Buying gear in US

Walt wrote:
Plake wrote:

1) I suspect the US stores are pressurised by the European
manufacturers not to sell gear to Europeans. Is this true, and will
paying cash at the store help?


Yes, this is absolutely true.

Not only that, but they won't sell you beer either. Sure, they'll sell
you this stuff that looks like beer and has kind of a hint of beer
flavour, but it's definitely not real beer. The real beer is reserved
for real Americans; once they hear your accent, it's all ersatz beer for
you. Try it, you'll see.




bugger, that must be the problem i have in utah...must be my wisconsin
accent that gives me away.

Steve Haigh wrote in message ...
John Red-Horse wrote:


No and no. In fact, I would suggest that you avoid paying cash just
because, in my experience with travels overseas, the credit card companies
tend not to charge large exhange fees and premium exchange rates.
What? Credit card companies give appaling exchange rates. Granted there
is not up front fee or fixed charges for purchases overseas, but the
rates are a rip off (at least for Visa and MC, not sure about Amex).
It's tollerable for small purchases and might be cheaper than exchanging
cash for small amounts, but for a large purchases you are much better
off getting cash (or better still traveller's cheques) from a bank or
the post office before you travel. Also, if you change now you know the
rate you're getting, the dollar may recover in the next few weeks... or
then again it could tumble further...

In my experience, I have found that the ATM's give the best exchange
rates. Of course there are lots of variables so YMMV.

snoig

Alex Heney wrote:
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 16:41:16 +0000, Steve Haigh
wrote:


What? Credit card companies give appaling exchange rates. Granted there
is not up front fee or fixed charges for purchases overseas, but the
rates are a rip off (at least for Visa and MC, not sure about Amex).


This is exactly the opposite of my experience. Visa/MC give very
competitive exchange rates, while the banks range from Ok to utterly
lame. The exchange booths at the airport are the worst of all.

Maybe in the past but not recently.

E.g. take a look at
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/Betterbanking/P41957.asp


OK. I was talking about from the UK (as was the OP).
And so was I in the other reference I gave (which you snipped):
http://money.guardian.co.uk/travel/money/story/0,1456,964303,00.html
This referes to similar practises in the UK. Specificaly it mentions
"hidden charges being incorporated into your transactions" for foreign use.


Many of the points in that article simply don't apply to the UK
market. Some of those practices would actually be illegal here.
But the point about ripping of on foreign exchange transactions does
apply I'm afraid.


And there are still some cards here which do not add a fee. For those
that do, it is usually shown separately on your bill.
No they don't show it separately (they may show a fee for cash
withdrawal on top of the "built-in" fee), the article above listed about
4 issuers which don't charge the fee, but all the main ones do (apart
from Nationwide who were one fo the 4 listed).

And is still
usually lower than the commission charged by most banks. (Typically,
they will charge the same as they would for a cash advance, which is
usually 1.5% - banks and travel agents often charge 2%)
2.75% is the norm. It's a rip off, that's all there is to it.


But in the case of the card I use, there is no fee. They show the
charge in the foreign currency (which you can match against your
receipt), and the charge in UKP, so it is quite easy to work out the
rate you actually got.
Are you sure? They don't show the fee on a separate line, they build it
into the "exchange rate". If they say there is no fee in the small print
then you should be OK, but if not then you may find the fee was hidden
in there all along.


you'd have to be very keen to spot the rate is not what you
expected, given that the rates change by the minute and would be hard
pressed to find out what the true rate was at the time you bought the
goods anyway.



There is that. I always check the rates from a couple of places (and
the newspapers) before I go, and after I come back, and assume the
rate should have been somewhere in between. I've usually had a rate
which was better than either.
This has never been my experience over the past few years (so I really
must change my card issuer). But if you have a decent card then you
should see this. Afterall Visa & M/C don't have to pay the tourist rate
so they should be able to give their customers excellent exchange rates.
I recal they did in the past, to the point where even paying the
interest on a cash withdrawal was worth while because it was stil
cheaper than exchanging cash at a bank.

Unless you can prove otherwise it is safe to assume that any financial
institution will take money off you whenever they can, and they are not
going to advertise the fact until they are forced to:-)

Alex Heney wrote:

If you are going places where they tend to use cash, it is still
cheaper (with a decent current account/debit card) to get the money
from foreign ATMs than it is to buy it from a bank/post office/travel
agent in this country.
The post office in the UK has not charged commission for several months
(years even?). On my last few trips I've used them and found the rates
to be as good as the banks. Not bought Traveller's Cheques recently
though, not sure if the PO sell those.

If you use a card in an ATM (which I also do for convenience) you pay
the fee and you still get the bank's tourist rate, which is similar to
the rate at the post office.

bdubya wrote:

He would have been able to buy a different brand (marque) of sled,
though, right? Like if Polaris blacklisted him, he could still score
an Arctic Cat? Or do sled manufacturers have police powers up there?
I'm really curious about the enforcement mechanism there; is it like
firearms in some US states, with a mandatory background check?

