Why do companies rip off UK customers?

Tax avoidance only ends up with a shortfall in the public purse which results in other measures to replace the lost revenue.

Only end up paying via another tax or a loss of services, those whinging about rip off Britain would find other countries get their cash in different ways
Go and live in the US if its so cheap, but don't forget to pay for healthcare insurance then you can moan about how its free in the UK
 
A comment that really does show your utter ignorance of the world economy.

Prices vary because

a) National/Regional taxes do.
b) Local manufacturer support varies according to region and price uplifts reflect that.

So what you actually mean is that you want Nikon to adjust their unit cost price to allow for regional fluctuations in order to normalise the global retail price.

Because that's really going to happen.

Thank you for the personal insult. I’m the COO of an international electronics manufacturing company, I therefore think I have a half decent grasp on the world economy. If Nikon did normalise the global retail price it would solve the problem. But it is still cheaper to buy Nikon in Poland or Amsterdam than the UK and we are in the single European market. I could go to Media Markt in Amsterdam and buy myself a nice new Nkon system with bodies and lenses and bring it back to the UK without any duty/VAT issue and it wold be cheaper than using here in the UK. But not as big a saving as in the USA.
 
Tax avoidance only ends up with a shortfall in the public purse which results in other measures to replace the lost revenue.

Only end up paying via another tax or a loss of services, those whinging about rip off Britain would find other countries get their cash in different ways
Go and live in the US if its so cheap, but don't forget to pay for healthcare insurance then you can moan about how its free in the UK

I pay for healthcare insurance in he UK as does every member of my close family with a very well known healthcare company. We pay ourselves not a perk from our employers.
 
Shame this isn't still available on iPlayer, it was excellent viewing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42143849

As Hoppy says, apart from the £1bn tax loss, one of the biggest affects of VAT evasion is losses in the UK job market.

I saw that programme the other night, well worth watching - shows just how easy and widespread VAT evasion is.
 
Thank you for the personal insult. I’m the COO of an international electronics manufacturing company, I therefore think I have a half decent grasp on the world economy. If Nikon did normalise the global retail price it would solve the problem. But it is still cheaper to buy Nikon in Poland or Amsterdam than the UK and we are in the single European market. I could go to Media Markt in Amsterdam and buy myself a nice new Nkon system with bodies and lenses and bring it back to the UK without any duty/VAT issue and it wold be cheaper than using here in the UK. But not as big a saving as in the USA.


You're welcome. When are you anticipating filing for insolvency?
 
I pay for healthcare insurance in he UK as does every member of my close family with a very well known healthcare company. We pay ourselves not a perk from our employers.


Really? Do you actually think that anyone is thick enough not to see the fallacy in that argument?
 
Clearly posting an honest opinion to this would get me banned.

The least I’ll say is that every person I’ve ever met with such an opinion was a complete nob head. So, you can have a think about what you’ve revealed to us.

not by me it wouldn't...


surprise surprise, the site staff (moderators) have their own views and opinions, and we probably cover a fair arc of the political spectrum, we don't have a "party line" on these things per-se - we leave setting that sort of policy to the owners (the admins)...

Oh - and why one person got a holiday, but the other one didn't...

simples, the personal insult was reported, and once reported can't be ignored.

the vile, cretinous xenophobic remark wasn't reported to the best of my knowledge
 
Thank you for the personal insult. I’m the COO of an international electronics manufacturing company, I therefore think I have a half decent grasp on the world economy.

:eek:

If Nikon did normalise the global retail price it would solve the problem. But it is still cheaper to buy Nikon in Poland or Amsterdam than the UK and we are in the single European market. I could go to Media Markt in Amsterdam and buy myself a nice new Nkon system with bodies and lenses and bring it back to the UK without any duty/VAT issue and it wold be cheaper than using here in the UK. But not as big a saving as in the USA.

