HxC floppy emulator and Cumana controller

[Dave]

I appreciate that, Rich.

I am just frustrated because there's this neat little gadget that I covet, and I look at getting one and find out it will be nearly $120 to my doorstep. I think that's a little excessive. I'm not suggesting that it should be $6 plus a little margin, and I think it's entirely reasonable for the developer to make themselves something of a living from the device.

I just think that $120 on $6 of parts is a little excessive.

But then, I live in a very different business environment to the EU. Sales tax here is 8.25%, and doesn't apply to any out of state order. There's no state income tax. I ship things to the EU and postage is less than when you do. Also, my LLC gets to pay almost zero taxes as long as turnover <$1m. I should remember businesses in Europe face a very caustic trading environment.

The other thing I need to remember is that I am not trying to support myself with this venture. I am giving my time for free and charging what amounts to a 6.5% markup on what I sell, so there's enough to cover losses, and a little left for the next project.

Last word: my ire was aimed at the manufacturer, not you. I have never thought you were ripping anyone off. I think the guy who designed and makes them is just doing a little better than is necessary - he could make more money selling a higher volume on a slightly lower price. A 10:1 mark-up instead of a 20:1 markup would be nice. I imagine he leaves quite a small amount of meat on the bone for resellers like yourself - not that that is a public matter or any of my business.

[RWAP]

I have no idea as to how much it costs the producer to make these - but I guess he has looked at the prices for others - such as http://www.ipcas.com/products/usb-flopp ... o-udd.html and thought that his is a reasonable price.

As for your own prices - cripes you can't compare like with like at all if you get away without paying those sort of taxes - in the UK, there is 20% VAT (OK I am not registered for VAT, so that comes on the cost of anything I buy in), and then 20% income tax on any profit I make.

[cybervet]

Ha you are lucky , in Greece we have to pay 23% VAT, 26% tax, 55% tax advance and a 650 euro flat fee per year , and all that without any expenses deduction (they calculate them as profit)........

[Dave]

Yup.

European taxation policies are part of the reason there aren't any European computer makers any more. A pity.

[1024MAK]

Dave - you can always build your own - see here and here.

There is enough information to at least build the USB version. There is a lot of information also on the SD card version. If you have any questions, I'm sure Jean-François (Jeff) will answer your questions.

Also do not confuse the developer from the manufacturer, they are different people. Jean-François DEL NERO (Jeff) is the project developer/maintainer. Przemyslaw Krawczyk (Lotharek) is the current manufacturer and seller.

And yes, in Europe taxes make a big difference. For people in the UK, imports from outside Europe attract VAT at 20% plus a £8 processing charge so even if you made them, for us, buying them would not be super cheap.

Mark

[Dave]

I hope there's a threshold beneath which it isn't worth the bother to charge?

[1024MAK]

I hope there's a threshold beneath which it isn't worth the bother to charge?

For the UK, currently £15.

Value Added Tax (VAT) - Import VAT is charged at the same rate that applies to similar goods sold in the UK and applies to commercial goods over £15 in value, and on gifts that are over £36 in value. However, please note that commercial consignments sent to the UK from the Channel Islands do not benefit from any relief of import VAT. The value of the goods for import VAT is based on the:

• basic value of goods, plus
• postage, packing and insurance, plus
• any import (Customs or Excise) duties charged.

For full details, see here.

If you are receiving a package from overseas (unless it’s from another EU Country), please be aware that it may incur customs charges. Any package assessed as being liable for customs charges will also incur a Royal Mail handling fee of £8.

For full details, see here.

Hence whenever I am buying from outside the EU, I ask lots of questions about price / cost / shipping charges etc.

It should also be noted that items coming from some countries do not appear to get checked by customs (even when the form is not filled in correctly). I think this is due to the volume of small packages from these countries.

For items that cost just over the threshold, it is the £8 charge that is the biggest pain, not the actual amount of VAT

Mark

[Dave]

Remarkably, all my packages seem to be £10!

[Mr_Navigator]

Hence whenever I am buying from outside the EU, I ask lots of questions about price / cost / shipping charges etc.

It should also be noted that items coming from some countries do not appear to get checked by customs (even when the form is not filled in correctly). I think this is due to the volume of small packages from these countries.

For items that cost just over the threshold, it is the £8 charge that is the biggest pain, not the actual amount of VAT

Mark

As a purveyor of many gadgety things I can concur about stuff that customs does and do not check.

Many stuff from Hong Kong and China has very little P&P which I find quite bizarre, in contrast I bid for and won an item from a company in Leicester of which it stated P&P was free, they then went and added £15.99 postage. I refused and went through the eBay dispute process, did what they suggested but the company ignored me, so did eBay after that. Then a couple of weeks later eBay stated I hadn't paid for an item and my account was noted as such blah blah. So I then emailed them back stating the error of their ways, the error of the company advertising the product, the postings on their site where it clearly stated no P&P and that if I didn't hear from them to resolve the situation I would be considering legal action.

Suffice to say my account was re-credited and the matter was dropped, however this company still advertises no P&P and I am always wary of this.

Of all my experiences abroad with China and Hong Kong I have had no complaints. Nor have I had any issues ever with SellMyRetro or other known QL companies.

The isn't enough competition perhaps in other areas.