VAT increase: will it really make lenses go up in price by silly amounts?

freefall

freefall

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I'm currently saving up for a Canon 24-70 f2.8 and I have seen the price go from £880 to £980 with one supplier over the past few months. I appreciate that some lens prices can fluctuate.

But, with the upcoming VAT increase I'm worried I will be paying really over the top for a higher end lens. I'm not going to be buying until Feb time so I'm a bit gutted.

So, do we think the VAT increase is going to put a big dint in our pockets? Or, will manufacturers take less profit in order to entice us to buying?
 
It's 2.5%, not a massive amount. It's not even 2.5% on top of the current price, it works out at 2.01% more.
 
One thing that did come out in a newspaper article this week was that a lot of companies are planning on using the VAT overhaul to increase their prices, ie doing it at the same time and hoping the dumb ones just blame the UK government and not them.

Would it surprise me if prices went up by more than the VAT increase? no not in the slightest, its too good a cover to not take advantage of it.
 
iancandler said:
One thing that did come out in a newspaper article this week was that a lot of companies are planning on using the VAT overhaul to increase their prices, ie doing it at the same time and hoping the dumb ones just blame the UK government and not them.

Would it surprise me if prices went up by more than the VAT increase? no not in the slightest, its too good a cover to not take advantage of it.
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But, they then run the risk of not being competetive with those who do not increase their prices.
 
I think retailers will cite foreign exchange differences (real or not) and the vat increase to raise prices.
 
iancandler said:
One thing that did come out in a newspaper article this week was that a lot of companies are planning on using the VAT overhaul to increase their prices, ie doing it at the same time and hoping the dumb ones just blame the UK government and not them.

Would it surprise me if prices went up by more than the VAT increase? no not in the slightest, its too good a cover to not take advantage of it.
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Same as it ever was. :suspect:
 
Happened when we switched to decimal currency, I don't see any reason for it not to happen now. If I was gonna increase my prices in the next 6 months I'd time it for the VAT rise day (If I had anything to sell).
 
In october the minimum wage went up. During the last year my rent and rates have risen. Utilities have risen too. When the VAt rise takes place I will consider my extra costs and do a price rise in one foul swoop. It's not being greedy. In fact my profit has decreased because I have been reluctant to rise prices each time something hits me. Otherwise I would have already had 3 or 4 price rises before the new VAT rate is introduced.
 
It'll be the same situation as fuel, it goes up fast but then takes a long time to come down or in this current climat its just going up lol.

You wont notice VAT unless you buy a car on most consumer products you wont even know, what you should look into though is your shopping you'll notice a 2.5% increase over a years worth of shopping though, you'd be suprised how much you buy on a weekly basis has VAT on.
 
NigelPaul said:
In october the minimum wage went up. During the last year my rent and rates have risen. Utilities have risen too. When the VAt rise takes place I will consider my extra costs and do a price rise in one foul swoop. It's not being greedy. In fact my profit has decreased because I have been reluctant to rise prices each time something hits me. Otherwise I would have already had 3 or 4 price rises before the new VAT rate is introduced.
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I think that's eminently sensible. I'll be reviewing my prices over Christmas, because since the VAT increase forces me to change them all anyway (AGAIN!!), at the same time I might as well check whether I'm happy with them. I'd be surprised if there were any small businesses that weren't thinking similarly. (Of course big retailers can tweak their prices up and down much more easily because they have the resources to do it, so this isn't such an issue for them.)
 
samsnikon said:
I think retailers will cite foreign exchange differences (real or not) and the vat increase to raise prices.
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I think the real changes in the exchange rate will be enough for them. In Jan of this year £1 bought ¥150 - now it's ¥130. So a £1000 lens earned the manufacturer ¥150,000 at the start of the year, but only ¥130,000 now. To earn the same they'd need to increase the price to £1,150.
 
freefall said:
Or, will manufacturers take less profit in order to entice us to buying?
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:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Thats a good one........

Er, probably not, you will probably find your lens goes up at least 10% in January as VAT and greed go up and exchange rates go down

Allan
 
That is a very good point about exchange rates. Must admit I'm probably over worrying but would end up being gutted if I paid over the odds for the lens to then suddenly drop in value.
 
It's only 2.5% but I think it will be used as an excuse to raise prices overall.
I would buy now if at all possible.
 
Kev M said:
It's 2.5%, not a massive amount. It's not even 2.5% on top of the current price, it works out at 2.01% more.
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Your correct in that prices should not rise by 2.5%, but we all know they'll go up by a least that.

Shove your price up to make more profit, and blame the government.
 
A lot of the shops I work in have been making massive price increases over the last couple of months!

I reckon a lot of them are going to be saying "we aren't going to increase our prices on the 4th of Jan". That'll be because they've already done it in the preceeding months.
 
allanm said:
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Thats a good one.......
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we're (national clothes retailer) not.. :nono: in fact when VAT went down we actually passed that saving on to the customer.

in these challenging times on the high street retailers would be foolish to increase their prices by much, if anything, above the VAT change. they need to get people into the shops not scare them off.
 
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