why is everything in the netherlands so &#$%@! expensive!?!?

How about these prices, compared some prices I found on the web with one of the cheaper webshops from the netherlands...

Surefire 6P,
Surefire site $59
over here 99,95 euro ($128)

Leatherman Charge ti
knifecentre $94,95
over here 173 euro ($221)

and thats just 2 examples of a long list. So basicly we pay more than twice the price for the same product. Thank god for the internet and paypal... just too bad that a lot of US based webshops don't ship to europe, and when they do, shippingcosts are often very high

You could ask in THE CAFÉ if someone wants to forward it for you, CPFers are a friendly bunch, I'm pretty sure someone is willing to.

In all European countries we have very high prices, here in Spain is not that expensive but still a big difference than the US retailers, I think the cheapest dealers in Europe are in the UK. Don´t forget the shipping costs, are also very expensive here.

euro

Do you find that flashlights are more expensive on a relative basis as compared with other items imported from the same countries, or is the relative cost about the same?

I found that UK, Germany and austria based stores tend to be the cheapest (for shipping to the netherlands) pricing is competative but shippingcosts from germany and austria are usually lower and delivery times shorter as parcels only have to travel over land.


another high pricetag in the netherlands... gas...

1,41 euro per liter... And as the most people here are from the US: that's about $6,89 per gallon


that would be about $150 to fill up the tank of a common SUV I guess??

EUrope is a damn expensive place.
Will bew returning to germany in apriul after a 2 year absecnce to Israel and South Africa.
Thje prices do scare me a lot.....everyday costs and so on.
It is not that everything imported is more expensive in europe.

Just exclusive gadgets like...Surefires...
Do it like I always did it, boycot the expensive european retailers and order from the US. A credit card is a must tho.....

the official surefire importer for austria - listet on surefire.com - wants 350-400 $ für the SF U2. Thats much more than what i would pay when i buy a single U2 from any us online retailer.
I wonder if surefires reseller-prices are so high, that they have to sell at that prices.

MayCooper said:

1,41 euro per liter... And as the most people here are from the US: that's about $6,89 per gallon

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just look for the right sources, leatherman charge for € 105 (http://www.want2have.nl/)

flashlights are a little harder, but occasionaly you can get a great deal from www.inkoopacties.net

You could get around this by bartering. You need to find an SF owner who would swap for a big basket of tulip bulbs. Holland is probably the world center of high quality tulips. Just leverage your advantages. Everybody likes tulips.

Surefires are very hard to come by here. The SF website mailed me that they won't do direct business with me, but very cleverly gave me a dealer's adress in the town I live. But the retail prices...yikes! What about a SF P91 HOLA for €69, which is $83,5 (if you can wait for a year before they have it). This is the most extreme example I've met.

No problem for me, as I have found I can live without them. Still, I initially acquired a credit card and Paypal account especially for buying flashlights. As for shipping charges, they differ quite a bit. For example, I want to have a Peak Matterhorn, which would be $35+ some $50 shipping from Bright Guy. Which makes is a necessity to shop around and combine to have more lights in one shipment. The possibility to ask fellow CPF-ers to forward a light has come to my mind. Maybe one time I will try this.

Kees

MayCooper said:

1,41 euro per liter... And as the most people here are from the US: that's about $6,89 per gallon

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And we in the US complain about $2.50-3.00 per gallon prices. I think we need prices to go up so people get more efficient cars.

Recently I've heard of the government considering using GPS on hybrid vehicles and charging them tax for milage because they can't get as much gas tax from them... Pure BS if you ask me. If this happens, then I know our government is really getting greedy -- time to pack up and move to Canada, then.

True : most products are more expensive over here in Europe.
What you didn't know : search for the right places, then you can get most stuff for reasonable prices. For example the Leatherman Charge Ti or XTi for only 99 euro at http://www.marktplaats.nl/index.php...arch.php?o=1&q=leatherman+charge&submit1=Zoek . Most products are much cheaper in Germany due to a bigger market over there. For Surefire products you can look at Ebay Germany, prices are quite reasonable over there. For example http://search.ebay.de/surefire-6P_W0QQfromZR40

Yeah things in Japan are REALLY expensive, too.

I shop around on the web a lot (if you don't count groceries I probably buy more stuff on the web than in regular stores). Sure you can get a lot of stuff for a better price, but there are some big disadvantages too...
great deals from ebay and marktplaats and the likes of them often come without dealersupport. And if you receive a damaged product returning it for swap or refund always drive up the costs as you have to send the product back on your own costs.
Not to mention warranty issues.

Life over here is a b!tch... not just because of the cost of living, but we have some pretty ridiculous laws here... For instance, carrying weapons for self defense. If a woman would defend herself from a rapist by using pepperspray (which is illegal for private persons to own), she can get a fine of 45000!!! euros or 4 years in jail. While on the other hand, if she just lets herself get raped, and the rapist gets caught, he will probably do less than 2 years in jail. And the government is wondering why crime rates are going up...

MayCooper said:

Life over here is a b!tch... not just because of the cost of living, but we have some pretty ridiculous laws here... For instance, carrying weapons for self defense. If a woman would defend herself from a rapist by using pepperspray (which is illegal for private persons to own), she can get a fine of 45000!!! euros or 4 years in jail. While on the other hand, if she just lets herself get raped, and the rapist gets caught, he will probably do less than 2 years in jail. And the government is wondering why crime rates are going up...

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It's always been my observation that crooks and criminals are gonna have an easier time when crooks and criminals are also running the show.

Hi Everybody,

First of all: I'm from Belgium (the country right next to the Netherlands) so same problems here.

My advice is to find somebody who can forward the package from the US or... Find a starting Ebay seller who is willing to do everything as we EU-citizens want:
-private sender' s address (not stating the shop's name in ANY way)
-declared value of 30-35 USD: always stay under 45 euros including postage.
-send through USPS never use Fedex, UPS and the likes
- have the gift box checked

One shop I have ordered from with good result is lighthound also called surefireparts http://stores.benl.ebay.be/surefireparts_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm or visit lighthound.com (the non-ebay webshop of the same guy)

ALWAYS make sure they underdeclare the value and other stuff I mentioned.

Mind you doing this is at your own risk and it is illegal. As we say around here: a warned man is counted for two.

Just helpin' out.

Good luck and good night to y'all fellow EU-geardos

Luca

carrot said:

And we in the US complain about $2.50-3.00 per gallon prices.

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The difference is taxes. They pay the same price for oil that everyone else does. They only have their government to blame for high fuel prices, and most of them do not have to drive nearly as far as Americans do. The reason alot of retail prices are higher is also taxes. In european countries where things seem more expensive they also pay less taxes in areas where we get dumped on. The overall cost of living isn't much different between the continents.

MayCooper said:

1,41 euro per liter... And as the most people here are from the US: that's about $6,89 per gallon

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True enough, but then again, there aren't a lot of places that are more than a gallon away over there.

Here in California, the *average* milage is over 1000 miles a month. I know a lot of folks that commute more than 100 miles a day to work alone. I'd guess the average is less than half that, I drive about 30 typically.

Different lifestyles for sure. That's how we end up with more cars than people....

Doug Owen

Also in Italy flashlight are very very expensive......In my town for example....a mag6D costs 77euro :scowl: