Thomann prices?

[Beedster]

1 minute ago, Kev said:

I don't know, to me the excluding VAT warning jumps out at me, and I'm sure it warns you in the checkout too.  I don't really buy this "surprise" thing, as without putting in bold on the page UK BUYERS YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY MORE, I don't know what else shops can do.

Agree, I don’t understand why they’re still using ‘Thomann UK’ though, they’re not in the UK unlike for example DV247 who are

[EBS_freak]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55752541

And more disappointment for those that didn't think there would be any impact...

[bartelby]

2 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55752541

And more disappointment for those that didn't think there would be any impact...

Disappointment?

For years we’ve been told everyone knew what they were voting for, so this can’t come as a surprise to anyone...

[EBS_freak]

12 minutes ago, bartelby said:

Disappointment?

For years we’ve been told everyone knew what they were voting for, so this can’t come as a surprise to anyone...

Yes, I hear that £350 million extra for the NHS is going down well.

[EBS_freak]

29 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Agree, I don’t understand why they’re still using ‘Thomann UK’ though, they’re not in the UK unlike for example DV247 who are

Try again - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06635477

Section 9 confirms the link to De in the Accounts for a small company made up to 31 December 2019 documentation.

Edited January 26, 2021 by EBS_freak

[Beedster]

12 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Try again - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06635477

Section 9 confirms the link to De in the Accounts for a small company made up to 31 December 2019 documentation.

But they're not selling from the UK despite their name (and the company registration you've linked to) arguably suggesting that they are? Anyway, c'est la vie, the only reason I mentioned it is that there's a lot of confused people out there, and I suspect use of 'UK' in relation to Thomann in Germany explains part of that confusion  

[paul_c2]

2 minutes ago, Beedster said:

But they're not selling from the UK despite their name (and the company registration you've linked to) arguably suggesting that they are? Anyway, c'est la vie, the only reason I mentioned it is that there's a lot of confused people out there, and I suspect use of 'UK' in relation to Thomann in Germany explains part of that confusion  

There is the .de on the domain name, the very German sounding "Thomann" which all point to it being German, and no mention/use of "Thomann UK" on their own website itself. It appears they have registered the keyword "Thomann UK" with Google search though, and that is why Google are picking it up and labelling it as such.

[Stub Mandrel]

55 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Agree, I don’t understand why they’re still using ‘Thomann UK’ though, they’re not in the UK unlike for example DV247 who are

Thomann UK is not new, it's been their website with defaults for UK buyers for ages.

[Guest]

This is not new for German webshops - it’s just a vehicle to personalise the experience for UK users, so having prices in GBP instead of EUR. As Stub says they’ve had this for years. I don’t how much business they get from the UK but if it is significant they may consider a UK arm to smooth customs clearance - but I suspect it won’t be worth the expense and hassle.

[Eldon Tyrell]

48 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

This is not new for German webshops - it’s just a vehicle to personalise the experience for UK users, so having prices in GBP instead of EUR. As Stub says they’ve had this for years. I don’t how much business they get from the UK but if it is significant they may consider a UK arm to smooth customs clearance - but I suspect it won’t be worth the expense and hassle.

I am sure Thomann will thoroughly evaluate pros and cons of having a "real" Thomann UK branch. They already say:

"Please be assured that with more than 20 years of close cooperation with our UK customers, it is our priority to find new solutions that would allow us to provide door-to-door online prices as soon as possible."

 

[paul_c2]

Is it true that many of the items won't escape import duty anyway, because the duty exemption only covers items manufactured in the EU....and what with a lot of basses made in Indonesia, China, USA, Mexico etc.....

I imagine it would be a very interesting comparison, seeing how much it is to import from eg USA, Maxico etc.

[BigRedX]

4 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

Is it true that many of the items won't escape import duty anyway, because the duty exemption only covers items manufactured in the EU....and what with a lot of basses made in Indonesia, China, USA, Mexico etc.....

I imagine it would be a very interesting comparison, seeing how much it is to import from eg USA, Maxico etc.

