Why do companies rip off UK customers?

sphexx said:
The 30 min recording limit was originally to protect the French video recorder industry, misplace protectionism of course.
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How can I record a TV program using my Canon 7D MKII? Also does the French Video Recorder industry still exist?
 
davholla said:
How can I record a TV program using my Canon 7D MKII? Also does the French Video Recorder industry still exist?
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I’m no expert on this just old enough to remember it coming in. Classic case of unintended consequences I think, it was intended to limit imported video cams long before digicams appeared.
No idea about French video industry, probably died out due protectionism leading to lack of innovation.
 
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With camera gear and electronics I think that the uk prices are fair
In one area tho we are ripped off in my opinion and that's prices of duty free drinks
Off topic I know but it's something that I've noticed recently
I was going to bring back a bottle of rum for myself a couple of weeks ago on a trip to Switzerland from the uk airport duty free
The price was only slightly cheaper than uk supermarket prices and the supermarket price includes a lot of duty
Maybe I'm wrong but surely the duty free shop should be much cheaper than the duty paid price
I guess as long as they can get away with charging just a bit lower than uk prices they will do
I didn't get one I couldn't be bothered to carry a bottle around just to save a couple of pounds or so
 
LCPete said:
With camera gear and electronics I think that the uk prices are fair
In one area tho we are ripped off in my opinion and that's prices of duty free drinks
Off topic I know but it's something that I've noticed recently
I was going to bring back a bottle of rum for myself a couple of weeks ago on a trip to Switzerland from the uk airport duty free
The price was only slightly cheaper than uk supermarket prices and the supermarket price includes a lot of duty
Maybe I'm wrong but surely the duty free shop should be much cheaper than the duty paid price
I guess as long as they can get away with charging just a bit lower than uk prices they will do
I didn't get one I couldn't be bothered to carry a bottle around just to save a couple of pounds or so
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I checked the Gin on the way to Greece, and several were more expensive than Morrisons, only one notably cheaper, but not enough to bother with.
 
On the way to or back from? Pretty sure the rum and ouzo we bring back is a bit over 1/2 the cost it is in Sainsbury's (not that we can get the ouzo we like there.) IIRC it's the same price in the airport shop as it is in the shops over there - we only buy it at the airport because it saves on baggage weight!
 
davholla said:
How can I record a TV program using my Canon 7D MKII? Also does the French Video Recorder industry still exist?
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I seem to recall that there's something similar as the reason there's not usually a dedicated audio 'line in' on consumer grade video camcorders, so they can't be used as video recorders as the import duty would be more?
 
This thread has been a lively read, and now it seems to have quietened down. Whenever grey imports get discussed it seems clear that people fall largely into those for and those against - let's say self-interest versus an ethical stance. It's interesting (and bizarre) when those in the self-interest camp start to claim the moral high ground.

I'm reminded connectedly of a passage that John Berger wrote: "Capitalism survives by forcing the majority to define their own interests as narrowly as possible. This was once achieved by extensive deprivation. Today in developed countries, it is being achieved by imposing a false standard of what is and what is not desirable".

Humanity, where are you? Society, where are you? Civilisation, where are you?
 
Phil V said:
I checked the Gin on the way to Greece, and several were more expensive than Morrisons, only one notably cheaper, but not enough to bother with.
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But, if its in the EU there is no duty it can be free of?
 
Mr Badger said:
I seem to recall that there's something similar as the reason there's not usually a dedicated audio 'line in' on consumer grade video camcorders, so they can't be used as video recorders as the import duty would be more?
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Words fail me. One question as citizens of the EU, how do we get these changed? Can our MEP change this law? I am hoping some fan of the EU knows. I know we are going to leave but we have a year or more left.
 
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From the little bit I know about EU Directives, I think they are reviewed every so often and comments and consultations taken into account. If so, I imagine there wouldn't be that much volume of pressure to change something like any duty applied to cameras and camcorders (if that's the case) to discourage their secondary use as video recorders. For a start, I don't suppose many people would want to use one as a video recorder, let alone know about the audio line-in and/or 30 minute recording time 'work arounds' (if that's what they are). I only found out as I tried to find a 'consumer grade' camcorder with an audio line-in socket so I could record the output from an ultrasonic detector whilst filming.

