Rob Markoff
PFG, Picture Framing God
The last thread I started has become a bit Frankenthreaded and I am afraid that some of you may have been turned off and are no longer continuing to read, so I call your attention in this post to my last post on that thread and invite the conversation to continue, hopefully in another direction.
Here is my post from the last thread:
As some of you may know, if a foreigner (US) makes purchases exceeding a certain threshold from a single store in a single day (Approx 150 euros), they can file at the airport for a tax (VAT) refund. Shipments made from EU countries to the US that meet the threshold are not required to charge the tax.
So, in SOME of the higher end galleries, the sellers are saying that since most of the people who purchase what they are selling are foreigners and will have the merchandise shipped, the prices posted do not include VAT. Others use the VAT refund as a selling point saying that if the item is purchased, the VAT will be deducted from the price and the price paid will be lower than the posted price.
I am not sure what the "law" is (as to whether the posted price needs to include VAT or not), but I suspect that this is giving the galleries some "wiggle room" in the pricing so that if they come down in price, all they are doing is reducing the price within the VAT limits and they will end up with the NET price they wanted in the first place.
Others also play the "shipping" game by saying that they will "include" the shipping or will "throw it in." So, the marked price has obviously been marked up so they can afford what Cornel has already indicated is a considerable expense.
Hopefully, fellow grumblers you will not frankenthread this observation into a debate of right and wrong-, my purpose in posting is to invite discussion re: the international psychology of pricing/selling, especially when it comes to higher end merchandise.
Case in point- when we sell large, framed mirrors, they are expensive. I cannot imagine that after closing a sale we then have to "sell" delivery and installation as an "add on" and discuss it as a separate transaction. And no, we don't give it away, but calculate it into the selling price and when we give the customer the price, delivery and installation is included. And, when they go to pay for it and whip out their American Express card, we accept the card with a smile. Point is they want to know three things-, what is it going to look like, how much will it cost, how/when am I going to receive it?
So it was with us in Murano as we commissioned a piece to be fabricated for our home. And yes, "if we made the decision today" instead of reconfirming by e-mail after we returned to the states, the price was lower (for an immediate decision/contract.) And shipping (which will take 5-6 large boxes) is included in the price paid.
Personally, I preferred knowing that the price I paid was a confirmed, bottom line price and that I was/would not be at the mercy of the factory for some unknown shipping charges to be added to an already expensive purchase.
And yes, I whipped out my American Express card which they accepted with a smile.
Sidebar- This entire trip (First Class airfare for three from San Diego-Chicago-Business Class Dublin-Madrid-Rome, Three nights each (two rooms) in Rome, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, (at Starwood's Luxury Collection) and Airfare (Business Class) from Barcelona to Madrid, to New York, (Overnight in a hotel in New York (two rooms)) and then First Class NY-San Diego) was all done on points earned from using credit cards.
Here is my post from the last thread:
As some of you may know, if a foreigner (US) makes purchases exceeding a certain threshold from a single store in a single day (Approx 150 euros), they can file at the airport for a tax (VAT) refund. Shipments made from EU countries to the US that meet the threshold are not required to charge the tax.
So, in SOME of the higher end galleries, the sellers are saying that since most of the people who purchase what they are selling are foreigners and will have the merchandise shipped, the prices posted do not include VAT. Others use the VAT refund as a selling point saying that if the item is purchased, the VAT will be deducted from the price and the price paid will be lower than the posted price.
I am not sure what the "law" is (as to whether the posted price needs to include VAT or not), but I suspect that this is giving the galleries some "wiggle room" in the pricing so that if they come down in price, all they are doing is reducing the price within the VAT limits and they will end up with the NET price they wanted in the first place.
Others also play the "shipping" game by saying that they will "include" the shipping or will "throw it in." So, the marked price has obviously been marked up so they can afford what Cornel has already indicated is a considerable expense.
Hopefully, fellow grumblers you will not frankenthread this observation into a debate of right and wrong-, my purpose in posting is to invite discussion re: the international psychology of pricing/selling, especially when it comes to higher end merchandise.
Case in point- when we sell large, framed mirrors, they are expensive. I cannot imagine that after closing a sale we then have to "sell" delivery and installation as an "add on" and discuss it as a separate transaction. And no, we don't give it away, but calculate it into the selling price and when we give the customer the price, delivery and installation is included. And, when they go to pay for it and whip out their American Express card, we accept the card with a smile. Point is they want to know three things-, what is it going to look like, how much will it cost, how/when am I going to receive it?
So it was with us in Murano as we commissioned a piece to be fabricated for our home. And yes, "if we made the decision today" instead of reconfirming by e-mail after we returned to the states, the price was lower (for an immediate decision/contract.) And shipping (which will take 5-6 large boxes) is included in the price paid.
Personally, I preferred knowing that the price I paid was a confirmed, bottom line price and that I was/would not be at the mercy of the factory for some unknown shipping charges to be added to an already expensive purchase.
And yes, I whipped out my American Express card which they accepted with a smile.
Sidebar- This entire trip (First Class airfare for three from San Diego-Chicago-Business Class Dublin-Madrid-Rome, Three nights each (two rooms) in Rome, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, (at Starwood's Luxury Collection) and Airfare (Business Class) from Barcelona to Madrid, to New York, (Overnight in a hotel in New York (two rooms)) and then First Class NY-San Diego) was all done on points earned from using credit cards.
