Surefires take a premium oversees

[Monocrom]

The exchange rate and Surefire's policy towards international customers are the two big things. Want to save on the cost of Surefire lights? Here's one idea....

For years now, folks from the UK have been coming into America during the Holiday shopping season. They make sure to bring plenty of cash money. Once here, they exchange them for U.S. dollars. Since the Pound is stronger than the Dollar, they end up with more money. Now it wouldn't be more if they were buying items back home. But they shop here, in America. The result is obvious.

If you have a friend or relative who will soon be visiting America, hand them cash and ask them to buy you the Surefire(s) you want. Big cities have Authorized Dealers. Yes, you will likely pay more than buying online. But you'll still save money.

Al once gave some good advice about getting around Surefire's policy of no international sales from U.S. Dealers.... Try to find a Surefire dealer in Asia who will ship to you.

 

[Petersen]

Indeed. SF (and just about everything else from the US) is extremely expensive in Denmark too.
An M6 is around $795,-, an L1 is around $265,-, etc, etc.
It sounds insane, but add shipping, toll, toll-fee (yes, there is such a thing here too!) and 25% VAT and suddenly the prices are "understandable". (Not fair by a long shot, though!)
I know I should support our local dealers, but I admit I haven't bought a single SF in Denmark - ever!

True....
- and try getting SF123 batteries here.... however I'd found a place where they sell 24 for approx. $100,, and that's CHEAP here in DK :-(

I have also brought all my lights home from US

 

[cy]

solution is very_simple... purchase your surefires used in mint condition on b/s/t from cpf'ers that will ship overseas.

with the super in your favor exchange rates... don't understand why more folks in europe, etc. don't take advantage of current exchange rates.

good grief... it's 2 UK pounds to one dollar. it's 1.5 euro to one dollar.
for UK folks, it's like everything is half price. it's not been that long when rates were 1 pound to 1 dollar. I remember when euro was .8 to one dollar.

so it's all relative... basically goods from US are half priced. naturally local govern try to balance that by placing punitive tariffs.

as some suggested above, it's very easy for customs to verify values for new surefire lights. but it's not so easy to come up with used values. further if light was taken apart and shipped as used flashlight parts.

this does two things...

1. reduces risk of theft of high visibility items like surefire
2. reduces customs values, as you are shipping used flashlight parts.

naturally if item is new in unopened box. then you are stuck with new values. but I have zero problems with opening a new surefire light, turning it on. it now has become a USED light and I have zero problems with putting a USED value on customs forms.

further if light is busted apart into used parts. again I have zero problems with assigning a used value on customs forms. just don't be shipping a new box with parts. ship box separately if you must.

what do you think odds of customs taking time to verify values for used flashlight parts?

 

[jumpstat]

In Malaysia,
SF G2 is RM349 = USD103
SF E1E is RM599 = USD176
SF L1 cree is RM1150 = USD338
SF A2 is RM1950 = USD573

So I am grateful for CPF......and do value the lights I have...

 

[nzgunnie]

In Malaysia,
SF G2 is RM349 = USD103
SF E1E is RM599 = USD176
SF L1 cree is RM1150 = USD338
SF A2 is RM1950 = USD573

So I am grateful for CPF......and do value the lights I have...

That is not far off New Zealand prices.

These days pretty much all my lights come from BST here.

 

[BassClefJeff84]

I guess "size15s" must be sleeping or something.:sleepy:

 

[kosPap]

In Malaysia,
SF G2 is RM349 = USD103
quote]

that is not very far from the Grek price too. euros 65 for the G2 and 26 for the P60 Bulbs!!!!

Woth the help of my sister's husband I was able to figure out the observation that Greek prices are ussually the number of dollars turned to euros +35-65% for example a camera lens of $100 retails 134 euros in Greece.

the math is rouglhy: gross price from amnyfacturer + 35% (19% VAT & other custom expenses) + 35 or more% at gross vendor/importer commission + 100% retail vendor profit.(inclluding VAT). The thing is silly especially the gross vendor pimp fees, an anachronistic market existence in Greece and im the era of the internet market.

This is precisely the flashlight/military gear retailers lose two thirds of their clients to internet purchases....

thanks god lighthound and batteryjunction for me! Kostas

 

[cat]

@ zenster: Of course. Everyone has mentioned the import tax and VAT.
And the reason manufacturers move manufacture out of the USA... they do it wherever the cost of labour is lowest and where they can avoid regulation regarding protection of the environment and so on.

It's not just the import taxes that raise the price of some stuff in Europe. one can easily see that the US selling price + shipping + duty + VAT is not = to the European selling price.
I think the main factor as to why some stuff is much more expensive in Europe than in the US is the actual price at which european dealers buy the products from the US mainly due to the small quantities bought.

They buy from authorised distributors.
We can get Surefire products online for less than some local retailers' cost price. (Excluding the cost of shipping and VAT.)

@ cy: Good point re USED - like you pointed out in the thread complaining about people here selling only to "CONUS". But most of what is sold here is used and even when it's not, there is no need for the private seller to value it at the listed retail price. But all that is generally only applicable to private sellers.

@ kosPap : Yes. I stopped - years ago - doing the comparisons. The worst is I might pay about 5% less than if I bought locally. Even if it's 5% more, I save time and trouble, phone calls and driving and so on. Anyway, most of what I buy - like 95% - is not available locally. A small, ignorant market, and small, ignorant dealers.
The era of the internet...
I will not mess around looking up phone numbers, listening to annoying "music" on stupid phone systems, waiting for people who don't call back, so I can pay their 100% markup for them to order it, when I can do that myself right here now. So often, I know more about the product than they do, because I use the internet. And I have this great resource.

