Sonus now in the UK

[Richt]

Tidy profit!!! If any one off here buys that bucket at that price I will come and stick there head in it!



Agree with Peter here things have moved on so much from the options we used to get. Autoglym and over priced Zymol and Wax Wizard products when I first getting serious. Then we where able to get things like Blitz and S100, and Meguiars allowing you to purchase pro line stuff if you asked was as good as it got. Now we are really spoilt for a price!

[WX51 TXR]

And things are only going to get better. :2thumbs:

[imported_Johnnyopolis]

I agree too, and I sell the Pak Shak towels in the UK!! Dont forget that he wont be paying the price that you see on Autopia but i "trade" price too.... maybe he is whacking all the delivery that he has to pay onto the buckets....



I know that my orders without any import duty have a cost of about $300 - $400 for delivery so that has to be put in somewhere.



Or, maybe he is just Greedy... Supply and Demand and all that....

[imported_polisher]

Hello

I feel that I should respond regarding the pricing of Sonus products in the UK

In an era of world wide on line shopping we can personally purchase just about anything from just about anywhere

However i should point out that the vat paid on import is actually calculated on the total cost of the goods + the cost of the carriage. The duty aspect is actually negligible when compared to this. Although I have worked hard to gain approved shipper status with carriers to keep the freight costs down the cost of shipping larger amounts of products is high being calulated on volumetric weight. This means shipping cost are anywhere between 30% to 50% of the cost of the product. I was recently quoted over £700 to ship a similar weight by a national carrier! this equated to almost 100% of the cost of the product. If anyone would like to get a cost for shipping 150Kg from California to the uk then customs clearance, handling charges and delivery to another UK destination I am sure that you will concur that importing on a commercial basis is a whole different ball game from a personal import via USPS.

In addition the company is limited and vat registered, unlike many of our on-line competitors and as such we have to give Mr Brown 17.5% of the sale price on everything we sell. So in effect HM`s Gov collect from us twice. I am not making a "fat profit" as many may imagine



I hope that this clarifies things just a little for you all.



Having done some test "purchases" of small orders from Autopia and compared the carriage costs the UK supplied items compete if you take the vat and other costs into consideration.

eg order 2 x Sonus SFX clay bars from autopia and the total cost is $58.70 including shipping. Add duty and VAT at the uk end and the cost is approximately £41 and you haven`t had to pay HMG 20% on top.... CF the on line price is £39.

It would be nice to be able to lower carriage charges as well but again HMG takes 17.5% of "carriage" yet we can not reclaim the cost of postage!



Re the Pro Bucket...... yes the price is a joke! but at least you all looked !! The bucket comes with seat liner lid etc. The travelling dolly costs the same as the bucket and it weighs a ton! I`m going to ask David if he will sell just the buckets lids and insert combo which will be a more sensible £35. I do know the supplier of the system but they won`t sell direct to me as they supply Autopia and I do not wish to upset one or the other. I could by direct at US RRP but the cost of transportation means it is not viable.



It does however surprise me that these types of quality goods are not available in Europe....

Having used the Sonus range in my own business I firmly believe these are excellent products and I hope that I may count on your support. To this end I am happy to offer discount vouchers to clubs and groups who wish to purchase from "the UK" despite all its red tape and expensive pricing. Feel free to e-mail me for a 10% introductory voucher code if you want to purchase via my on-line shop.

e-mail to tpcl@thepolishingcompany.com

[AndyC_1]

Fair play to you for that BUT if I import 2 Sonus SFX clay bars from autopia, all I pay is $58.70 - which is less than £39 at the current exchange rate.



Can you also answer whether autopia USA will still sell to UK customers? I appreciate that VAT etc are out of your control but as things stand I`m afraid it`s cheaper to buy direct from autopia USA

[WX51 TXR]

Small point, but if you are VAT registered it means you are claiming back the VAT you are paying out on everything you buy for your business, including the stock - the competitors you speak of cannot do this, and thus have to cover the VAT from their own pockets.

