admin_exported

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Hi all, just registered on here so dont know if this has been asked before.

Are manufacturers/dealers taking the vat down to 15%, and is it the manufacturers or dealers who should be taking it off ??

As I am in the market for new speakers between £1500-2000 this could influence who I buy from, your replies most appreciated.

Thanks.
 

Clare Newsome

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Well both are likely to be VAT registered, so technically both. However, from a consumer's perspective it's at the retail end you should be paying 2.5 percent less.

Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me if that VAT saving is being wiped out by increased prices on many AV products, as manufacturers struggle with the current weak pound.

But it's a buyer's market out there - pitch a retailer a reasonable offer!
 
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Anonymous

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Thanks Claire,seems like manufacturers are putting up prices due to a weak pound,and still making a killing by not dropping vat !!
 

Andrew Everard

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No-one's going to 'make a killing' from 2.5% VAT, but most retailers have either adjusted their prices down or do so automatically at the till/checkout. And I assume trade prices at which retailers buy from manufacturers have been adjusted down, though as Clare says there have been/are other factors at work, too.

But of course it's had the desired effect - all the expense involved for companies in adjusting the VAT rate for what's apparently only going to be a temporary period, and as you know it's got us all flocking back into the shops.
 
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Anonymous

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robborollover:

Thanks Claire,seems like manufacturers are putting up prices due to a weak pound,and still making a killing by not dropping vat !!

A high pricetag (I won't even try to define "high" here) doesn't necessarily mean that any one/all organisation(s) involved in putting a product on the shelf make "a killing".

All those people need to make a profit. From the government (that'll be the non-negotiable 15%), to your dealer (margins around 30% as a ballpark figure), to the distributor if there is one (another 3-5%), to the manufacturer (anything from 5% upwards depending on the product).

Now bear in mind that the manufacturer is also incurring increased price on raw materials, labour costs, and strenghtening dollar, yen as well as a weakening pound. And of course they have to finance all the necessary research and development costs to make sure that the general public and also the media at large find their products attractive and potent enough to be deemed worth parting with the consumers' "hard earned".

Bearing in mind all of the above, along with the current downturn, we (the hi-fi buying public) should be grateful there are still dealers out there when so many of those are just independent shops with little purchasing powers.

As Clare pointed out it is a buyers' market no doubt. You can always try to negotiate a small discount or some free stuff thrown in. I doubt your local dealer (independent/"multiples"/etc.) can afford to further reduce the already low prices without losing money. Of course, and as always, it pays to shop around.
 

chebby

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Andrew Everard:But of course it's had the desired effect - all the expense involved for companies in adjusting the VAT rate for what's apparently only going to be a temporary period, and as you know it's got us all flocking back into the shops.

Well I flocked back to the local Woolies to find some bargains in their high-end audio lounge but they had closed it!
 

mikeinbrum

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I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying that a 2.5% reduction in VAT does not equal a 2.5% reduction in cost of purchase....

let's take £1000 +VAT

@17.5% = 1175

@15% = 1150

a £25 difference.

as a percentage of the original price, the £25 saving represents 2.13%

Is this right?
 
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Anonymous

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No, you're right. It equals (I believe) to a reduction of 2.13% in price.
 

matthewpiano

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No-one is making a 'killing' at the present time with margins being squeezed both by suppliers increasing prices and buyers demanding big discounts. It might be a buyer's market, but buyers also have to accept that businesses need to make profit and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Its the whole reason why businesses exist in the first place.
 

The_Lhc

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momo72:
No, you're right. It equals (I believe) to a reduction of 2.13% in price.

Ah that explains why a lot of the receipts I've been getting recently have got 2.13% discounts on them. I wondered what all that was about!
 
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Anonymous

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Most I have dealt with rounded to 2.2%. More nonsense from Mr Broon.....
 

JoelSim

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You are right. 2.13% off the price is equal to the difference between old VAT rate at 17.5% and new at 15% on the pre VAT pricing.

It's probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Why the hell didn't they just give everyone £10 to spend over Christmas?

ÿ
 

laserman16

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JoelSim:
You are right. 2.13% off the price is equal to the difference between old VAT rate at 17.5% and new at 15% on the pre VAT pricing.