This is precisely the flashlight/military gear retailers lose two thirds of their clients to internet purchases....

wtfu or go out of business. (Except the ones who have local govt customers and don't care about individual customers anyway.)

I'm not complaining. I'm perfectly happy with the way things are. There are excellent dealers here who take care of us. :thumbsup:

So, cheers to cpf and to lighthound, opticshq, fenix-store, and all the other good people. :twothumbs

If it fits in a padded envelope and the value is below a certain point, the PO delivers it to my work reception and they call me or send me email to come get my parcel. If the value is above a certain point, or it was sent by EMS, then the postman is there at the reception for me to pay him the VAT and the handling charge.

It's all good. :rock:

 

[iSleep]

In Singapore,

Surefire G2 costs $89
Surefire G3 costs $109
Surefire E1E costs $169
Surefire E2D costs $189
Surefire C2 costs $200
Surefire L1 Cree costs $250
Surefire A2 costs a cool $489

(All Prices above are listed in SGD)

Damn the pricing is scary ... everywhere, especially in the UK and neighbouring Malaysia ... Costs an arm and a leg (even your family jewels ...)

 

[Crenshaw]

the list goes on..
if memory serves..

M2: SGD 300+
M3: SGD 400+
M3 turbo is 500+ i think
M4: SGD 700+
M6: i believe it was 800-900+

dont even want to THINK about the titan...

now you know why we foreigners love fenix so much..

Crenshaw

 

[iSleep]

LOL ... Crenshaw completed the list for SG surefire prices ... :twothumbs

 

[Patriot]

the list goes on..
if memory serves..

M2: SGD 300+
M3: SGD 400+
M3 turbo is 500+ i think
M4: SGD 700+
M6: i believe it was 800-900+

dont even want to THINK about the titan...

now you know why we foreigners love fenix so much..

Crenshaw

Geez!! I had no idea that it was so difficult to get a decent price on a Surefire oversees. That really stinks. $400 for and A2!! That's almost disgusting considering a whole bunch of CPFer in the US just paid $97 for them at Sportsman's Warehouse.

 

[Monocrom]

Wow!

Nearly $1,000 for an M6.
I got mine at a bit of a bargain, $349.
$50 below retail. And it's brand new.
Ironically, at a B&M shop in NYC that has a rep. for high prices.

 

[Mash]

Well, I am sure this is quite eye opening for US members, but normal for international people.
Have a look at Maglite prices for a good laugh!
Or for that matter stuff like Dell Pcs and monitors (some of which are manufactured/assembled in Europe!).
As someone mentioned before, you used to be in the ball park by doing a straight numbers of dollars, to pound/euros, but nowadays, its more like $40= 60-80 pounds or euros. ie up to 4 times the price!
For a laugh I usually scan the US bargain/deals sites; there are some eye poppers there for sure!

 

[Wetterman]

I was going so say that the exchange rate from the EU to the US bites but I just looked it up. I remember not so long ago it was €1 to $2. Today it's $1 to €1.48. That's the lowest I can remember.

I just may go shopping.

Don't go shopping quite yet. You're gonna have to pay $1.48 for each Euro.

 

[Crenshaw]

yup my MAG 6D cost me a total of something like $57 dollars, stock, no batteries.

Surefire the website doesnt ship to anyone outside the US, it says contact your local dealer.

I may have remembered wrongly, and the prices might be $100 less, but its still a large some of money. the Shocker was that a new L1 cree would cost $250 (when iSleep told me i was ) Which is why i went to BST at MP

Monocrom, thats why i will probably never get round to buying an m6, cant justify spending almost $1000 on a light..

So yup, this be the plight of all non US residing surefire lovers.

And dont even get me started on batterries(just an expression, im telling anyway, rant mode on). Cheapest at local stores is $10 for a two pack (roughly 6.60 USD) At the surefire dealer its $21 for a 6 pack of Energizers(USD$14), and $26 for a 6 pack of surefire batteries (USD$17).I wish i could buy them at 1.75 each from the surefire website..

even with lighthound, shipping gets expensive very quickly..which is why me an iSleep have been splitting shipping costs. :thumbsup:

Crenshaw

 

[DaFABRICATA]

WOW! I had no idea this thread would get so much attention! I was just pokin around eBay and saw the listing and was shocked by the price.:thinking: Now I see why I am always sending packages out to other countries.

Later tonight I'll be listing a bunch of Surefire stuff on B/S/T in the Marketplace so keep your eyes openJust a heads up:thumbsup:

 

[monkeyboy]

There are some real ripoffs here in the UK. The surefire Beast is selling here for £3,279.99. It also says the recommended retail is £3999. That's about $8000! Compare this to the US recommended retail of $4800.

I've got nothing against the linked website but you would have to be either insanely rich or insanely stupid to spend $3000 extra just to buy one in the UK.

 

[NordMetal]

Same story here! :mecry:

All european flashaholics should ask their politicians to establish
a free trading zone with north america. Like the european union
free trade zone itself is.

 

[Per Arne]

Maybe this place could be a place to shop Surefire from;

http://www.supremeco.com.hk/

They use SureFire prices... I got a G3 from them when the G3 was just released...

I haven't bothered checking SureFire prices here in Norway since our price level usually is high... Most of the time shops don't have what i want anyways so I use the Internett :nana:

At the moment our VAT is 25%, + Custom and fee. If the shippment is below Nkr 200 ($35...) there is no problem... When the duty is calculated they even includes the shipping cost :shakehead