Normalising global prices at retail level is pretty much impossible but it's true that there are some international pricing anomalies from time to time. Most can be explained by currency fluctuations, but not all and it would be wrong to assume form all this that manufacturers are not complicit in the whole grey business, and are often duplicitous and deceitful in their condemnation. They know exactly who's selling what, where, and for how much and could cut it to a trickle if they were minded. But actually, it suits them to have 'back door' outlets and helps to moderate inventory levels and maintain prices in key territories. TBH the same applies to most manufacturers in similar markets - so long as the goods go out of the factory gates, at the right price to them, and the lines keep rolling, they don't care too much.
 
>< .... But it is still cheaper to buy Nikon in Poland or Amsterdam than the UK and we are in the single European market. I could go to Media Markt in Amsterdam and buy myself a nice new Nkon system with bodies and lenses and bring it back to the UK without any duty/VAT issue and it wold be cheaper than using here in the UK. But not as big a saving as in the USA.
Fair enough to buy in Amsterdam etc, nobody would complain about that, it’s the single market working properly.
 
But it is still cheaper to buy Nikon in Poland or Amsterdam than the UK and we are in the single European market. I could go to Media Markt in Amsterdam and buy myself a nice new Nkon system with bodies and lenses and bring it back to the UK without any duty/VAT issue and it wold be cheaper than using here in the UK.
Only (at least not compared with advertised prices online) that’s not true.

Poland is slightly more expensive (I compared D850 body price) and Netherlands about parity (comparing a D750 body)
 
450usd plus import charges and handling makes it pretty much 449 quid. Actually probably more after the shipping cost.
Edit -
 
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A lot of people think this, but the lens still had to be shipped to the States from Japan, so presumably it costs a LOT less to ship to the States, so are we being ripped off with shipping and tax??
Yet again ... $450 USD is £335. Add to that 6.7% duty (for lenses) and 20% VAT (iirc there is no import duty on digital stills cameras on lenses it’s 6.7% which is added BEFORE VAT is calculated) and you get around £430. The rest is the cost of providing U.K./EU customer protections, the costs of corporation tax, etc.

As far as I can see there is zero import cost Japan to US for camera lenses.
 
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Yet again ... $450 USD is £330. Add to that 20% VAT (iirc there is no import duty on digital stills cameras) and you get around £400. The rest is the cost of providing U.K./EU customer protections, the costs of corporation tax, etc.
Yes I was editing the above as it was a facetious post and not a serious one! But you'll still have to pay US sales tax in the initial transaction and refund that at a later date, presumably when you pay UK VAT. I think a lot of high end cameras have lost the import duty exemption as they are no longer classed as stills cameras due to increasingly advanced video functions? I could be wrong as that was something the EU was threatening but I don't know if that actually went through.
 
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I pay for healthcare insurance in he UK as does every member of my close family with a very well known healthcare company. We pay ourselves not a perk from our employers.

The point being in this country you don't have to, but other places may have some things cheaper, but it balances up in the end.
Not sure why you even mentioned that fact other than to show you weren't one of those Johnny foreigner types over here on the ponce

In answer to the original question its because judging by this thread there are a lot of morons in the UK
 
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Yes I was editing the above as it a a facetious post and not a serious one! But you'll still have to pay US sales tax in the initial transaction and refund that at a later date, presumably when you pay UK VAT. I think a lot of high end cameras have lost the import duty exemption as they are no longer classed as stills cameras due to increasingly advanced video functions? I could be wrong as that was something the EU was threatening but I don't know if that actually went through.
I think that’s one reason most “stills” cameras are limited to 30 minute video recording.
 
Slightly different but still on goods sent abroad


We wanted to send 3 christmas/birthday cards to Brazil for our grand children. When the Brazilian customs checked they wanted payment of £99 , yes you did read it right £99 in customs duty on cards costing a total of around £5. Needless to say that wasn't paid and the cards came back to us in the UK
 
We wanted to send 3 christmas/birthday cards to Brazil for our grand children. When the Brazilian customs checked they wanted payment of £99 , yes you did read it right £99 in customs duty on cards costing a total of around £5. Needless to say that wasn't paid and the cards came back to us in the UK
And people wonder why Nikon closed their official Brazil website...
 