A lot of on-line reseller are not permitted to sell outside of their country (or economic area) by the terms of their agreement with the manufacturers/distributer.

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

A lot of on-line reseller are not permitted to sell outside of their country (or economic area) by the terms of their agreement with the manufacturers/distributer.

Ive never understood how they can legally enforce that... but yup.

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, paul_c2 said:

There is the .de on the domain name, the very German sounding "Thomann" which all point to it being German, and no mention/use of "Thomann UK" on their own website itself. It appears they have registered the keyword "Thomann UK" with Google search though, and that is why Google are picking it up and labelling it as such.

 

1 hour ago, FDC484950 said:

This is not new for German webshops - it’s just a vehicle to personalise the experience for UK users, so having prices in GBP instead of EUR. As Stub says they’ve had this for years. I don’t how much business they get from the UK but if it is significant they may consider a UK arm to smooth customs clearance - but I suspect it won’t be worth the expense and hassle.

Yep, get this, just think that pre-Brexit it was legitimate - no import duties etc - post-Brexit it isn't. I'm sure it will sort itself out but I imagine a few UK retailers must be a bit miffed that in internet price searches a store that appears to be in the UK is undercutting their advertised prices by such a degree?

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

Yep, get this, just think that pre-Brexit it was legitimate - no import duties etc - post-Brexit it isn't. I'm sure it will sort itself out but I imagine a few UK retailers must be a bit miffed that in internet price searches a store that appears to be in the UK is undercutting their advertised prices by such a degree?

Yup - but people will soon catch on when they try to buy them. It's true though - to the casual glance, the price differences look massive. Maybe the UK retailers will start advertising price plus VAT to address that?

[Guest]

Yes I admit it caught me in the hop initially - I thought they had a sale on and got reasonably excited until I read the bit below the price about being ex-VAT...

[BigRedX]

13 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Ive never understood how they can legally enforce that... but yup.

I suspect it's in the contract for the supply of instruments.

[EBS_freak]

Absolutely - in an attempt to keep distributors in each company buoyant. And of course, supply prices between different zones aren't necessarily the same.

[paul_c2]

..........which has been ruled unlawful, and reversed in some cases:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55749954

[EBS_freak]

Thought as much. I was always confused how Cornford amps seemed to get vendors to stick to firm prices as dictated by the manufacturers - aka price fixing. Also illegal at the time it was happening.

[Stub Mandrel]

18 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

..........which has been ruled unlawful, and reversed in some cases:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55749954

Ah but that's because they were varying within what legally is a single economic area.

Also the BBC don't seem to understand that 1+5 /= 5

[mr4stringz]

2 hours ago, bartelby said:

Disappointment?

For years we’ve been told everyone knew what they were voting for, so this can’t come as a surprise to anyone...

I’m getting really fed up already of saying this myself...

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

Ive never understood how they can legally enforce that... but yup.

Its not a legal enforcement, it is a contract term. Your contract doesn't let you sell outside your area, if you sell outside your area, you lose your contract terms, which may have been more favourable than others.

We had some contract terms on my wifes web shop that precented selling things on eBay (which we didn't do anyway).

44 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

..........which has been ruled unlawful, and reversed in some cases:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55749954

Within the european economic area, but we are not protected by that now, so people can charge what they want.

[BigRedX]

And we go back to the "grey import" situation of the late 70s.

You could get your big name guitars and basses and be able to sell them about 15% cheaper than an official dealer, but they don't come with a guarantee, and if the example back then were any indication, you got the stuff that wasn't shifting in whatever country they were from originally (usually the US).

[Stub Mandrel]

50 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

And we go back to the "grey import" situation of the late 70s.

You could get your big name guitars and basses and be able to sell them about 15% cheaper than an official dealer, but they don't come with a guarantee, and if the example back then were any indication, you got the stuff that wasn't shifting in whatever country they were from originally (usually the US).

I bought a Nikon camera from Japan as a grey import about five years ago, all charges paid at the checkout, I saved about 20-25%. All kosher, except it had the wrong pinout on the charger.

Neil