, Steve

www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk       

Please be assured I did not wish to point fingers. That’s why the name of any UK retailer was left out.
It is a very difficult time for retailers, almost every hobby or pastime has at least one forum and word soon spreads about the cheapest source of equipment for that hobby.
The net is battering the traditional retail sector, it is booming and direct deal with manufacturers is driving a death nail into High streets and specialist retailers.
No doubt if people search through e-bay they will find a lot of items at much cheaper prices this is not good for you. It causes consternation and could lead to allegations as you put it of “rip offâ€

[Rivetcounter]

If Impact have any European dealers you will find that they will be more than happy to deal with you as not to would be against European "anti competition laws" also a retail price is just that a suggested retail price the dealer is well within there rights to undercut another dealer by whatever margin they see fit, if they all charged the same then this could be seen as "price fixing" again this is also illegal

[welshdragon]

Nibelungenwerk, thank you for your reply, I hear what you say and you have raised some interesting points.  But please get your facts right -

WDM's price for the IMPACT KT photo etch is £79.99 plus £2.50 postage and packing, forum members are eligible for a discount off this price (currently 10%).  My price takes into account the fact that import duty @2.7%, VAT @15%, freight and currency transaction fees have been paid. 

On top of the £53.16 ebay price quoted (assuming this figure is correct) an individual importing this item into the UK would be liable to pay 15% VAT, if the goods are delivered by Royal Mail they will also charge a customs clearance fee which I think is £8.  Anyone reading this can do the maths for themselves.

Steve

www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk

[nibelungenwerk]

Steve
I cannot help but feel attention is being drawn away from my central arguement- That of a practice which is costing me money
As for the prices see below
Q E D

As for the import duty and VAt- That is somewhat a scare tactic Million of Britons every day have mail posted from abroad and as previously attested to in this forum only once in blue moon does anyone get collared for import duty
and vat

My advice to all modellers and consumers is to find what you want then shop arround it pays

[welshdragon]

Steve
I cannot help but feel attention is being drawn away from my central arguement- That of a practice which is costing me money
As for the prices see below
Q E D

As for the import duty and VAt- That is somewhat a scare tactic Million of Britons every day have mail posted from abroad and as previously attested to in this forum only once in blue moon does anyone get collared for import duty
and vat

My advice to all modellers and consumers is to find what you want then shop arround it pays

You have quoted my ebay price.  I sell very little IMPACT on ebay, I use ebay mainly to advertize the fact that I sell these products, enquirers are directed to my web site.  What is listed on ebay has a higher price because of the ebay fees.  If you visit my shop site you will see that the price is £79.99, by buying through the shop forum members are able to claim their members' discount.

As regards the VAT, I am only stating the legal position.

One more point - I imported the photo etch in January when the $ Singapore was particularly high against the £, since then it has fallen 14% so there would be a corresponding reduction in my price if I were importing them now.  That said, if your attitude is typical I may as well pack the whole thing in now - and Welsh will go the way of so many other UK retailers, including model shops.

That is the last I have to say on the matter.

Steve       

[oz]

i tried shopping around for a set of metal suspension bars for over two months, the only ones i found were on Ebay one cost £29.50p the other £30.20p so i rang WDM who answered the phone on the first ring, unfortunately he didn't have any in stock but did say he was expecting them in a day or so, two days later i rang back the call was again picked up immediately and the parts were in stock they cost me £6.50p.

the impression i get is some people think some traders intentionally rip us modelers off i have used WDM lots of times and have NEVER felt i have been overcharged on anything i have bought and i will continue to use their services without question, so apart from WDM how many other traders have taken the time to answer questions or queries on this forum, so back to my original point £29.50 or £30.20 from Ebay or £6.50p from WDM, biting the hand that feeds us comes too mind.....................oz

[STEINER]

Here is my view,

I have ordered from Hong Kong and the US. I have been hit with customs/ duty/ import tax from the US and Hong Kong. However, I beg to differ that it is only once in a blue moon that anyone gets collared. I would hate other forum members to think ordering from non EU countries wouldn't result in any duty being charged.

Any one wanting to purchase from non EU countries should read this.   http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=400044&mediaId=400362

Steve is quite correct about the Royal Mail £8 handling fee.

Some sellers from abroad get around it by stating that the price of the goods is within what is allowed. ( read link above) However, if your purchase goes missing, are they insuring it for the correct value ? Its a risk.  I believe, but don't take this as gospel, that if a purchase is listed on the shipping label as a Toy, then no duty will be incurred. Do you want your RC Tank/parts to be called a toy and not incur duty, or are people too embarresed for that and would rather take a chance with import duty/tax ?

Finally, WDM is the best dealer I have ever dealt with. and I have bought from a few, home and abroad. On price, help, communication speed of delivery, he has the lot. And before you get any ideas, I'm not his relative or on his pay role. Steve, stick with it pal.

This is a very interesting debate, any other views ?

Cheers

STEINER

Steve
I cannot help but feel attention is being drawn away from my central arguement- That of a practice which is costing me money
As for the prices see below
Q E D

As for the import duty and VAt- That is somewhat a scare tactic Million of Britons every day have mail posted from abroad and as previously attested to in this forum only once in blue moon does anyone get collared for import duty
and vat

My advice to all modellers and consumers is to find what you want then shop arround it pays

You have quoted my ebay price.  I sell very little IMPACT on ebay, I use ebay mainly to advertize the fact that I sell these products, enquirers are directed to my web site.  What is listed on ebay has a higher price because of the ebay fees.  If you visit my shop site you will see that the price is £79.99, by buying through the shop forum members are able to claim their members' discount.

As regards the VAT, I am only stating the legal position.

One more point - I imported the photo etch in January when the $ Singapore was particularly high against the £, since then it has fallen 14% so there would be a corresponding reduction in my price if I were importing them now.  That said, if your attitude is typical I may as well pack the whole thing in now - and Welsh will go the way of so many other UK retailers, including model shops.

That is the last I have to say on the matter.

Steve        

[wibblywobbly]

Guys, before we get into a slanging match about pricing. Yes, the list price from non-EEC countries is cheaper, but, and its a big 'but' if you get caught out by customs then you will get stung. There is also the point that returning a faulty item is going to cost you additional postage, and you may get stung yet again by customs when the replacement is sent through.

Someone once told me that Customs do not look at each item, they simply pick a crate of parcels at random and stick duty on everything in there, regardless. I have no idea if this is true or not. I do know that I have had parcels that were clearly marked 'gift' clobbered by them. Getting the money back is a chore, and takes weeks. It seems that a good deal of what comes from the States gets caught, but the Far East seems to fare better. Having said that I did get stuffed on a £600 RC Helicopter a few years ago.

I would rather pay a little extra from a UK dealer, knowing that if there is a problem I can pick up the phone and talk to them. For that reason I will happily buy from WMD, Forgebear and Military Might. I will however, never buy anything from Tankzone aka Armour Workshop ever again.

Stop and think about it, if we all buy from abroad then there will be no more UK dealers left. None of them make a fortune, in fact they trade in their spare time as the business does not generate enough profit to sustain a liveable income.

Modelling apart, I always make a point of buying something from local shops every week, rather than the local Asda store, for the pure and simple reason that if all the competition disappears then the big boys will rack their prices up and there will be nothing we can do about it.

There is a global recession on, everyone wants a bargain, but lets shop clever eh?

Rob G