I think that’s one reason most “stills” cameras are limited to 30 minute video recording.

That's why we see video specs limited to 29:59 secs.

Also, I believe most cameras that come bundled with a lens in a one box kit, the lens is allowed to pass duty free (but not without VAT). Sometimes these lenses are then split out and sold separately at a discount (100% legit) as 'white box' lenses.
 
Slightly different but still on goods sent abroad


We wanted to send 3 christmas/birthday cards to Brazil for our grand children. When the Brazilian customs checked they wanted payment of £99 , yes you did read it right £99 in customs duty on cards costing a total of around £5. Needless to say that wasn't paid and the cards came back to us in the UK

Interesting. We have an office in Brazil and have never had this problem when sending them Christmas cards. Is I a recent development as we have just posted the international cards.
 
Interesting. We have an office in Brazil and have never had this problem when sending them Christmas cards. Is I a recent development as we have just posted the international cards.

This was last year. Now we are afraid any toys we send they won't get . The girls are only 8 - 4 and 2 years old and missing so much . My wife is going out there next Jan 2018 and taking a lot with her toy wise, at least that way we know they will get them. Anything we do send can take up to 2 months to get delivered if at all. this is in the Sao Paulo area, A small town a few miles outside.
 
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Interesting. We have an office in Brazil and have never had this problem when sending them Christmas cards. Is I a recent development as we have just posted the international cards.

South America is notorious for a variable approach to incoming stuff, often involving 'unreceipted finance'. No personal experience with Brazil, but Argentina was a challenge at times in the past.
 
Slightly different but still on goods sent abroad


We wanted to send 3 christmas/birthday cards to Brazil for our grand children. When the Brazilian customs checked they wanted payment of £99 , yes you did read it right £99 in customs duty on cards costing a total of around £5. Needless to say that wasn't paid and the cards came back to us in the UK
You have foreign grandchildren?

I hope they don’t try and come over here to use our NHS. I sincerely hope you are on the case there.

For clarification:

I was working at the age of 15 and didn't stop until aged 69 I think I have paid my fair share, even taxed on my pension. So back off and let me spend my money where I like. the ones you need to complain about is the foreigners who come here to use our NHS without contribution anything
 
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You have foreign grandchildren?

I hope they don’t try and come over here to use our NHS. I sincerely hope you are on the case there.

You’ll probably find that his ‘paying his fair share’ means that him and all his future family are entitled to everything the state owns, there’s an absolute belief that everyone ‘else’ is a lying cheating b*****d, but he fully ‘deserves’ to play the system and scam, cheat and claim everything available. It’s a type I’m familiar with, they make me physically sick, a misguided belief they’re superior when they’re anything but.
 
the ones you need to complain about is the foreigners who come here to use our NHS without contribution anything

As already pointed out in the thread, "You mean the less than 1% of the yearly NHS budget, as opposed to the 40% of the NHS budget spent on the over 65s?".

Please keep your xenophobic drivel confined to conversations in the pub (or, if it must overspill to the forum, within the bounds of the hot topics section)
 
Or are they just p***ed off they didn't save a bundle of cash like others did?


Humans can be like that you know.

Or maybe they simply don't want to buy grey, deprive a Briish company of the trade and tax to the government. Its a bit of a pointless comment actually because they could, just as easily as anyone else, buy grey if they so choose to.
Be much simpler if Nikon aligned its’ prices globally.
For someone who is the COO of an international manufacturing company, you display a vacuous understanding of the world economy.
 
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Vacuous. Great word.
 
