p.2 #3 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
In electronics 70% is actually a lot.
And i still believe that Buff is avoiding the european market for ideological reasons. At least thats what a couple of quickly deleted threads by him strongly suggest.
p.2 #4 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
Interpretation. Without being on the inside of *his business* everyone else can only speculate. After all, he doesn't have to do business where he doesn't want to. Everyone still has options for other gear.
p.2 #7 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
Chinese manufacturers make better and better products, for a good price. There are Korean manufacturers better than chinese but more expensive as well. (still a lot less than the big brands)
Chinese also make strobes that are very similar to Einstein. Here we have to rely on asian manufacturers. Leave Paul Baff for the US market.
Sorrily we have no such manufacturers isn Europe, it would be more difficult anyway because of the different taxes .
Concerning VAT!! This is the highest in my country 27%. BUT if you buy the product as a company investment than you can get back the VAT from the state. Import tax is minimal.
p.2 #8 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
Simple:
One Einstein strobe
USA $499.95 -> 385.34 Euros
VAT in UK = 20%
Customs fee probably 4%
So we add 24% = $119.99.
$499.95 + $119.99 = $619.94 -> 478.73 Euros
The UK office wants 548.90 British Pounds -> 681.61 Euros or $882.67.
So, that's 200 Euros/$260per Einstein strobe if they get zero percent discount. Probably they do get a moderate dicsount, let's guess it might be something like 10 to 30%.
The guys in the UK might think about profit maximization. If they try to sell at such high prices sales will be low. If they sell at lower prices they make less money per unit but a lot more profit... below the line there is more because sales will skyrocket.
p.2 #9 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
Mark_L wrote:
OP, you probably don't want PCB lights outside the US anyway because the support will be almost non-existent.
Have you experienced their support through their distributor? If not, how do you know that?
I know as part of the distribution agreement, the distributor has to have enough stock on hand to swap your gear. The "broken" gear then comes back to the PCB factory in one big shipment to save on shipping costs.
So add that to one more thing the distributor has to have overhead costs for...
p.2 #11 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
Shipping/insurance costs are "pretty extreme" when you ship a small package with 2 or 3 strobes and some accessories.But they are really low when you literally ship a container.
Just to give everyone an idea, shipping a 20' container from the USA to Europe costs ca. $1,000 to $1,500, all included. Shipping that container from China to Europe costs about 30% more.
Of course, it takes longer than airfreight, but costs are almost neglectable per strobe or umbrella.
Regarding margins for electronics, 50% are utopian. 3-15% are normal for computers, consumer electronics and most photo equipment. 5% is a standard for gadgets like game consoles that help selling games, and for cameras that help selling accessories.
p.2 #12 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
Mark_L wrote:
How can we know what their margin is when we do not know wholesale cost to them from PCB?
It's no secret that they buy at 10% discount. As Paul C Buff's price structure is 'factory sales net' he won't go lower without losing profit.
p.2 #13 · Insane prices for Paul C Buff gear in Europe. Why won't US store ship internationally?
JuliusCesar wrote:
Just to give everyone an idea, shipping a 20' container from the USA to Europe costs ca. $1,000 to $1,500, all included. Shipping that container from China to Europe costs about 30% more.
Of course, it takes longer than airfreight, but costs are almost neglectable per strobe or umbrella.
Regarding margins for electronics, 50% are utopian. 3-15% are normal for computers, consumer electronics and most photo equipment. 5% is a standard for gadgets like game consoles that help selling games, and for cameras that help selling accessories.
Welcome to Reality.
The amount of wares they import simply don't justify sea container shipment.
Regarding margins... dare to ask Walser what they pay to the mfgs. in China?
Welcome to reality...
