Play.com touts Nexus One with added price
Customers who want a Nexus One but don't want to buy from Google can now pay an additional hundred and fifty quid to have one shipped through Play.com. The listing was spotted by Macworld, and prices the Nexus One at £599 when supplied by "mobilesNmore" though Play.com's marketplace. Anyone buying direct from Google can expect …
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To be fair...
That's a PlayTrade seller, so Play.com don't have anything to do with the pricing...
Caveat emptor, of course... Crazy price!
I do not work for Play.com or anyone associated with them!
early adopters
Darn it, i was so happy to pay £439 for this device that will make my life 100% better, but at £599 that is just too much to pay for ultimate happiness and fulfillment.
Personally...
... I'll stay with my £300 HTC Hero.....
Blaming play.com?
Play.com don't set the price for their marketplace sellers, so implicating them in this scam seems a bit disingenuous. The seller on the other hand clearly deserves disapprobation.
Profiteering
Play have upped the price as when they were showing it on pre-order they had it at £499. Guess they must want to make a large profit margin on it. The best price I have seen so far from a UK supplier is £449 inc VAT (excluding delivery charge which is around £5) and that is from Gadgetee
Ahem - still cheaper than amazon
They're weighing in at £639
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Google-Nexus-One/dp/B00332YPHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265808389&sr=8-1
Well.. In fairness
you need to add on £75 * the probability you'll get hit by customs for VAT + duty + the courier's 'admin fee'. So the difference is reducing
Apparently...
you only get stung on the tax if you get the charger. Or something like that. The phone isn't taxable or something, but the charger is.
Tax
Most things that are imported into the UK are subject to tax and mobile phones is no exception. if you order this from the US then you can expect to pay VAT and an import charge whether you order it with the charger or not. This charge will generally be paid by the postal carrier and then charged to you before they release it to you.
Charger
There's a US charger in the sales package. If you order the UK charger, you'll get two. Even if you skip the latter, trust the taxman for taxing you for a useless bit of kit.
NO.
Order from Google direct, and you get a full UK warranty and support. And of the 4 people in the UK I know who've ordered one direct from Google, none (including myself) were charged VAT or duty on them.
You really do only pay $529 * <your c/card GBP/USD exchange rate>.
Duty isn't that much
Phones are exempt from duty but not VAT.. so you get a total bill of about £60 from DHL (they charge a quite reasonable £2ish for the privilege of billing you).
Play.com are still profiteering though.. and Amazon.. words fail.
OTOH compared to what some ebay sellers are asking for that's cheap :p
profiteering
Neither Play or Amazon are profiteering, these are 3rd party sellers who set their own prices, Amazon/Play just provide the website and payment handling.
only £2?
I got stung for £10 in handling alone on an $80 order which came via parcel force. Bloody thieves!
RE: Apparently...
I got the charger and wasn't asked for TAX... of course I volunteered to pay it
Shady dealings
Has anyone checked that the merchant selling via play.com *isn't* a shadowy wing of Google itself ?
Not Play
As stated it's nothing to do with Play.com themselves, it's a bit like saying ebay is at fault for people over-charging on stuff that's on ebay. Play.com in this instance is just the marketplace for a 3rd party seller, they themselves are not supplying the mobile phone.
swings and roundabouts
It's more than the US prices, but factor in import VAT, delivery time, and having to return it to the US if there's a problem, some people may see the extra as worth it.
Okay.
So I'm factoring in 3-4 days' delivery time, zero vat and zero import duty. Doesn't seem to be making much of a difference so far.
And as for 'returning to the US', if there's a problem you could probably drop it into Google's offices in Victoria and they'll fix it. ;)
More Play.com rip-offs
Price of the new Asus G73JH gaming laptop in USA - US$1450, Play.Com GBP1800 thats doubling the price. And remember Play.Com is in Jersey so no import duty to speak of and GST (VAT) is only 3%.
Now thats a mark up.
Bit of a rip-off.
My N1 cost around £350 direct from Google including a UK adaptor, and was shipped and arrived in 5 days, no VAT or import duty. But people are stupid so will pay this, probably.
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