Not sure about that, but it's definitely illegal in Canada to carry a
concealed snowmobile on your person.

--
//-Walt
//
// http://tinyurl.com/3gg3e

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 09:33:14 -0500, Walt
wrote:

bdubya wrote:

He would have been able to buy a different brand (marque) of sled,
though, right? Like if Polaris blacklisted him, he could still score
an Arctic Cat? Or do sled manufacturers have police powers up there?
I'm really curious about the enforcement mechanism there; is it like
firearms in some US states, with a mandatory background check?

Not sure about that, but it's definitely illegal in Canada to carry a
concealed snowmobile on your person.

I saw a bar in Ontario where you had to check your hockey stick at the
door.

bw

(Plake) wrote in
:

I'm going to Utah for 2wks in March and want to take advantage of the
USD/GBP exchange rate by buying new ski & board gear:

Rossignol B2/Fritschi Diamir £519 at Snow+Rock, £397 at rei.com
K2 Recon/Salomon SP3/Salomon Dialogue £664 at Snow+Rock, £355 at
rei.com!

So I have a couple of questions:

1) I suspect the US stores are pressurised by the European
manufacturers not to sell gear to Europeans. Is this true, and will
paying cash at the store help?

Just buy what you want. The stores don't care who they're selling
equipment too as long as they get paid.


--
Chuck
Remove "_nospam" to reply by email

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 09:36:01 +0000, Steve Haigh
wrote:

Alex Heney wrote:
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 16:41:16 +0000, Steve Haigh
wrote:

snip


And there are still some cards here which do not add a fee. For those
that do, it is usually shown separately on your bill.
No they don't show it separately (they may show a fee for cash
withdrawal on top of the "built-in" fee), the article above listed about
4 issuers which don't charge the fee, but all the main ones do (apart
from Nationwide who were one fo the 4 listed).


I bank with nationwide, and have a debit card from them, which is free
to use anywhere (except where you use it in a ATM where the ATM owner
makes a charge - this is becoming more common in this country with
ATMs in shops/garages etc.)

And is still
usually lower than the commission charged by most banks. (Typically,
they will charge the same as they would for a cash advance, which is
usually 1.5% - banks and travel agents often charge 2%)
2.75% is the norm. It's a rip off, that's all there is to it.


OK. I see I was somewhat out of date on that one. And in fact, my CC
issuer does now make a 2.75% charge. Perhaps I'll always use the debit
card when possible from now on :-)



But in the case of the card I use, there is no fee. They show the
charge in the foreign currency (which you can match against your
receipt), and the charge in UKP, so it is quite easy to work out the
rate you actually got.
Are you sure? They don't show the fee on a separate line, they build it
into the "exchange rate". If they say there is no fee in the small print
then you should be OK, but if not then you may find the fee was hidden
in there all along.


I didn't actually get to go abroad in 2003, but it was still true in
2002.

I know it isn't now. But then my card has changed issuer a few times
in the last few years. It was originally from National & Provincial,
then got taken over by Abbey National, then about a year ago (since I
last went abroad), they outsourced to MBNA.

I rather think the 2.75% charge came in with the move to MBNA. They
also introduced a late payment fee, and started giving less leeway on
the payment date at that time.

Perhaps *I* should change my CC.

But even though the Nationwide are very good, I'm reluctant to have
everything with the same organisation.

--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Famous last words - Icarus: Aaaahhhhhhhhh.

To reply by email, my address is aDOTjDOTheneyATbtinternetDOTcom

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 09:40:33 +0000, Steve Haigh
wrote:

Alex Heney wrote:

If you are going places where they tend to use cash, it is still
cheaper (with a decent current account/debit card) to get the money
from foreign ATMs than it is to buy it from a bank/post office/travel
agent in this country.
The post office in the UK has not charged commission for several months
(years even?).

There are always some places offering "deals" such as no commission.
But you often find (I haven't checked the current PO deal) that their
rate will be worse to counteract that.

If you're going to get money before you go, it is always worth
shopping around to find out what the lowest total cost to you is for
the money.

On my last few trips I've used them and found the rates
to be as good as the banks. Not bought Traveller's Cheques recently
though, not sure if the PO sell those.

If you use a card in an ATM (which I also do for convenience) you pay
the fee and you still get the bank's tourist rate, which is similar to
the rate at the post office.

Not with the Nationwide :-)

No fee, and a rate slightly better than the tourist rates.

But I know the Nationwide current account is one of the best on offer
in the UK. The good debit card is just one feature of that.

--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Famous last words - Icarus: Aaaahhhhhhhhh.

To reply by email, my address is aDOTjDOTheneyATbtinternetDOTcom

Alex Heney wrote:

I know it isn't now. But then my card has changed issuer a few times
in the last few years. It was originally from National & Provincial,
then got taken over by Abbey National, then about a year ago (since I
last went abroad), they outsourced to MBNA.

I rather think the 2.75% charge came in with the move to MBNA. They
also introduced a late payment fee, and started giving less leeway on
the payment date at that time.
They're all b*stards as far as I can tell, only some of them are less
deceitful than others.