I had a friend traveling to the US and now he is in Europe, unfortunately he missed and opportunity to go score some gear for me in the US, he would be hitting London soon. He can afford bout a 1000 USD for me. A Great River pre I was looking for in the US, or the AGK 414XLS (in India its all a lot more expensive than the American market, the very little we get).
The 414 for example is 899 CAD/USD at Samash or Long and McQuade, and in Europe thomann.de lists it as 760 GBP, so it really is a lot more expensive in Europe.
So I can wait for his next trip to the US soon, or ask for a good deal in London, unfortunately I am a loss of what to get now. Mostly want a good mic or a pre, and dont want to pay more than than the costs in the US.
Thanks a ton!
Regards,
Sidhu
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Well, I didn't mention AKG, who seem to have a different distrib
Well, I didn't mention AKG, who seem to have a different distributer model from the other companies I did mention.
A quick price comparison using the AKG C414 XLS as an example (US price converted to GBP at today's rates) gives
Sweetwater (US) £653
DV247 (UK) £680
Thomann (DE) £758
Form your own conclusion about Thomann's prices.
Last time I checked, they hadn't actually installed customs barr
Last time I checked, they hadn't actually installed customs barriers at the English-Scottish border, so the prices you would get in in Edinburgh are in principle the same as in London.
If you are serious about the DAV BG1, then KMR Audio are doing a big push at the moment on export deals (VAT-free). It would be worth checking with them how much they would charge for shipping directly to you at home as opposed to shipping to the air side of a UK airport for your friend to pick up on his way out. On the other hand, it could be that you have punitive import duties for couriered goods that you would want to circumvent if possible.
It's not worth him buying US-made gear in the UK. The mark-up an
It's not worth him buying US-made gear in the UK. The mark-up and import taxes make it expensive.
What I would do is go for UK-made gear - there is a lot of good equipment available at prices that make our US colleagues envious. One additional thing to consider is whether your friend can get a duty-free (no VAT) export deal. UK VAT is currently 17.5% but will almost certainly go up on June.22nd.
For the GBP equivalent of USD1000 he could buy a DAV Electronics BG1 dual-channel pre-amp and an Audient Mico dual-channel pre-amp and still have some change. Both of these are top-quality units.
If your friend is travelling in Germany, he may be able to get a good price on Sennheiser, Neumann or MBHO microphones. These companies appear to have tied-down distributorships, so despite the EU, buying them from a distributer in the UK is still a little more expensive than in Germany, but nothing like the prices in the USA.
PM me if you need further info.