I thought the 30 minute recording time files on the 'personal mobile recorder' I use to record video output from a thermal imager was due to keeping data file sizes manageable, from reading this thread it now seems that this may be to stop the PMR being used as a 'VCR'. Once again, it's not an inconvenience for what I use the PMR for, so I doubt I'll be petitioning the EU or HMRC to change the law (if indeed that is responsible for the 30 min file size limit). It's amazing what you learn when a thread goes off topic though! :D
 
davholla said:
Words fail me. One question as citizens of the EU, how do we get these changed? Can our MEP change this law? I am hoping some fan of the EU knows. I know we are going to leave but we have a year or more left.
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Words fail you but you manage a whole paragraph. Did you miss the smiley at the end?
 
jakeblu said:
But, if its in the EU there is no duty it can be free of?
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Phil V said:
Yes, so what’s the point of the ‘duty free’ shop?
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There is duty within the EU, there is just no extra duty when travelling from one EU country to another. Presumably, if you buy in a Greek duty-free shop, the drink will carry no Greek duty, then when you bring it into the UK, you pay no UK duty.

Of course, that does not mean it will be cheaper. Retail prices are set according to what the public are willing to pay. If Joe Public has indicated (by buying) a bottle of whiskey for £20.00, then when you go to a duty-free shop, they know the price people will pay and charge the same - or, perhaps, a little less to maintain the illusion they are cheaper.
 
davholla said:
I meant that I cannot express how crazy I think the idea that someone would use a camcorder to record tv programs.
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They use them to record films in a cinema.
 
davholla said:
True but surely most people use video recorders/hard drives to record program x because otherwise they will miss it, - tricky to do that with a Canon 7D MK II.
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We always need to remember that half the population have below average intelligence.
 
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davholla said:
True but surely most people use video recorders/hard drives to record program x because otherwise they will miss it, - tricky to do that with a Canon 7D MK II.
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Yes but the whole idea of a VCR is that it makes it possible for you to tape what's on television while you're out of the house. But the whole point of being out of the house is so you can miss what's on television.
 
Eloise said:
Yes but the whole idea of a VCR is that it makes it possible for you to tape what's on television while you're out of the house. But the whole point of being out of the house is so you can miss what's on television.
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I thought the point was to be able to skip through the adverts...:D
 
john.margetts said:
There is duty within the EU, there is just no extra duty when travelling from one EU country to another. Presumably, if you buy in a Greek duty-free shop, the drink will carry no Greek duty, then when you bring it into the UK, you pay no UK duty.
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There is no duty free facility when travelling between EU countries. That's the whole point of the EU Customs Union.
 
megaweb said:
Thanks for the reply's! I understand that there will be some disparity between buying in the US and the UK, but this seems excessive. I am not alone with this view.

“UK consumers are getting a raw deal by paying up to hundreds of pounds more for the same tech products on sale in the US," said Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?

P.S. I wont by buying from the US for the reasons you stated. Sigma will have to do better or give a good explanation if they want me business.
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One of the joys of being caught in the EU cartel - import levies imposed by the EU that every country in the EU has to pay for stuff imported from 'outside the EU' trade deals.
 
MatBin said:
Depends on what you mean by "richer" :)
Am I richer because I enjoy my expensive camera more than some enjoys their cheaper camera - possibly.
Financially, assuming you are in the same geographic location, so comparing apples with apples then possibly they are richer, but are they happier.
All a bit off topic, but as the OP has had a zillion similar answers it's about time we drifted onto something else maybe.

Matt
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I think it was Thoreau who wrote: 'A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can do without'.
 
Lensflare said:
One of the joys of being caught in the EU cartel - import levies imposed by the EU that every country in the EU has to pay for stuff imported from 'outside the EU' trade deals.
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Perhaps you could tell us what the import duty on digital cameras is then. Or maybe you didn't know? It's 0.00%. Disgraceful, isn't it.
 
