Why are swords so expensive in the UK?

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BlakeK

Joined
Jun 13, 2014
Messages
31
So yeah, pretty much as the title says, Why are Swords, and bladed weapons in general, so darn expensive for those of us living in the UK? Therearen't anywhere near the same amount of reputable online weapons retailers here as compared to the US and those we do have seem to have a fairly limited stock to choose from. But it's the prices that are the real killer. On US sites most swords are much cheaper than the UK comparison. For example:

I want to add a Roman Gladius to my collection. There's a pretty nice, fully battle ready model made by Windlass called the "Maintz Gladius" (linked below)... The best price i have found to buy it directly from a UK supplier is £179.86 + £8 Postage costs = $187.86

http://www.theknightshop.co.uk/cata....html?osCsid=e995328978a8d794a9661cef69a5f8b4

In comparison, You can get this sword easily in the US for $215 + $10 postage costs = $225... That is the equivalent of £132.03

http://www.museumreplicas.com/p-233-gladius-maintz-pattern.aspx

Some simply put, the UK collector pays an extra £55.86 (roughly $100) on that particular sword, and that is one of the closer matches i could find. The prices are even higher for most of the Oriental blades.

This can't be due to any legal issue, as all these items are perfectly legal to own over here, so why such a rip off on Prices in the UK? Any input on this would be welcome. Especially if there are any UK based retailers amongst the users on this board.

Thanks,
BlakeK
 
Why can't it be due to the legalities there? You are only allowed to own swords made by particular construction methods, and not others. That means the competition is cut down quite a bit, and competition brings down prices.

Additionally, international shipping, customs fees, size of the market, etc, all doubtless have an effect. If you don't have a big enough market to drop-ship a giant container to an importer on a regular basis, the reseller can't make that much money off of it, and thus it's going to cost them more per sword to import. Even without the laws in your country, the UK is a fifth the population size of the US. That means that even if the market were similar, it would still be only a 5th the size. Basic economics suggest that with a smaller market, you're going to see higher prices.

Etc.

I'm not sure if this thread is intended as a complaint, or if you actually are curious, but costs of items involve a complex array of societal and cultural pressures. My 2 cents...
 
Hi CrimsonFalcoln,

Thanks for the reply...

I guess it was a bit of a frustrated whinge. Or more of a bemoanment of the situation here for UK collectors. I spend most of my time trawling the US sword stores with envious eyes at both the range of items available and the low prices,. hoping that they will ship to the UK. The legal side of things aren't as big an issue as people think over here. It was only poorly made, mass produced curved blades (Cheap pressed steel Katanas) that have been actually outlawed over her because there was a huge rise in crimes involving those ugly crappy blades as they could be bought from anywhere for next to nothing. Thankfully, they're now off the streets, but your average Joe can't tell the difference between a piece of crap made in China "Mall Katana" and a hand made martial artists blade, so there's still a downer on pretty much all curved sword here. It's ridiculous really, how can a Katana be any more lethal than any other blade? Why not ban m,eat Cleavers and Butchers Knives while they're at it? :/

As for longswords, Falcatas, Gladius, Daggers, Lakonias... etc etc etc, well there's not ban whatsoever on these blades here. Nor do they have to be "hand forged". So there's no competition issue there, it's just a tax thing i think?... It is frustrating to say the least.

If any of you good people know of a US/International based online retailer that will ship to the UK at a decent price, i would very much appreciate a heads up.

Thanks,
BlakeK
 
Basically due to two reasons you can say that the prices of swords like battle ready one are higher in UK. First one is that the shipping charges that you have to face and because of it half of the charges are increased. Secondly you are restricted to use the swords made with some specific methods.
 
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