Anyone else had immediate family knife scrutiny?

RedLynx said:
... Curiously, SAKs at European retailers are redonkulously expensive, not sure why. You'd assume the opposite, given their proximity to Switzerland.
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I think the "value added" tax is quite popular in Europe and that could certainly make a big difference in price. Here (US), we typically have a sales tax (at point of sale) and there is no import tax that I am aware of for most western countries. Currency difference too come into play.
 
22-rimfire said:
I think the "value added" tax is quite popular in Europe and that could certainly make a big difference in price. Here (US), we typically have a sales tax (at point of sale) and there is no import tax that I am aware of for most western countries. Currency difference too come into play.
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Good point, and Swiss currency is typically value high, whereas Polish currency much less, when set against most markets (including ours), so it is possible that it costs a lot of złoty for a SAK. Although from what I understand from fellow travelers, Switzerland is very expensive if you are visiting (rather than living there) from just about any other country. A lot of my European friends complain about high VAT in some places, but are at least grateful that for them the price doesn't change at point of sale. Takes some getting used to, for those visiting or extended staying here.
 
I find it crazy that someone can have the same product shipped from the United States to their home in Europe and it's still cheaper than buying it more locally but it is what it is I guess.
 
22-rimfire said:
I think the "value added" tax is quite popular in Europe and that could certainly make a big difference in price. Here (US), we typically have a sales tax (at point of sale) and there is no import tax that I am aware of for most western countries. Currency difference too come into play.
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Any import tax imposed on a product imported into the US is paid by the importer at the time the merchandise is accepted at the Customs "point of entry". The import tax is then rolled into the wholesale price, so we (the US buying public) never see the addition of the tax - it is already included in the retail price, before sales tax. So yes, we are paying the import tax, and paying sales tax on the import tax.
 
My mother doesn't like EDC knives as she thinks they are too "scary." She doesn't have a problem with an SAK or anything but whenever I use my Emerson I can see her cringing out of the corner of my eye :P
She tolerates it though. Someday she'll get used to it, haha
 
The VAT, or value added tax, is indeed one of the factor leading to the much higher prices paid for by Europeans. The VAT varies between 19% and 25% in Europe. It is very popular with the governments because of the significant amounts of revenue it brings in. The way it works is that at each transaction, a specific amount is added as a "consumption tax", even if nothing is consumed. The last figures I saw had European countries having a VAT revenue of 28% (Switzerland) to 52% (Denmark) of the GDP.

A typical example uses 10% for simplified math, but just double the numbers for a 20% VAT.

Let's say a farmer sells his cotton for $10 and the cotton is eventually sold as a shirt. (Bad assumption because a farmer would NEVER get $10 for the amount of cotton that goes into a single shirt, but it makes for easy math.)

At each transfer point, assume the seller makes a 10% income (from which he pays all his expenses) and assume a VAT of just 10%.

The flow of goods is farmer to broker to mill to factory to wholesaler to retailer to consumer.

By the time the consumer buys the shirt, the final cost of the shirt is $28.53, of which $8.35 is income at the various levels and $10.18 is cumulative VAT.

So the government makes more than all the sales levels combined. AND they get to charge income tax on whatever the end profit after expenses. Win-Win for big government.


Go the current US method - sales tax charged only at the final sale. The final price for the consumer is only $16.11 + sales tax. If that is 10%, then the final price to the consumer is $17.72. And since the US does not have a national sales tax, Big government gets nothing. They can only get income tax on whatever profit is left after expenses on the $6.11 of total income.

No wonder advocates of big government are always saying a VAT would be more fair. More fair for whom? The government, not the consumer.
 
I've said this before, in other posts:
My parents came from the mill (grain) and the farm (dairy). Nobody thought twice about someone carrying a knife. Every other year, I bought my dad a "peanut" for Christmas; when my mom died, she had the Kershaw RAM I bought her in her pocket.
My father-in-law (in his mid-80s) wouldn't feel dressed without his SAK in his pocket. My wife always has one of her EDCs with her.
 
Oh yeah, my wife EDC's an SAK in her purse and can care less how many knives I have :)
 
zzyzzogeton said:
So the government makes more than all the sales levels combined. AND they get to charge income tax on whatever the end profit after expenses. Win-Win for big government.


Go the current US method - sales tax charged only at the final sale. The final price for the consumer is only $16.11 + sales tax. If that is 10%, then the final price to the consumer is $17.72. And since the US does not have a national sales tax, Big government gets nothing. They can only get income tax on whatever profit is left after expenses on the $6.11 of total income.

No wonder advocates of big government are always saying a VAT would be more fair. More fair for whom? The government, not the consumer.
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My Euro friends do get a kick at how much we tend to complain about our taxes here.
 
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