Re Europe

LOL, about twice the price in US$. Between transaction costs (of making payment overseas), shipping, import duties AND profit margin there's no way they'd come up to ~$190. What a blatant rip-off.
 
Not forgetting that Swamprat USA does not accept European orders, see the sticky on this forum.

Caveat Emptor. It's obviously a free market and Swamprat USA and Swamprat Europe can pitch their prices how they want without any need to justify them to anyone. But they shouldn't be surprised if we comment.
 
This has been addressed many times and it is not about a "blatant ripoff" it is about trying to pay customs fees, and taxes that are added to the product by your countries (not the US)

If you could order it directly from us, we still have to fill out the customs forms to include the correct price and you still have to pay shipping of $24.95. Once it gets to your country they will tax it at the appropriate level, so that will add an additional cost. Not to mention we can no longer easily accept overseas credit cards (because of the high number of fraud problems) so you would have to send an international money order(which is not free)

All of these costs are already added into the costs of the Swamprat.de website.

If you want to complain go right ahead and do so, but at least have the facts straight. The price you see on our website is not the price you would end up paying by the time it reached you. (ie customs fees/taxes, shipping and money order costs) All of these costs are taken into account already by our European dealer because he had to pay them when receiving the merchandise.
 
I buy a lot from the states.

Perhaps you should check at which pricepoint tax starts to be levied.

I have only ever been charged tax on imports from US when sent by courier, not regular post.

As already posted, there is no need to justify your pricing and marketing policies, however if you wish to discuss numbers a 50% mark-up would cover costs including import duties, storage costs and dealer markups, especially as I am sure you are not charging Dirk $24.95 for each item sent.
 
Numbers:
Purchase price $98.95
(shouldn't US taxes be deducted for international sales?)
taxes at 30% $29.67
Shipping $24.95
Total $153.57

Euro price 145 plus say 10 euro shipping Euro Euro 155 around $200 at current exchange rate

However Swamprat.de would presumably pay import tax on the purchase price not their selling price so they would not be paying $29.67 as would a private buyer (but I think this is only for items with a value of over $200 for private buyers) but rather I would immagine something like $15. Similarly shipping would be for say a box with at least 10 items not sent by air so say a max of $5 per item.

One of the basics of marketing is to pitch a price at what the buyer will pay. So I am not complaining, I am simply commenting.
 
Hi Milu!
May I comment some of your comments?

Milu said:
Numbers:
Purchase price $98.95
(shouldn't US taxes be deducted for international sales?)
Click to expand...

I am sure that price is w/o tax. As an Ohio resident some tax will be added.

Milu said:
taxes at 30% $29.67
Shipping $24.95
Total $153.57
Click to expand...

Wrong. In December the total of taxes was of 43,48%. Shipping costs will be taxed, too and not added on top after the item itself was taxed. That is the situation in Germany. Other countries like Switzerland or the scandinavian countries will have about 8 - 9% higher taxes than the german 44%.

Milu said:
(but I think this is only for items with a value of over $200 for private buyers)
Click to expand...

Assuming you reside in the EU, you are wrong with the above statement. The value limit when taxes are added was around 50 USD. I recently read that even that limit no longer exists.

Sorry, there´s no rip-off. Just correct calculation.

Have a nice day!
 
I have been careful not to use the word ripoff I simply commented on the price difference. I did not try to analyse the makeup of the Euro price until mr Isaacson raised it.

So....on the last two packages I received from US in December, which went through customs which only happens when shipped by courier I was charged 30% of value (yes, including shipping which was on my bill). Possibly some of the contents were tax exempt?

Tax is charged on the purchase price, I would expect Swamprat.de to buy at a significant discount and only pay tax on that amount. Similarly I would expect bulk shipping at a lower cost.

Please feel free to charge whatever you think the market will bear but I am afraid you have not convinced me that the Euro and US price are comparable.
 
Milu said:
Numbers:
Purchase price $98.95
(shouldn't US taxes be deducted for international sales?)
Click to expand...

I will only comment on this part as you are incorrect here, there are no taxes added to any internet sales unless you reside in Ohio. US internet sales are excluded from Sales tax unless you live in the state in which you are buying the product from. Any taxes that are added are done so by your country, not the US.

Dirk has answered the rest of your concerns much better than I could.

