Re: [amsat-bb] AO-40 spreadsheet

[Douglas Cole <n7bfs@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Edward R. Cole" wrote:
> 
> >From: "Mark L. Hammond" <hammond@surrealnet.net>
> >Sadly, it looks like those of us in the U.S. have to pay about a 30-40%
> >markup to buy Kuhne products through SSB Electronics, rather than buying
> >directly.
> >
> >Frustrating...they look like really well-made products at good prices,
> >until the markup.
> >
> >73,
> >
> >Mark N8MH
> 
> Lets look at an example:
> DB6NT sells the MKU-232A2 for 248DM - 16DM [VAT for EU only] + 35DM
> shipping* = 267DM.
> 
> >From http://www.xe.net/ucc/
> DM = .440069*US$
> 
> So the MKU-232A2 would cost 117.50 US$ if there were no customs duty!  SSB
> sells it for 145 US$
> 
> *Of course Kuhne expressly states that US sales are only through SSB
> Electronics.  The shipping charge of 35DM which converts to $15.40 seems
> low to me.  It cost me about $30 for UPS shipping from PA to AK!  What does
> it cost for the monetary exchange?
> 
> This really does not seem to me that SSB is out of line with its costs.
> I'll bet it would cost an US individual more to buy directly from Germany.

This is something that alot of people tend to miss , is that our fine
country can and will slap pretty heavy tariffs on lots of things
imported into this country ( I spent a short time in the early 90's as a
customs broker and saw alot of things that would make your head spin )
only because they are trying to "protect" some certain industry here in
the US .
I also noticed that assessing duty on items from european countries
almost always seemed to be higher than from lets say china or taiwan or
sri lanka ( not always , textiles would be a good example ) ....
Of course alot of this has changed since I bailed out of that field ,
and from what I have heard with nafta and gatt , things are definately
not the same :^p

Until the world bank and the wto finally get their way we will probably
see more of this kind of thing , not that I think the wto or the world
bank have any of our best interests in mind , but thats definately
another list and thread ;^}

The bottom line I think is that the SSB/Khune units look to be wonderful
examples of commercial units for amateur use , I for one though am going
to try Downeast as they seem to cater to my likings ( kits ) and my
budget , but if I wanted to spend more I would definately go with
something from SSB and don't think their prices are inflated at all ....


my 2 pennies 

well after a full week of 90deg weather , we are supposed to get snow in
the mountains and near record cold temps this coming week
...............

oh what I put up with to live in paradise ;^}

-- 
Douglas Cole   N7BFS
AMSAT#26182 , K2 # 544
http://www.users.qwest.net/~cdoug3
Registered Linux user # 188922
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