How to buy plug-ins in Britain?

[DJ Burt]

This one goes out to the (possibly few) people in the British Isles who use this site. I need some help in buying some plug-ins in Britain but I'm having trouble finding good prices. What I'm really after is the Waves Gold Bundle (for the 001) and I've noticed that in the US there are many sites selling the bundle for, say, 700 to 800 dollars. I'd much rather not risk the shipping and find an equally good price in England but most places want to sell it for £1k or just over. Oh yes, it is pricey.
Any help would be much appreciated.

DJ

[Baixo]

Find our resident Englander Jules, an active member and he'll tell you. He's got tons of stuff, although I wonder if he didn't buy his gear in that wretched hive that is Denmark Street.

[Jules]

A yank in Britain, I buy a lot of stuff on trips to the US and alsop get stuff shipped over "Ripoff Britain" and wild import prices, not justified via tax alone, are not restricted to just cars and ciggarettes, (Many folks buy both in holand belgium or Ireland as they are cheaper by 40%) The same can aply to audio gear.
Bad rate for the pound against the dollar though at this time..
Jules

[Count Zero]

A weekend in New York, stay with a friend come back to Ireland arms laden.

I buy a lot of stuff on the web and have it shipped too, if you pay with visa I believe you are covered if the company turns out to be bogus/go out of business. Software is light so shipping isn't expensive. Sweetwater deal with International orders although I haven't dealt with them (yet).

Thomann in Germany are cheap but don't seem to deal too much in more esoteric gear.

Have found that for British made products or even European products Denmark St. or Digital Village can be good compared to US prices.

Happy Hunting.

[Greg Malcangi]

Hi DJ,

I tend to buy my plugins where possible over the net. If they are downloadable that's even better.

Import duty and VAT makes up much of the difference between US and UK prices but there does seem to be an additional markup by the retailers. If I need to buy a few things I sometimes wait until I've got a sizable order and then get quotes from Digital Village, Syco and a couple of others and play them against one another. Depending on the size of the overall order, I often achieve prices not far off those in the US.

Actually going and buying in the US sometimes doesn't work out any cheaper. If you declare the stuff you bring into the UK you've obviously got 17.5% VAT + Duty to add. If you don't declare your stuff you run the risk of breaking the law and no one wants to mess with Customs & Excise, who have many more powers than the Police or the Inland Revenue.

My 2 cents,

Greg

[Greg Malcangi]

Hi DJ,

I tend to buy my plugins where possible over the net. If they are downloadable that's even better.

Import duty and VAT makes up much of the difference between US and UK prices but there does seem to be an additional markup by the retailers. If I need to buy a few things I sometimes wait until I've got a sizable order and then get quotes from Digital Village, Syco and a couple of others and play them against one another. Depending on the size of the overall order, I often achieve prices not far off those in the US.

Actually going and buying in the US sometimes doesn't work out any cheaper. If you declare the stuff you bring into the UK you've obviously got 17.5% VAT + Duty to add. If you don't declare your stuff you run the risk of breaking the law and no one wants to mess with Customs & Excise, who have many more powers than the Police or the Inland Revenue.

My 2 cents,

Greg

[MikeC]

There's no duty payable on the import of computer equipment and peripherals.
http://www.hmce.gov.uk/bus/regions/d....htm#Computers

Cheers,

Mike

[This message has been edited by MikeC (edited December 11, 2000).]