I hope that helps

:D:D
 
Thank you mr Isaacson.

If you are happy with your prices and how they were calculated and your customers are buying, who am I to complain?
 
Here are the numbers with the correct German taxes:

Purchase price $98.95
Shipping $24.95
Taxes at 43.48% $53.87

Total $ 177.77

= 136.35 or around 137 euros if the taxes are rounded up, etc. This is assuming that swamprat.de pays the same purchase price and shipping.
 
Just a side comment on high prices in Europe. I have been there several times now and have found no bargains a large part due to the taxes. I am planning to visit Scandanavia this fall but don't plan to buy many things to bring back because the dollar to Euro and other non-Euro currencies buys much less these days.

It's a wonder how Western Europeans can expect to sell anything on the world market. If I lived in Western Europe now, I would plan to visit the U.S. every year and bring two big mostly empty suitcases. That way I could buy a lot of goodies - including Swamp Rats - to take back to Europe with me. I bet if I sold some of them to friends I could pay for my trip. I would't even charge my friends VAT:D
 
Whatever the reasons for the price difference it will definitely affect sales.
I don't want to have to feel cheated and to me that is just how it feels (not saying it is). Nowadays I tend to buy 2 knives in the US and even when taxed get 1 for free compared to European prices. It seems smuggling knives might be a cool thing to do but I would hate to have to swallow a rat.
 
Eric Isaacson said:
This has been addressed many times and it is not about a "blatant ripoff" it is about trying to pay customs fees, and taxes that are added to the product by your countries (not the US)
Click to expand...

No offense but i know what the actual import duties (customs and VAT) for knife import are - i happen to live in one of the most "import unfriendly" EU countries and i'd be paying some 40% on any import made in excess of ~$25 in value (at current exchnage rates). Add normal shipping and some reasonable markup (i think 10% is quite reasonable) ad it's still less than the price we're supposed to pay just becuse we live across the big pond. Don't be surprised if that reseller runs out of business soon and many folks just find a buddy overseas and have them order a knife for them (and then reship it overseas).

Between huge shipping costs, markup and the actual import costs there's no way a product could cost 100+% more than it does in the US. Any comparable product (price-wise, that doesn't fall into one of the import duties-exempt categories) costs less, be it a computer part (CPU, hard disk, printer, etc,), a mobile phone (Motorola), a digital cameria (HP), etc. This is just a blatant rip-off and i stand by my claim.
 
I wish I knew more about duties and taxes in the EU. However, as an American, I can bring back $800 duty free from most places in the world. Also, we do not have VAT. Isn't there a similar exemption for Germany or other EU countries?

If the countries in Western Europe are going to charge that much in taxes and duties sounds like a restriction of free trade to me. How do they determine duty and VAT for items that arrive through United Parcel Service or Federal Express? I can't believe they are going to open up every package.

One other note on U.S. Customs. It's been my experience that they are quite liberal and spot check only a very small percentage of luggage. They are not concerned about sucking the last dollar out of American citizens returning from abroad. They are more concerned about terrorism these days. I had 3 liters of alcohol returning from my last trip, with the duty free limit being 1 liter I believe. I declared it but they didn't care and let me pass without charging me the extra duty. But then that is America.:)
 
hdwrlover said:
I wish I knew more about duties and taxes in the EU. However, as an American, I can bring back $800 duty free from most places in the world.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the same arrangement that we have here (not sure about the limit though).

hdwrlover said:
How do they determine duty and VAT for items that arrive through United Parcel Service or Federal Express? I can't believe they are going to open up every package.
Click to expand...
They use the shipping/declaration bill, where contents and value are listed.
They only open up for inspection if they suspect it's an illegal item (at least here in Norway).

hdwrlover said:
One other note on U.S. Customs. It's been my experience that they are quite liberal and spot check only a very small percentage of luggage. They are not concerned about sucking the last dollar out of American citizens returning from abroad.
Click to expand...
Same here, they do everything to NOT stop ordinary people in customs, but if they find something on you, they're quite strict.
One tip; get a haircut and shave before coming here. Wear nice clothes when passing customs.


As for price level SR.de vs SR.us, I came to peace with it.
I buy knives so rarely that a little extra when ordering from Germany won't matter.


Gu
 
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