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Nermal

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Original poster
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,595
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New Zealand
So now that Terra Soft has stopped selling internationally, we're stuck with paying high prices again if we're not in the US. Does anyone know of a petition or something about this issue, or do I have to make a new one?

Or does anyone know of another reseller that sells internationally?
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Whilst this will not help Nermal this is what I intend to do to get a big discount when I buy a PowerBook: Book a cheap return on the Chanel Tunnel with my car (around £35) drive to the terminal and pick up the PowerBook I reserved via the phone at Dixons. Go to France then come back. The Dixons at the terminal is tax free. At the moment it looks like there might be 3 of us going in the car so total savings will be around £900! Pretty damn good. Obviously this is only good if you live in the south east of England.
 

fukuhela

macrumors member
Dec 20, 2001
73
0
Scandinavia
Whilst this will not help Nermal this is what I intend to do to get a big discount when I buy a PowerBook: Book a cheap return on the Chanel Tunnel with my car (around £35) drive to the terminal and pick up the PowerBook I reserved via the phone at Dixons. Go to France then come back. The Dixons at the terminal is tax free. At the moment it looks like there might be 3 of us going in the car so total savings will be around £900! Pretty damn good. Obviously this is only good if you live in the south east of England.

What is this Dixons or should I ask Where is Dixons :p And how is it possible to save as much as £300? I'm just trying to figure out if there is some way I could do the same in my area...
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Originally posted by fukuhela
What is this Dixons or should I ask Where is Dixons :p And how is it possible to save as much as £300? I'm just trying to figure out if there is some way I could do the same in my area...

Dixons is one of the largest electronics retailers in the UK (large chain). For some reason their stores at major airports and at the channel tunnel terminal are tax free. In the UK Value Added Tax on goods is 17.5%. So on a £2000 PowerBook you can save £300 if you can avoid tax. You could pull the same trick by flying to London and getting a PowerBook at heathrow. If the flight and hotel cost is less than the saving then you can get a free trip! If anyone wants then I can post the numbers for each of these Dixons stores and you can phone them to guarantee that the product will be there for you and what the cost will be.
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
http://www3.eurotunnel.com/rcs/etun/pb_english/en_wp_pass/index.jsp

Page states that both Dixons are tax free at this location and gives details of the special low cost day trip fares (£30 for a car which you can put 4 people in). So if three of us go then it costs each of us £10 to dodge a whole load of VAT!

Edit to stop massive spaming! I have looked at the Swedish prices (as you don't say where in Scandanavia you are). You can get a Combo 15" for £1700 (more or less). By getting UK tax free prices you can get a Superdrive 1.25 Ghz 15" for the same price!
 

fukuhela

macrumors member
Dec 20, 2001
73
0
Scandinavia
http://www3.eurotunnel.com/rcs/etun..._pass/index.jsp

Page states that both Dixons are tax free at this location and gives details of the special low cost day trip fares (£30 for a car which you can put 4 people in). So if three of us go then it costs each of us £10 to dodge a whole load of VAT!

Edit to stop massive spaming! I have looked at the Swedish prices (as you don't say where in Scandanavia you are). You can get a Combo 15" for £1700 (more or less). By getting UK tax free prices you can get a Superdrive 1.25 Ghz 15" for the same price!

Thanx! Actually I was talking with my girlfriend the other day abot a weekend-trip to London in the autumn. Then I could purchase an PowerBook then and hope not to get eyed out in custom when I get back to Copenhagen.

Thank you for all the info and help:)
 

Nermal

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Original poster
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Dec 7, 2002
20,595
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New Zealand
Originally posted by jeffosx
http://www.outpost.com or ebay

Thanks, Outpost looks good. I'm a bit skeptical of buying from eBay, there's a lot of scams there apparently. Plus I'd rather buy from an authorised dealer to make sure I get a warranty etc.

Anyway, I don't need to buy at the moment, but this should be useful when I get around to replacing my iBook.
 

slain

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2003
8
0
"If anyone wants then I can post the numbers for each of these Dixons stores and you can phone them to guarantee that the product will be there for you and what the cost will be."




can u post the number for the channel tunnel store?
how long did dixons take to get your powerbook in stock for u to collect. ?
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Originally posted by slain
"If anyone wants then I can post the numbers for each of these Dixons stores and you can phone them to guarantee that the product will be there for you and what the cost will be."

can u post the number for the channel tunnel store?
how long did dixons take to get your powerbook in stock for u to collect. ?

Store Address
EUROTUNNEL
Folkestone
Kent
CT18 8XY
Tel: 01303 273080

I have not actually done this yet as I am waiting for Panther to come with it. I imagine that it would not take too long. Give them a call and find out!
 

caveman_uk

Guest
Feb 17, 2003
2,390
1
Hitchin, Herts, UK
Apparently what Dixons does (at least at the BAA airports) is that for flights to outside the EU they don't pay VAT anyway. To destinations inside the EU they do still have to pay VAT. What happens is that Dixons pays half and the airport pays half. The customer still gets a 'Tax-free' purchase. That's why they always ask to see your boarding card...
 

Stojamow

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2003
101
0
London
Seems to me that I am om my way to Paris. Return by Eurostar & couple of nights there is £89 which means that as long as I do not spend more than £200 I am still saving my money !
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Originally posted by Stojamow
Seems to me that I am om my way to Paris. Return by Eurostar & couple of nights there is £89 which means that as long as I do not spend more than £200 I am still saving my money !

Note that the Dixons number I posted (you can get the Heathrow and Gatwick numbers from the Dixons web site) is at the car terminal, not the passanger Eurostar terminal. I do not know if these deals are available at London Waterloo. The airport thing sounds about right: I assume the same deal is being used at Ashford. If anyone goes through with this before I do then post and let us know how it goes!
 

slain

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2003
8
0
i was just on the phone to the dixons store in the channel tunnel and they will only sell what they have in stock in the store. they will not order a specific product in for you
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Originally posted by slain
i was just on the phone to the dixons store in the channel tunnel and they will only sell what they have in stock in the store. they will not order a specific product in for you

Damn them! They had posters up advertising that they could get stuff in for you when I was there about a month ago!

http://www.easyjetinflight.com/features/2003/jul/dixons.html seems to suggest otherwise (note the eurotunnel shop is listed).
 

slain

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2003
8
0
yeah the guy did say if they had the product in stock they could reserve it . the only apple products they had in stock were an ibook and an old powerbook.
 

slain

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2003
8
0
So I decided to ring Dixons again today . A lady answered and was alot more helpful than the last muppet I talked to. I told her that myself and two work colleges wished to purchase new powerbooks on our way to France sometime in October . She told me that she COULD order them in if they were on the system but they were not . She said as they had only come out last week they would probably be updated on their system shortly and she would give me a call then so i could place my order. The order would then have to be cleared by their head office she told me. the discount is 15% which would be around £1700 for the top end 15inch.
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Excellent :) I will be doing the same once the Panther release date/free upgrade timeframe is announced. I'm glad it's working out!
 

Nermal

Moderator
Original poster
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,595
3,936
New Zealand
Getting back on topic... :)

I tried outpost.com and although they say they sell internationally, once you actually try to order an Apple product, you get a message saying they can't export them :(

On a happier note, I found a local reseller which has very good prices, to the point where buying locally is cheaper than importing from the US :D
 
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