StewartR said:
Perhaps you could tell us what the import duty on digital cameras is then. Or maybe you didn't know? It's 0.00%. Disgraceful, isn't it.
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Not defending the anti-EU sentiment ... but the original question was about a Sigma lens which does attract duty of (iirc) 4.7%
 
+ the 20% VAT on the import duty, shipping and the value of the goods on entry - I have imported my sea kayaks for the last 10 years, from Cape Town, where I set the company up when I worked out there. The way you pay tax on tax is where the numbers increase faster than it would appear they should. Then you have all the internal costs of doing business on top....these goods don't magic their way into the retailer.

What I am trying to say is, it isn't the companies ripping off the customer - they have costs outside their control that have to be paid, these are passed on to the customer.
 
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Lensflare said:
What I am trying to say is, it isn't the companies ripping off the customer - they have costs outside their control that have to be paid, these are passed on to the customer.
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This conversation appears to be repeating itself ... yes the costs are tax (as well as other costs in running a business), but we all (well most of us) like the good consumer rights we enjoy in this county, we like the NHS, we like good education provision for the next generation (even if we don't have kids ourselves). We recognise the benefits to society of all the things provided by our taxes.
 
Retune said:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that anyone who imagines camera gear will be cheaper after the UK leaves the EU will be sadly disappointed.
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Sadly the 30 minute rule affects the whole world, but obviously if it was a software setting people would break it and the French VCR industry would be decimated.
 
davholla said:
Sadly the 30 minute rule affects the whole world, but obviously if it was a software setting people would break it and the French VCR industry would be decimated.
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I though people did used to crack the 30min software in the old days. Anyway it may all be academic because manufacturers os mainly still cameras find it convenient to limit the video to make it eaier to solve the cooling problems.
 
Lensflare said:
+ the 20% VAT on the import duty, shipping and the value of the goods on entry - I have imported my sea kayaks for the last 10 years, from Cape Town, where I set the company up when I worked out there.
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Way OT, but do you know Derek Goldman and Margaret Silk, then?
 
bovey9 said:
I do feel sorry for our retailers. Digital rev sell the Canon 5DMK4 for £2200 thats delivered to your door. Thats cheaper that UK shops can buy it from Canon.
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Hong Kong company using Hong Kong legal jurisdiction. Caveat emptor.
 
bovey9 said:
I do feel sorry for our retailers. Digital rev sell the Canon 5DMK4 for £2200 thats delivered to your door. Thats cheaper that UK shops can buy it from Canon.
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+1

However - and this is no defence of the Grey Market - (1) Canon UK / Nikon UK / etc. need to get on the backs of their parent companies who (it appears) must be selling at a low cost to Far East retailers knowing that they will be resold for grey market imports and (2) Canon UK / Nikon UK / etc. need to collectively put pressure on UK Gov and HMRC to investigate and properly monitor personal imports / grey market purchases.
 
jakeblu said:
But, if its in the EU there is no duty it can be free of?
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Sorry not true.....in the UK we pay a lot of duty. In fact every EU country can be different. The problem with airport shops is that they are ripping you off....and duty free does not mean you pay the 'true price' excluding duty....they are earning excess profits or at least profits that far exceed the likes of supermarkets.

See here https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/alcohol-tobacco
 
Eloise said:
+1

However - and this is no defence of the Grey Market - (1) Canon UK / Nikon UK / etc. need to get on the backs of their parent companies who (it appears) must be selling at a low cost to Far East retailers knowing that they will be resold for grey market imports and (2) Canon UK / Nikon UK / etc. need to collectively put pressure on UK Gov and HMRC to investigate and properly monitor personal imports / grey market purchases.
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Quite. So why isn't this happening? The more you look into the whole grey business, the more complicated and murky it gets, full of hypocrisy and deceit on the manufacturers' side, lack of resources and what looks like plain blindness from HMRC. UK retailers are pretty helpless victims, piggy in the middle.
 
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