Thomann post Brexit?

[TheLowDown]

18 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

January the 1st. I tried to book something via DPD on about the 8th of january and found they were no longer able to do deliveries from the EU to the UK.

 

 

I've never had it delivered by DPD, only UPS. Both from before Brexit and the one time I bought from them since Brexit. 

 

Edited April 13, 2021 by TheLowDown

[BassAdder60]

Yep I agree that looks unlikely Andertons would be able to compete, but to me that does look worryingly out of parity

I always think a phone call is worth trying if only to make Andertons aware of the difference.

Stores will only sharpen prices if we give them an opportunity or feedback and for the cost of a call we may just discover that deals can be had, unless it’s a Ricky in which case you could holiday in Germany ( when allowed ) buy the bass and still have change 😂

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

none of the UK shops could compete especially with Harley Benton.

This is exactly the point. Buy British campaigns are pretty meaningless when the products sold here are not made here and when in any case they simply don't sell anything like HB. 

No one in the world that I know of sells such consistently high quality and variety at basically pocket money prices. 

[Happy Jack]

On 12/04/2021 at 15:05, Happy Jack said:

As a long-standing fan of Thomann, I'm depressed to say that it's unlikely I'll buy from them again, especially since this is actually down to their choice of courier!

@Silvia Bluejay and I put in an order for about £200 a couple of weeks ago, our first since Brexit. Instead of the usual snappy and efficient turnaround, we had to chase them for a valid tracking number, then we waited a week for a message saying that our goods were held up at Customs and would be delivered a week later (i.e. today).

Had an update this morning from UPS stating that the goods would be delivered between 8:15 and 12:30 today and that there were fees to pay. Fine, sat there waiting. 

At 2:45 re-checked to find that UPS had "attempted a delivery" at 8:51 (a lie, no UPS van even came down our street) but had been "unable to receive payment" (another lie, they hadn't requested any).

Checked the UPS website and found an option to pay the fees online (with a warning that we'd then need to print the receipt to show the UPS driver, presumably because the system doesn't actually update in real time). You can't pay unless you log in. You can't log in unless you register. It won't let me register, says my user name is already in use. 

Life's too short for this sort of 5h1t. I've emailed them telling Thomann to eirher insist that UPS actually come here and ring my doorbell or just cancel my order and refund in full.

 

An update for you all.

I phoned Thomann UK (i.e. a UK phone number which connects you to Germany) and spoke, as usual, to a charming and helpful young man who spoke better English than I do. He gave good sympathy, made encouraging noises, and reassured me that Thomann could do absolutely nothing to help but not to worry because UPS always get these things sorted out. I ended the call feeling like someone had just patted me on the head and said "Good Boy ... Good Boy!".

Then I tried the UPS Support team. Again. Making a payment requires you to log in first but the system still won't let me log in because my email address is already in use. (No, it's not.) Registering using another email address doesn't work - the system recognises that it's the same IP address. I found the Contact Us button ... How would you like to contact us, email or telephone? I clicked 'email' and the system invited me to log in.

I gave up, with the worst possible grace, and went off to watch a documentary about Zaha Hadid (who once tried to poach me from another firm), leaving @Silvia Bluejay to show me how it's done. How it's done is apparently something called Facebook. Having PM'd a bot at 1108, were in PM communication with Angel at 1324 assuring me that the UPS Customer Services team were now on the case and that the box would definitely be delivered today.

At 1645 the box arrived, ripped open savagely down one side and easily able to spill - for example - a couple of 20M rolls of Speakon cable. Yup, that big. We checked the contents and nothing had actually gone, but that was sheer blind luck. The driver was unable to get his handheld device to connect so was unable to find out how much I owed. I printed a copy of the UPS bill and gave it to him. He was unable to generate a fee-charge and asked me if I had any cash. (!!!) When I said I didn't, he asked me to pay on line.

When I stopped laughing I explained why that was not possible and suggested that he get his Supervisor or someone to call me later. He went away.

I sent an update to Angel at UPS Customer Services. UPS came back straight away and apologised for failing to make a delivery as they had promised.

Some of you may recall

Well it's now four months later and I think that I have at last reached the tipping point.

 

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

Yep I agree that looks unlikely Andertons would be able to compete, but to me that does look worryingly out of parity

I always think a phone call is worth trying if only to make Andertons aware of the difference.

It is out - most uk sites are just over £2k now. I guess they don't want to sell any.

And I am sure andertons will catch up, but not planning to buy any more anyway.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 14, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Sure. There is a Rickenbacker 4003s/5 in Thoman. https://www.thomann.de/gb/rickenbacker_4003s5_mbl.htm

Hmm, gone up to £1379, it was  £1350, obviously ex-vat but free postage, so with transfer fees the worse case is it will be £1750?

