A question for Eric!

The Bear

The Bear

Joined
Nov 23, 2001
Messages
162
Yesterday Eric wrote:

“Due to an overwhelming number of returned, lost, confiscated, and stolen packages, Swamp Rat Knife Works will no longer be shipping directly to any of our European customers.
All European orders will be handled by Swamp Rat Knife Works Germany. Dirk will assist you in purchasing and receiving all of your future orders. His website again is www.swamprat.de”

Now I’ve a question for Eric: does it mean that for a Bog Dog I have to spend about $ 193 (€ 158) instead of $ 98 (€ 80)?
Please, tell me I’m wrong because if I’m right I think the Bog Dog I bought some months ago is gonna be my first and last knife from SwampRat!
Regards!
 
And I have the exact same question.
Wanted to post yesterday, but quite frankly I was very disappointed after seeing the prices on the german website and didn't want to write a harsh post.

Questions regarding that sticky:

1: How is the UK different?
2: Will Dirk subtract the German VAT (cuz I have to pay 25% when it gets here anyway)?
3: How 'bout company store and general inventory?
Can't see the rat trap on swamprat.de.
4: There are different sheaths, but how do they look?

And finally it's the money issue.
Price example on the RW:
US: $180
Europe excluding the UK: $290

I've seen the calculation done earlier, where the customer seemingly ended up paying the same no matter if he ordered from Germany or the US.
In my case the same additional expenses apply. It doesn't matter to the system where the package is coming from.

In fact it would be cheaper for me to pay $100 "real shipping" from the US website, and the package would travel on a velvet cushion.


All I want is to have the same selection of product as everyone else,
and at a fairly similar price...
I feel raped
 
Aw, dammit, I still came off a bit caustic :D
Well I tried my best to stay objective and calm...
 
Hello everybody!

I will explain the import situation (costs) again, maybe it can be copied by a moderator into the “Euro” sticky post.

A fixed blade knife made in the US and imported into the EU needs to be calculated like the following.

Knife value + shipping costs will be taxed with 8,5 %. Next on top of that total comes the penalty tax which is at 12% in october and increases by one point every month.
After all of that we add 16% sales tax for our customers in the EU.
If you´re not in the EU (like Switzerland) but order from us the sales tax will be taken off and you will probably pay your own countries sales tax.
If you´re in the EU we have to charge you the german sales tax, but according to my information your own country will not charge you again.
So as an EU citizen with a high sales tax you could benefit from our “low” sales tax.

The Rat Trap can already be ordered through e-mail. The website will be updated next week.

The sheaths we offer are handmade to the customers specifications. The price on the website is a prize guideline for a basic sheath.

Since our english section is not finished any questions can be asked through e-mail in english.

Have a great day!

Dirk Linnemeyer
 
Thanks Dirk for your reply!
But I don’t wanna discuss about prices on www.swamprat.de! They probably couldn’t be lower than they are! The issue is that five months ago I bought a Bog Dog + sheath from www.swampratknifeworks.com and I spent about € 100 (shipping included) and now, if I wanna buy another one, I need € 158 (shipping not included)!
In other words, the question is that a EU customer is now forced to spend much more than anyone else for the same item. And that’s only because of the Swamp Rat Knife Works policy!
I was waiting for the new Rat Trap, but to purchase it I should probably spend $ 275 (€ 225) instead of $ 139: sorry, NO WAY!!!
 
The Bear said:
Thanks Dirk for your reply!
...
In other words, the question is that a EU customer is now forced to spend much more than anyone else for the same item. And that’s only because of the Swamp Rat Knife Works policy!
Click to expand...
Hi The Bear!

I won´t blame it on Swamp Rat Knife Works.
It has to do with paying the correct (means according to the law) taxes.
So, if you want you can blame the EU.
I am not happy with the tax situation, either. That´s for sure.

The Bear said:
...
I was waiting for the new Rat Trap, but to purchase it I should probably spend $ 275 (€ 225) instead of $ 139: sorry, NO WAY!!!
Click to expand...
Right now we estimate the sale prize for the Rat Trap to be around € 169 + shipping. That includes all the taxes.

Have a great day!
Dirk Linnemeyer
 
Thanks again Dirk for your quick reply!
Frankly speaking, I think that you do your job and also EU does its job, but the Swamp Rat Knife Works didn’t chose for EU the right selling way to keep prices as low as possible!
If I still could purchase the Rat Trap from the US website I’d spend less money, despite EU and its taxes!
And that’s all for me!
Regards!
 
Bear,
I'm sorry you are upset, but we have been losing a large number of knives shipped overseas. Our options were to increase the price on all of our knives to cover these losses or stop shipping to the locations where the losses are taking place. We are not happy about having shipping restrictions either, however, to keep our costs as low as possible we felt it necessary.

I hope this helps you understand why we needed to make a change.
 
hello.

I've thought about buying the rat tail one or two months ago, but as I'm in france, I was redirected by swamprat.com to the german site, and when I saw this site's prices, I told me as bear did: "no way". so I've forsaken the project to buy swamp rat knives.

you may think about all the deals you lose by not shipping your knives worldwide. I think after a rat tail, I would have bought a bandicoot or a howling rat, and maybe a desert rat (not in one time, but if the rat tail pleased to me, I sure would buy other swamp rat knifes later).

I would like to have a swamp rat knife, but not for more than the US price.

what I don't understant is how other knife sellers do, if it's too hard for you to ship worldwide... :confused:
 
The penalty tax is something that keeps me from ordering a Rat Trap or even :grumpy: the Busse Fusion Steel Heart. However, this penalty tax will hopefully only be a "temporary" nuisance, this low scale tariff war will be settled, someday. I can wait :D ...

The thing that I never understood is why many knives should get lost during shipment. You can alway have your shipment insured, so if the knife gets lost, it is covered. Tell the customer it is better for him to have hios shipment insured and if he does not agree on that it will be his fault.

Anyway, for private shipments I would recommend using USPS Global Airmail Parcel Post, incl. insurance (IIRC), their partner Europe in Germany is GLS. Infos here. They only charge you a lump-sum tax of 13,5% plus a administrative fee of €9.50 for customs clearance, instead of charging 8,5% import duty plus 16% sales tax. You will be subjected to the 12% penalty tax in any case. Of course it depends on the total value of the shipment, but then you can save quite a lot compared the "regular" taxation. However, this does only apply to consumers. Therefore I asked a friend of mine to buy a knife in the US and have it shipped to me ... Now all this sounds very promising, but I only saved about EUR 10,- on a single knife that was worth appr. EUR 300,- :grumpy: plus I had some paperwork to do ... I hate that. Customs officers tend to be bothersome ...

So, what can you expect when ordering from Busse Combat Germany / Dirk Linnemeyer? Much better service! Less boring paper work! Great communication! :D

Importing the knife on your own is not necessarily cheaper than ordering through Busse Combat Germany if it is a legal transaction ...

Best regards

Mark23
 
yes, why not to ship worldwide only with insured shipment? personally, I won't mind paying more to get the shipment insured, if this is the only way you can ship your knives to me.
 
That's assuming that getting any money back from insurance to be easy. It hardly ever is, its usually a pretty big pain-in-the-ass. Plus you have the upset customers who are missing there knives, the extra shipping time, the time and money spent on filing claims, etc.etc.etc.
 
well, I also guess less orders means less claims, so that's right... :rolleyes:

[edited for a language mistake...]
 
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