Vat?!

Europe and in particular the UK always get screwed on prices. lol

Well, i am not 100% sure but,

while reading GS posts, several ppl grabbed UFX for $2100, so i guess it's street price. Also, if i go to ebay and hit "buy now" from USA power sellers (which are selling new devices) the final price is $2100 + free shipping...

I am pretty sure mr. drainaudio will get both for $4200 or less. Please let us know drainaudio.

Can someone from RME chime in?

Cheers,

      b.

MC - I love your dry, often sarcastic German wit but it's a pretty bold statement to suggest (professional/recording artist/concert touring) RME users can only get support from the local distributor where the product was purchased when the pure nature of their day-to-day business means working & purchasing globally..........I'd go so far to say it's a pointless & unfounded comment.......unless of course you're aiming to alienate the prime market you are supposed to be catering for?
:roll

This is incorrect. Not only does sales tax apply the very moment you receive the unit in Europe (you pay tax to your *own* country), but you also might have to pay customs (don't know how the UFX is categorized). So when I order a unit from the USA it will cost additional shipping (between 40 to 100 EUR to Germany), but also an additional 19% VAT on *both* the unit's price *and* the shipping costs.

Professional users (as in make a living) may calculate back and forth though, because they don't have to pay VAT (or rather get it back, which can happen at the same time). But I don't see how $1950 = 1357 EUR before taxes but with *additional* shipping would be so much less compared to 1588 EUR (1474 EUR currently) before taxes with free shipping.

By the way, it's quite common to adjust prices to the market. Food is a *lot* more expensive in France compared to Germany, which includes food that is produced in France (Danone anyone?).

I did buy software/licenses several times from abroad though, because you can really safe a penny there (no shipping involved).

First of all... Different countries, different markets, different competition, different this and that.. -> diferent prices. Not unusual.

It is not at all unfounded and certainly not a humorous "suggestion" - it is a fact. We are not a global company with our own branches all over the world, there is no "RME de France" or "RME do Brasil"... Not unlike many other companies, we work together with and depend on local distributors, who are independent commecial enterprises, and in most case do not even deal with RME gear exclusively. They will provide warranty services for gear that was sold through their channels, but will refuse to service gear purchased abroad. As an example, sometimes customers in Japan will purchase in the US to save a few dollars. Our japanese distributor will not provide (warranty) services for these units, which created no turnover for them whatsoever. Also, sending things back to Germany could cause all kind of bureaucratic customs issues for them with gear that was not originally imported to Japan (and does not fulfil special local electrical safety regulations). That said, if a user buys a piece of gear and then actually moves to another country, local distributors may be willing to help, but at their discretion.

Concerning "global day-to-day business"... Sounds sophisticated, but even while a limited number of users may be travelling globally with their RME (or other) gear, in case of hardware issues, their contact for repairs will still be their retailer or local distributor. It would not even help if a distributor elsewhere were to accept gear for repair. If something breaks in the middle of a tour or trip abroad, then in the (unlikely) event of the lack of a backup solution, some kind of rental gear will be required - not repair, which would likely take too long.

I actually see no reason why "the pure nature of (RME users') day-to-day business means (...) purchasing globally", I must say. Local retailers and distributors are there for a reason, to provide the best and fastest possible warranty services. Therefore, our general recommendation is to purchase locally. I am sure that as a studio owner (just assuming) you would also appreciate if local artists were to  make use of your services rather than travel to neighbouring towns, would you not? Nothing wrong with thinking and working globally - buying locally still has undeniable advantages.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

See MC's comment above.... This discussion seems fairly academic to me, and apart from that, I'm perfectly sure Motu will encourage supporting local retailers and thus distributors, e.g. Klemm in Germany. Else, they could reduce their business to selling all gear directly and over the internet only...

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Ok, I think this discussion has gone way off track HeadScratch - I never intended it to go down the "lets take a holiday & get some black market RME gear" & I think posters such as Timur are totally missing the point/jumping to conclusions in being unable to understand the circumstances that some users are in when it comes to this gear. (no offence btw).

Yes many (maybe the largest percentage of) users will buy local, use local etc & as such supporting local distributors is an important thing - the one here in London is very nice indeed.

There are however some of us who will buy, use, transport & store RME gear & possibly several vs. of the same set-up in different countries/markets because of the work we do..

Back to the OT on price difference between the US & EU market ----- it is hugely different (& surprisingly so) - it is possible to purchase a UFX for under $1800, with no sales tax & free shipping.....at those sort of prices it actually works out more viable to purchase units in the US & then leave them there picking them up again on the next tour vs. shipping units back & forth from from the UK.
---- £1699.00 vs. £1065.00!! That is a very substantial difference indeed, especially when you are being paid in £'s regardless of where the work happened.

Ok, sorry, I stand corrected, given that the VAT will be claimed back that's £1359.00 vs. £1065.00 which is still a lot....

Maybe not on 1 unit, you might say, but what if I require 6 or 8?
Totally possible, I'm dealing with a rig at the moment that uses 5 MOTU Ultralites among other things ----- the best build ever was 12 Pod Pro XT's, 8 828MKII's, 8 Yamaha Motif Es, 8 Glyph Drives & tons of other bits over an A & B system (took a day just to unpack)........few £'s here, few there it can all add up very quickly ----- esp' at a time when budgets are very tight..

Timur - you like a good debate I guess......need to get the last word in & all that rant

I'm not wildly throwing numbers around, it's fairly simple math based on prices I've been offered & buyng more than 1 of something is normal for me so why would I be considering the outcome based on what I won't do ----- it seems you're coming from a completely different angle to me & that's fine but then it does make your points aimed in my direction not particularly relevant.

Yes we mostly have "health care" in Europe - that has nothing however to do with the relative cost of retail products.