TOPIC:

No this Astute will be a runner so the body will take abuse at some time in its life.

Nice, I look forward to seeing your rebuild ready for racing thread

I bought some TBG's bodies and they are very nice. The shipping price is because they come from CANADA and in Europa it's expensive.

I'm well aware CANADA is overseas & I don't mind paying shipping that reflects that - it's the 20% HMRC charge on the purchase price AND the shipping cost (if they don't know either, they just pick an absurdly large figure out of the air), AND the 8 GBP the Post Office charge on top of that that make TBG products no longer economically viable for me

Jonny wrote:

I'm well aware CANADA is overseas & I don't mind paying shipping that reflects that - it's the 20% HMRC charge on the purchase price AND the shipping cost (if they don't know either, they just pick an absurdly large figure out of the air), AND the 8 GBP the Post Office charge on top of that that make TBG products no longer economically viable for me

It's not a 20% "charge" - it's VAT - the same as you would pay to a UK supplier. You do not pay the VAT (or equivalent) in the seller's country, so it must be charged on import.
If the purchase price and shipping cost are correctly declared on the import documents, you should pay the correct amount.
The £8 charge is an admin charge for handling the payment of VAT and duty. You could always employ your own customs agent to handle it for you, but I reckon they would charge a bit more than that.

I'm sorry this is a bit of a bugbear for me. Nobody likes to pay taxes, but as the saying goes, there are few things more certain in life. The idea that people are somehow being ripped off on imported goods is ridiculous.
I apologise if this was not your intention, but it is a common misconception.

I feel I was quite clear on what I wrote - I used "charge" as a verb, not a noun, I also wrote "no longer economically viable" not "being ripped off".

Looking at the first TBG body I could find, (a Madcap) the cost in GBP of 15.70 and the postage of 9.42 make a total of 25.12 which I feel is quite reasonable, however 25.12 + 20% + 8 is 38 GBP, more than I want to pay.

In that case I apologise. I meant no offence.
However a lot of people do not understand that overseas prices often only look lower because there is no VAT and when they are charged a fair amount of VAT, they gripe about being ripped off.

Back on topic (OK, the mailman didn't bring it and it wasn't today, but still...)







It's a Traxxas Road Sport from the mid nineties I think; An unregarded and slightly oddball on road car. It is in good condition apart from the rusty fixings and appears to be little used.
It was local to me and relisted 3 times with bids starting at £20 but didn't sell. When the seller dropped the price to £15 I decided to have a punt. Someone else obviously had the same idea but I won it for £16.50 in the end.

Woohooo!






Stellas packaging is stellar sailed through customs with no taxes

TommieG wrote:

Woohooo!
...

Build thread after Christmas then ?

Jonny wrote:

Build thread after Christmas then ?

Naaa.... I already have a new built Super Champ, and I don't seem to find the courage to build those limited production models.

It's the same with the Avante Black Special. I sit down with it, look at the box, the brain working on overload swaying forwards and backwards; "I'll build it! ....or nooo.. I won't build it.... YES! I'll do it.... nooo, it's a limited edition, i just can't do it....". And after an hour or so, the "NO-side" always wins, and I take a Frog box, a Nova Fox box, or a Sand Scorcher or Buggy Champ box, and build one of those instead. Only problem is.... I'm running low on alternatives. I just have a Sand Scorcher and the Egress left. And I promised myself I'd save one Scorcher until I'm at the home for the elderly.....