Pricing differences...

I'm not sure this is quite the right place to post this, but it seems the most applicable forum. Tonight I accidentally ended up price shopping on a British website for a laptop (specifically, the Asus W3V). Before the VAT, I could get the laptop I want with a better harddrive for $200+ less than the best price I've seen from an American company. After the VAT the price was comparable to the best price I've seen. Why is this? Would it be a dumb move to import a laptop from the UK? I'm all about saving money, when I can, but I also don't like to make stupid sacrificies to save a buck. Thanks!

 

Are you compensating for the fact that the Pound is worth more than the Dollar? Generally notebooks are cheaper in the the US than elsewhere. Depending on the brand, if you import it, you may have warranty issues. Also you have to find a way to ship it here and pay for it.

 

Also, check the companies form of Payment? Do they have strange wire transfers and somthing strange like a swiss bank account? I have visited many fraudulent web pages. Make sure this a legit site. Type in google the store name then "reviews" , "fruad" , and "scams" . If you dont get anything, stay away from them. If you get negative things stay away from them. But if you find decient reviews with good ratings, then go with it, after considering import taxes, VAT tax, shipping tax, international warranty issues... although I believe Asus has international warranties on all their laptops. And make sure you consider the Currency differnce!! GBP is not quite double of USD. You can go to www.xe.com to check for the current rates.

 

I did do a currency conversion before posting this. I'd do more research before I buy anything, I was just wonderng if anyone else had noticed this and/or bought outside their own country (I remember hearing recently that this is a bad idea).

 

You should buy it in your own country. From my experience, introduction taxes and international shipping can make one item expensier than it should. I live in Honduras and electronic things are way overpriced if you buy them here to the customs taxes, i.e. you can find a nintendo DS for $250 or a PSP for $350 or a PS2 slim at $250 (even though it's actually worth half the price of that). Lol, I even saw a BAREBONE (no wireless, no bluetooth, DVD ROM only, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HDD, and Pentium 4!!) HP laptop at the local mall about $25 cheaper than my I9300 (it was $1513 w/2nd Business day delivery to Miami, shipping to Honduras and taxes included). Of course, the US has different importing laws but I believe shipping and taxes can add up quite heavily.

 

dragonesse... could you please give me the link for the laptop that you want to buy. i would like to check and see if the site is trustable, and has a good reputation.

 

I don't remember where it was. I was just meandering around the internet and accidentally found this site. If I had decided to import a laptop, I would have done some research on reputable companies first. I don't think that's the way I'll go, however.