[Daragh]

Folks,



Give the UK resellers a break. At least Mike at TPCL and Ron at Motorgeek have had the courage to bite the bullet and start selling these top end products when there is lots of (internet) competition stateside. By selling these products this side of the pond, a whole new generation of enthusiasts will be born (& educated). Their service is second to none either. No more settling for second best at the local retailer. They have lots of fans in the Emerald Isle !!!

[WX51 TXR]

And a lot of fans here too - don`t get me wrong, I`m not putting down, just questioning the pricing. The service offered by the companies mentioned is indeed excellent.

[Daragh]

I know you do Richard. I`m lucky as I get all my stuff VAT free. D`ont have to pay and reclaim - it`s great. So long.

[Brazo]

Yep Fair play to `Polisher` but unfortunatly he has only reiterated the fact thats its still a lot cheapr for us to import than buy from him. :think:

[imported_polisher]

Hi again everyone

Point taken about.... vat etc Richard but it`s the carriage that is the killer at anything to 40-50% of order value on shipments of say 100Kg and this is based on volumetric weight plus there are such minor things in business such as rent rates utilities salaries advertising web site design exhibition costs petrol..... this all has to come out of a reseller discount ! Unfortunately resellers need to live too guys!

Thanks Daragh for the support.... yes we are tying to offer high quality products with support locally. Of course I can`t prevent anyone buying from the US nor do I wish to but with the support of UK fans we can increase the volume and get a better deal for everyone.

On Andy C`s post was this the final price at your door or have you to add the duty and VAT when the courier delivered it.? I ran the same calculation based on $16.95 per unit at £1=1.74, which is the bank exchange rate (not the tourist rate) this makes £33.75 add 3.5% duty and 17.5% vat and it has cost you £41.0 If you are not getting charged by the courier then it is an unfair contest I can`t win! and I have to accept I have to post things in the Uk on top of this.

However if you guys want a voucher scheme that makes it attractive then I could offer something to meet you halfway perhaps ?

let me know



Mike

e-mail me at mike@thepolishingcompanyand let me know what products you all buy how often and stuff like this and I`ll look at the options for you.... is that a fair answer ?

[AndyC_1]

Polisher,



I still say fair play to you for responding to this thread mate. Your points regarding overheads are of course totally relevant and I suspect that some poeple aren`t fully au fait with the actual cost of running a business - assuming you have a commercial premises you`re looking at rates, rent, insurance, utilities, salaries etc etc. Sounds horribly patronising I realise but small businesses do, IMHO, have a real struggle to stay solvent.



As for the question of duty/VAT most of the UK guys here are aware of the "current" situation as regards Autopia and duty - I`ll say no more than that!!!!



That all said polisher, why do you charge nearly £40 for Carlack when I can (and do) buy it for less than 1/2 that elsewhere in the UK. Sorry to be a tad direct but several others here have bought it from the same source AND as a response to the pricing issue, I`d be gobsmacked if you`re paying the same dollar price as we do for product from Autopia - knowing a little about what certain products cost at cost/trade, are you really paying full wack for Sonus products???? :soscared:



And are you able to answer whether we will still be able to buy from Autopia USA now that they have a UK reseller - I think that as things stand it`s cheaper to buy direct from the US rather than some UK suppliers for whatever reason (C&S & Alex spring immediately to mind and maybe Ron).



It pees me off that we pay a lot more for products but I guess we have to kinda live with it - that`s VAT and import duty for you!!



And I do agree with the point which I *think* C&S made, in that you rarely, if ever, buy "1 or 2 bits" from Autopia US - I certainly haven`t! When you want a single, say, LC pad, you can buy one from C&S, if it`s UPP, you can buy a single bottle from SP - not an additional bunch of stuff which would cost a lot more.



Bottom line really is that we`re now getting access to a lot more products over here and that`s got to be good (or if you`re one of our other 1/2`s, VERY bad...!) - if demand continues to increase, maybe prices will either stabilize or maybe come down slightly.



Lastly, polisher, a diso```` scheme sounds like a good idea to me - what are you thinking of? Following the Autopia USA levels (as I personally am in the Buyer`s Club and have a few other diso```` codes