the cost of surefires in the uk

spankone

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Oct 11, 2009
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lovecpf

I've got a bored 6p on its way to me and a nailbender 2x xpg drop in for less then a brand new one here in the uk how on earth is that even possible
 

ducat

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If you live in Britain, your being ripped off every time you open your wallet.
 

leukos

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For having one of the stronger currencies in the world, the pound certainly does not have much buying power within the UK. When I lived there, I found that to purchase something online, have it shipped to the UK, and pay the import tax, it still came out cheaper than buying that item at a local store or from a UK based online merchant. Domestic products are different, but usually electronics were much cheaper this way.
 

tx101

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For having one of the stronger currencies in the world, the pound certainly does not have much buying power within the UK. When I lived there, I found that to purchase something online, have it shipped to the UK, and pay the import tax, it still came out cheaper than buying that item at a local store or from a UK based online merchant. Domestic products are different, but usually electronics were much cheaper this way.


Thats because the Government add tax to everything :shakehead
17.5% Value Added Tax
 

zs&tas

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we get ripped on everything here, it is cheaper for me to run ( parts and servicing) an american made pontiac firebird :) than it is any interesting british OEM car.
i use ebay.com a lot for almost everything, i now have a list of sellers that are honest and dont mind international transactions and dont inflate the delivery charges.
Its all out there but youve gota look for it ! thing is more and more people are doing this and its pushing prices up even more ! but if youve got a choice eh ? i actually get alot of satisfaction from giving america my money knowing our government wont see any of it with rip of taxes and crap. out of all the things ive bought from America ive payed customs once, and even then it was half the uk price all told.
 

yellow

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protectet market :(
(but not from government, the shops / maker protects their representatives)
buy online
 

Caroso

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Thats because the Government add tax to everything :shakehead
17.5% Value Added Tax

:poke:

25% tax + 4% customs handling fee here in Sweden.
Luckily, most of the times I don't have to pay the tax when importing.
 

TONY M

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Its what you get for living in the UK.
scowl.gif

:poke:

25% tax + 4% customs handling fee here in Sweden.
Luckily, most of the times I don't have to pay the tax when importing.
I always get hit with custom taxes on anything I get from the USA. They must have my name on the list or something.:( Got to start sending to a friend instead.

I had to pay £0.07 in customs charges on a D20 from 4sevens. The Royal Mail fee for collecting the charge is a flat rate £8.00 and so I had to pay that too! So it was £8.07 and I wasn't happy.

Rant over.
 

tx101

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Just had a look in Ebay UK, the 6Ps are going for around £70 :shakehead
I think your better off grabbing one from the Marketplace
 

seale_navy

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previously Newcastle, UK
Even though market place we can get it like usd 50 plus anything about 18 pounds will be subjected to taxes by the custom.

So the best is buy from seller in the market place who is located within the european union.no tax due to free movement of goods.
 

wykeite

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Up a creek
It isn't just Surefires, it's most imported quality goods. What you pay in $ online will cost £+ if you buy in the UK, that's at least 1.5 times the cost, chances are you can't find it locally so have to pay s&h. Many times s&h from the States is less than here.

I bought my first three new Surefires from the EU at ridiculous low prices so had no extra tax to pay. I've purchased another six plus a couple of accessories that should be taxable since and only been hit for taxes once:mecry:. That was a marketplace buy.

I seem to be very lucky, though I feel this may put a hex on it. I certainly haven't had Tony's sort of luck.

Don't use couriers such as Fedex and UPS, that's a sure import tax, VAT and handling charge:crazy:.
 

shark_za

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Johannesburg - South Africa
In South Africa the market is also mad.
Buying from the local distributor supplies shops will cost 2x the price of importing and paying full shipping duties and tax.

Its all a price protection model with market dominance for one distributor.

Example, Surefire 6PDL will cost equivalent of $210 here.
Fenix is almost the same, LD10 is about $100 here.

But then I can pay the equiv of $22 for an iTP A3 3-mode and the local dealer is still making a fair cut.

The high end market is small so they are raping us.
 

Federal LG

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If you live in Britain, your being ripped off every time you open your wallet.

If you live in Brazil, you´re being ripped off every time you open your wallet.

Here our "official" Surefire dealer asks 280 dollars for a new E1B Backup, and american dealers are not authorized by Surefire to sell them for us, U.S. outsiders...

Thank you Surefire! :thumbsdow
 

quokked

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I'm on good terms with the Surefire Dealer down here in Australia....
Surefire is an addiction...
my top tip is the marketplace :)
 

Alberta-Blue

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Surefire is an AMERICAN company, headquartered in AMERICA, and uses AMERICAN everything to produce their lights. I am guessing its a national pride/patriotism thing to make surefires more readily available to AMERICAN Military and Law Enforcement Personnel and citizens before the rest of the world...

Even just jumpin across the 49th paralell increases the price a fair bit. A surefire 6PL will run between $97 and $120 CDN depending on the retailer, E2DL's are no less than $195 CDN, and the rest of the Surefire product line is similar in terms of a marked 15-25% increase above AMERICAN prices (even taking into account CDN vs USD inequity and conversion rates).

This is why is use EBay :thumbsup:.
 

Federal LG

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Surefire is an AMERICAN company, headquartered in AMERICA, and uses AMERICAN everything to produce their lights...

Not true.

There is no Surefire light written "Made in USA" on it.
For example, their LEDs are not made in America.

The official explanation is because Surefire wants to protect their international dealers against the american dealers prices. That could be a reasonable explanation, but our prices are too high if compared with american market.

And if they want to protect international dealers, so why people from any country that DON´T have official dealers can´t buy from american dealers ?

Well, in those countries there are not local dealers to be protected, so, why not ?
 

Monocrom

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Aug 27, 2006
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NYC
A big +1 for buying Surefire lights from the MarketPlace. Not only can you often get better deals on very slightly used lights, but you're helping out a fellow CPFer.

I very recently picked up two Surefires off of the MarketPlace. One is an L1 Cree in mint condition for nearly half the cost of a brand new one. The other is a 9AN for less than half price.

Both are lights I've always wanted to own, but the price just never seemed to make them good values. (At least, not to me. And I own nearly 20 Surefire models).

Thanks to the MarketPlace, I now get to enjoy them.
 
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