You’ll probably find that his ‘paying his fair share’ means that him and all his future family are entitled to everything the state owns, there’s an absolute belief that everyone ‘else’ is a lying cheating b*****d, but he fully ‘deserves’ to play the system and scam, cheat and claim everything available. It’s a type I’m familiar with, they make me physically sick, a misguided belief they’re superior when they’re anything but.

I think the phrase is "I've paid in all my life" sick of hearing it from all the whinging Daily Mail reading old bastards.

Bloody foreigners come over here, just got off the boat and they get given a mansion and a Lear jet
Paid in all my life and can't afford to turn on my one bar electric fire, have to burn all the old losing scratchcards to keep warm.


Maybe its VAXuous
 
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Are you "outing" him... does he work for Dyson?
Dyson is vacuous. As poster boy for Brexit I heard him the other day saying how much easier he found it dealing with non EU countries — well he would after moving all his manufacturing to Singapore (or thereabouts).
 
Are we going a little "Off Topic" here?

Here in the UK we are certainly ripped off on camera gear - how much depends on what we are buying and where we buy it from. For example I feel sorry for all those poor Americans who cannot afford Gitzo tripods. On the other hand I can (and did!) get 3 brand new Gitzo tripods + a nice used one for less than a single RRS tripod over here! The used Gitzo was from E Bay the ones from a UK high street camera shop.

Then there was my Canon 7D2 which cost £769 with "taxes paid". I am not saying that taxes were or were not paid - they just claimed that they were. So let's assume, for the sake of argument, that VAT was not paid (there is no Duty - see Gov.CO UK) so 20% (VAT) adds £153.80. So that is £922.80 assuming that the supplier was lying and I have no reason to suspect that they were.
On the date of purchase the best UK price that I could find was from WEX was £1199.

So whether they were paying the VAT or not it is still a ripoff!

The Canon Rep tells me it is a case of double exchange rates. Namely Canon Europe get the gear from Japan and then it is purchased from them by Canon UK. So it is Yen to Euros and then to Sterling - with the inevitable losses. Well I agree, but having worked in Import/export financing the double exchange rate differences only account for a very VERY small part of the extra we pay in the UK = ripoff.
 
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South America is notorious for a variable approach to incoming stuff, often involving 'unreceipted finance'. No personal experience with Brazil, but Argentina was a challenge at times in the past.

I remember sending a few items including my old Sony Vaio laptop to my ex in Mexico, talk about get ripped off!! even though sent with all fee's paid upfront I still got ripped off by the delivery companies couriers in Torreon!!

You’ll probably find that his ‘paying his fair share’ means that him and all his future family are entitled to everything the state owns, there’s an absolute belief that everyone ‘else’ is a lying cheating b*****d, but he fully ‘deserves’ to play the system and scam, cheat and claim everything available. It’s a type I’m familiar with, they make me physically sick, a misguided belief they’re superior when they’re anything but.
Completely agree Phil, see that type too often sadly.
 
Has there been any mention of the differential in rents and rates on buildings yet? The daily cost of the warehouse I manage, before we unlock the front door in the morning, is around three times that of anything our USA suppliers pay per square foot...
 
Reply #20, rent and rates mentioned. :)
 
Reply #20, rent and rates mentioned. :)

3 pages ago, and probably forgotten now. The cost of local bricks and mortar, whether referring to a local store vs internet retailer or in country retailer vs grey marketeer from a low-cost part of the world will always skew economics of running a business profitably.
 
That's why we see video specs limited to 29:59 secs.

Also, I believe most cameras that come bundled with a lens in a one box kit, the lens is allowed to pass duty free (but not without VAT). Sometimes these lenses are then split out and sold separately at a discount (100% legit) as 'white box' lenses.
Yes that is right it is due to an EU tax
http://www.tested.com/tech/photogra...meras-have-a-30-minute-video-recording-limit/

Hopefully one day they will get rid of it, I guess that it has raised zero money but I am not sure.
 
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