Ordering Direct from Lee Valley

[ike]

I reckon 1-2 weeks is more common than 4-5.

Now that's a droolicious thought!

 

[PitBull]

Ike,

Total order (3 planes + 4 spare blades) was US$619.54 = £354.92.

Parcel Farce charged me £54.61 tax plus £8.00 "handling fee" (robbing b*gg*rs).

Thus:
- tax + fee as a percentage was 17.64%
- tax only as a percentage was 15.38%

Total cost to me was £417.54, BriMarc would have cost £457.08 plus postage (not sure what they charge for that). So saved some £40 plus postage, but waited a few weeks more than I would have with BriMarc (though that wasn't a problem in this instance).

 

[ike]

- tax only as a percentage was 15.38%

Thanks for the info. Funny business ain't it? . I'd have thought the minimum would have been 17.5% VAT. Anyway, it seems we can all come out comfortably ahead even after getting stiffed by IR/C&E.

cheers

Ike

 

[andrewm]

Quote:
- tax only as a percentage was 15.38%


Thanks for the info. Funny business ain't it? . I'd have thought the minimum would have been 17.5% VAT. Anyway, it seems we can all come out comfortably ahead even after getting stiffed by IR/C&E.

It's a question of maths. If you buy in the UK tax as a percentage is only 14.89%. Looks like Parcelforce charged Pitbull 18.18%

Go figure.

Andrew

 

[Neil]

Don't quite understand that, Andrew. I see how you got the 14.89% figure, but:

£354.92 + VAT
= 354.92 * 1.175
= 417.03

VAT paid = 417.03 - 354.92
= 62.11

So Pitbull was charged less than 17.5% VAT, surely?

Although I've only had one coffee this morning, so I could be wrong... :wink:

NeilCFD

 

[woodshavings]

It seems to me that buying from Brimark is worth the extra 10% or so - stock, support etc.

 

[Martin Brown]

For the record we would only charge carriage under £150 and offer a no arguments warranty. If you are not happy we will replace, refund or repair to your whim.

Martin

 

[ike]

Top marks to Martin et al at Brimark for service, but there's the occasional 'special offer' that pops up somewhere else, and the savings are somewhat more than 10%. So in my case, I've dipped my toe in the water for a few little extras 'direct'. Hope you don't mind, Martin - you haven't lost my future custom BTW. :wink:

cheers

Ike

 

[ike]

One of my 2 parcels arrived from LV today. Just 6 days delivery and best of all, no taxes!. The surface mail option really does give good value. I expect it can take a lot longer though, maybe I was lucky this time.

Ike

 

[andrewm]

Neil,

You are right of course. I was assuming that the £354.92 that Pitbull quoted was the total price including VAT. So, yes, strange that the tax should be less than 17.5% but that's customs for you.

Andrew

 

[Neil]

Yeah, it doesn't seem to make sense - still, at least it worked out at a lesser rate rather than a greater one!

I had a thought that maybe the figure Pitbull gave was the amount debited to the credit card, which would be converted from dollars using the card company's rip-off rate, whereas ParcelFarce may have based the tax on the dollar price using the 'true' exchange rate.

NeilCFD

 

[PitBull]

Neil,

The variance of the tax actually paid versus what should have been paid is probably due to a combination of what you suggest, plus exchange rate movements in the time between actual dispatch date and date of arrival in the UK.