I can’t say about this particular case (I suppose Pimax is setting prices), but in general:
- EU prices are with VAT, on amazon.com prices are without VAT
- currency exchange might be done with bad exchange rate (price in EUR)
- EU has 2 year warranty by law, in USA I think it is 1 year, so most companies will have higher price in EU to cover the extra warranty
Thanks a lot for your answer. There are 2 important points that have forced us to raise the price by nearly 40%.
1: ≈20% VAT tax
2：17% Amazon Commission
As head of Amazon Operations, it really bothers me. I am trying to find some ways to get Pimax supporters to buy Pimax products at the most affordable price.
Hi Yao , what about using some of the names currently selling VR and Simracing gear in EU ? They already work as distro sites for many VR brands and equipments in some way, and simracing is engaging in VR more and more these days, acting as a driving force for the VR market.
Thanks a lot for your advice, it a good idea if we can coorperated with these sim racing websites, but i still curious whether they can avoid the extra fee such as the commission or VAT that can decrease the sale price
Actually, I found two ways to lower the price or let customers get it at a more affordable price.
The first way is to upgrade our Amazon Account, if become the Amazon Vendor account, the commission will be lower. but it needs time to accumulate the sale amount. I think next year our account will upgrade. The Amazon Launchpad Program manager in UK is my friend.
The second way is VAT Deduction, if you or your friends own a company, it will be easier. Below picture for reference.
For example, Below is the price of 5K+ seen by the Amazon Business buyer account (registered with the VAT tax number)
UK:
IT:
ES:
Hope this information can help all our VR friends in EU.
Welcome any other suggestions!
And in Us its 1year warrenty in EU it is 2 year warrenty.
So you are advocating VAT fraud?
Surely commission is a cost of doing business through third parties. Whatever company you partnered with would want a cut. Buying direct isn’t cheaper as VAT and duty is applied anyway.
Won’t the fees be the same through Amazon EU or US? I would assume taxes are added to the US price at checkout depending on the state?
Generally yes. In EU you pay VAT immediately, if you order from US then you will pay it when it arrives at customs (and not only VAT, but also tariff, but that is usually much lower %). Sometimes the customs might let the package through without requesting a pay but no one should count on it.
I was talking about why price is different, not that ordering from US would be cheaper.
Hello Yao, I might suggest that for UK distribution you consider the two following hardware distributors for partners:
https://www.scan.co.uk/ and https://www.overclockers.co.uk/
Both sell far more enthusiast hardware than amazon, their post-sales support and couriers are far more reliable too. They already distribute VR hardware from the likes of HTC and Oculus.
I need to state that we never advocating VAT fraud, Compliance with the law is the first criterion, I just want to tell our friends how to legally deduct the VAT tax.
Soarin, really appreciate for your recommendation, I will try to contact them to discuss cooperation matters right away