It's £2199 at Guitar Guitar which begs the question.

 

Why are UK prices at least 25.5% higher ?

 

Stuff buying "British", I'll keep buying from Europe.

[Chienmortbb]

23 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

It's £2199 at Guitar Guitar which begs the question.

 

Why are UK prices at least 25.5% higher ?

 

Stuff buying "British", I'll keep buying from Europe.

You cannot judge on one product. Tho Ann may have been offered a desk by Rickenbacker to shift some slow moving stock and to be honest a 5 string 4003 is not mass market. 
 

Having worked in the sales/marketing dept of an electronics manufacturer, I can confirm that these deals are commonplace. They are always offered to the biggest companies as they can shift them easier. 

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

You cannot judge on one product.

Fender Player P-bass butterscotch.

Andertons £699.   Thomann inc VAT £618

 

G&L Tribute L-2000 OW

Andertons £649 . Thomann inc £600.

 

I could point out more but I'm sure you'll see a pattern here.

[Woodinblack]

9 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

You cannot judge on one product. Tho Ann may have been offered a desk by Rickenbacker to shift some slow moving stock and to be honest a 5 string 4003 is not mass market. 

You can if it is the product you wanted to buy. Before brexit I could have just bought that without a second though. Now I can't. Arguably you could call that a bonus

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Woodinblack

[Chienmortbb]

Blackstar Unity Bass Head Andertons £549 Thomann £599 inc vat.

However I do agree that more items are cheaper even with the added VAT,

😮

 

 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 14, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Evy]

Just doing some research on all of this and found you guys chatting.

I spent £415 on some Zoom gear and just received an email from UPS saying I have to pay £104.26 on or before delivery.

Great 😐

[kodiakblair]

2 hours ago, Evy said:

received an email from UPS saying I have to pay £104.26 on or before delivery.

What's the problem ?

Your research would have revealed you had £83 VAT to pay, £11 UPS fee and 2% import duty. 

Nothing to do with Thomann , it's collected in the UK.

[Geek99]

Wasn’t it available from a uk supplier?

[Geek99]

Buying from thomann isn’t always cheaper, just like Amazon isn’t always cheaper. Could GAK or PMT have sourced your desired product ?

[Evy]

On 20/04/2021 at 06:14, kodiakblair said:

What's the problem ?

Your research would have revealed you had £83 VAT to pay, £11 UPS fee and 2% import duty. 

Nothing to do with Thomann , it's collected in the UK.

I didn't say it was something to do with Thomann???  Your numbers are not really not correct with what I have down on my receipt either.  

I am merely exasperated with Brexit like others are in this thread.  Would have thought that was clear...

 

[Evy]

On 20/04/2021 at 06:21, Geek99 said:

Wasn’t it available from a uk supplier?

Some of the items were, not all.  Basically, this was the only place to buy each item together (8 items).

 

[Chienmortbb]

On 20/04/2021 at 06:14, kodiakblair said:

What's the problem ?

Your research would have revealed you had £83 VAT to pay, £11 UPS fee and 2% import duty. 

Nothing to do with Thomann , it's collected in the UK.

Are not musical instruments zero duty?

[rasher80]

So, if I were to order a LH JB75 @£122, and the £8 delivery quoted, then the £130 total would be all I had to pay, am I right?

[Supernaut]

On 20/04/2021 at 06:14, kodiakblair said:

What's the problem ?

Your research would have revealed you had £83 VAT to pay, £11 UPS fee and 2% import duty. 

Nothing to do with Thomann , it's collected in the UK.

I guess some people thought B***** would be just rainbows and lollipops... 

[Chienmortbb]

3 hours ago, rasher80 said:

So, if I were to order a LH JB75 @£122, and the £8 delivery quoted, then the £130 total would be all I had to pay, am I right?

No there would be a vat charge and fee from the courier. £130 plus VAT plus courier charge. 

[kodiakblair]

@Chienmortbb

The LH JB75 + shipping is under the £135 threshold so VAT is collected by Thomann.

I think that cancels the UPS handling charge since all they do is deliver.

 

The import code for electric guitars/basses is 92 07 90 10 00 and the duty rate is 2%.

 

https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9207901000 

 

[Downunderwonder]

On 15/01/2021 at 02:17, Al Krow said:

So in summary:

We have 20% extra VAT on used goods from the EU

We have the risk of not recovering the 20% VAT (or red tape / hassle) on new goods if we are likely to want to return them from EU retailers.

For me that means:

- looking to buy used goods from UK musos and stores; 

- using Andertons, PMT, Gear4Music etc. (rather than Thomann) for new goods.

 

And if selling your used gear to export you can claim back your VAT, widens your market for expensive stuff.

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

And if selling your used gear to export you can claim back your VAT, widens your market for expensive stuff.

In NZ maybe, but not in the UK