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Buying gear in US



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 11th 04, 07:42 PM
Plake
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Default Buying gear in US

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?

2) If I declare the stuff at customs when I bring it back to the UK,
what will the import duty cost?

3) If I don't declare it, what are the chances of being caught? And
what happens if you are?

Al
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  #3  
Old February 11th 04, 08:22 PM
Walt
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Default Buying gear in US

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.




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



(Yes, the above is a joke. Ski shops will sell to anybody who can pay.
Unfortunately, I can't help you on the import duty questions.)
  #4  
Old February 11th 04, 08:43 PM
og
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Default Buying gear in US


"Plake" wrote in message
...
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?


Not true. Cash or credit. All good.




  #5  
Old February 11th 04, 08:57 PM
John Red-Horse
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Default Buying gear in US

In article ,
wrote:
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?


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.

2) If I declare the stuff at customs when I bring it back to the UK,
what will the import duty cost?


You have two issues: (1) Can you avoid paying USA taxes? When non-EU'ers
buy in Europe, we are able to get refunds on VATs for certain purchases.
You might be able to do something similar. (2) What are UK customs
issues? Of course, for that you'll need to check with the British
government (perhaps they have relevant websites). For us USA residents
who buy items outside the country, there is a certain threshhold below
which we do not have to pay customs taxes.

3) If I don't declare it, what are the chances of being caught? And
what happens if you are?


For the latter, there will most likely be penalties. But it's really easy
with skiing gear because you can buy it early enough to use it; then just
tell the customs folks that it was the gear that you took over the pond.
(Note that the process involving detaxing on the USA side is completely
disconnected from that of the British customs process, so you can still
try for that one regardless of what you decide to do on the UK side.)

Finally, if you're shopping in Salt Lake City, I'd suggest dropping by
Black Diamond Equip, Ltd and Kirkham's Outdoor Products in addition to
REI.

cheers,
john
  #6  
Old February 11th 04, 09:12 PM
sjjohnston
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Default Buying gear in US

"Plake" wrote in message
...

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?


Well ... others have already told you the answer, but I kind of wondered:
how did you think they would even know?

The biggest issue is you'll have to pay sales tax if you want to walk out of
the store carrying the item. It varies depending where you are, but should
be in the vicinty of 6%. If you have them ship it out of state, the seller
probably won't collect sales tax. Whether there's a way to get the sales tax
refunded later (like how we get VAT refunded) I don't know. It's quite
possible there's not. One thing to note is that sales tax is a *state* (in
your case, Utah) tax, not a federal tax.


  #7  
Old February 11th 04, 09:18 PM
pigo
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Default Buying gear in US


That time of year stores are going to be unloading stuff. Cash might get you
a better deal from store owners. I can't help you with any bored stuff but
ski shops will be clearing out. Give me a shout when you get here if you'd
like and I can let you know of anything I've heard as far as deals go.

My bil is thinking about coming over in March. He's living in Brandon now
(near Coventry). Did you say that you're coming from the UK?

pigo


  #8  
Old February 11th 04, 09:18 PM
mark
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Default Buying gear in US


"Plake" wrote ...
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?


I'm sure the European retailers would prefer that you buy from them and not
those bloody colonial shops with their ridiculously low prices, but why
would the manufacturers give a ****? Once they ship their goods to the
distributor and from there to the retailer, I don't think it matters to them
who buys the stuff.

2) If I declare the stuff at customs when I bring it back to the UK,
what will the import duty cost?


It might be worth asking before you leave how much use the equipment has to
get before it is considered used, and therefore subject to a lower tax rate,
or no tax at all.
HTH,
--
mark


  #9  
Old February 11th 04, 10:50 PM
Richard Henry
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Posts: n/a
Default Buying gear in US


"Plake" wrote in message
...
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.


How would they do that?



 




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