It's probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Why the hell didn't they just give everyone £10 to spend over Christmas?

ÿ

Makes you wonder whether it was done to get the economy moving or just a smoke screen to make people feel good.
 

JoelSim

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laserman16:JoelSim:
You are right. 2.13% off the price is equal to the difference between old VAT rate at 17.5% and new at 15% on the pre VAT pricing.

It's probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Why the hell didn't they just give everyone £10 to spend over Christmas?

ÿ

Makes you wonder whether it was done to get the economy moving or just a smoke screen to make people feel good.

Or a political decision perhaps as elections aren't too far away

ÿ

ÿ
 

Andrew Everard

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laserman16:Makes you wonder whether it was done to get the economy moving or just a smoke screen to make people feel good.

What, you mean like knee-jerk window-dressing politics? Perish the thought...
 

laserman16

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Andrew Everard:
laserman16:Makes you wonder whether it was done to get the economy moving or just a smoke screen to make people feel good.

What, you mean like knee-jerk window-dressing politics? Perish the thought...

Cannot believe they would do such a thing. LOL
 

Andrew Everard

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laserman16:Cannot believe they would do such a thing. LOL

But then of course they know what's best for us, and it would be better if they controlled every aspect of our lives.

It's all a very long way from sending someone to Westminster who represents the views of the electorate and who can raise our problems with the legislature, isn't it?
 

laserman16

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Andrew Everard:
laserman16:Cannot believe they would do such a thing. LOL

But then of course they know what's best for us, and it would be better if they controlled every aspect of our lives.

It's all a very long way from sending someone to Westminster who represents the views of the electorate and who can raise our problems with the legislature, isn't it?

Yeah the whips make me laugh.Nobody is allowed to vote the way they feel but the way the whips tell them to.Thats democracy for you.
 
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Anonymous

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Andrew Everard:

laserman16:Cannot believe they would do such a thing. LOL

But then of course they know what's best for us, and it would be better if they controlled every aspect of our lives.

It's all a very long way from sending someone to Westminster who represents the views of the electorate and who can raise our problems with the legislature, isn't it?

Can you really use a WHF forum to make personal political statements?

No dig, its just that at my place of work, politics is kept clear of the company, are you freelance? or employed by WHF?

TBH freedom of speech, on any subject, is heartily encouraged.
 

Andrew Everard

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laserman16:Yeah the whips make me laugh.Nobody is allowed to vote the way they feel but the way the whips tell them to.
Thats democracy for you.

Trouble is, the current political system is now so ingrained I have no idea what the solution is. Or indeed who to vote for next time. Perhaps we should all elect nutty independents in the next general election and see what happens - right now the idea of parliamentary democracy seems to have vanished, and there's precious little parliamo going on...
 

Alec

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Andrew Everard:laserman16:Yeah the whips make me laugh.Nobody is allowed to vote the way they feel but the way the whips tell them to.

Thats democracy for you.

Trouble is, the current political system is now so ingrained I have no idea what the solution is. Or indeed who to vote for next time. Perhaps we should all elect nutty independents in the next general election and see what happens - right now the idea of parliamentary democracy seems to have vanished, and there's precious little parliamo going on...

Yeah thatd be really sensible. How about remembering that Conservative means Conservative, Labour means Labour, and Lib Dem (and anybody else) pretty much always means a wasted vote...?
 

Andrew Everard

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matt41:Can you really use a WHF forum to make personal political statements?

It wasn't a political statement: it was an a comment against the current state of politics as a whole, not any particular party.
 

laserman16

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Andrew Everard:laserman16:Yeah the whips make me laugh.Nobody is allowed to vote the way they feel but the way the whips tell them to.
Thats democracy for you.

Trouble is, the current political system is now so ingrained I have no idea what the solution is. Or indeed who to vote for next time. Perhaps we should all elect nutty independents in the next general election and see what happens - right now the idea of parliamentary democracy seems to have vanished, and there's precious little parliamo going on...

Agree entirely. This is probably why there is such a sense of apathy amongst voters during a general election resulting in pathetic turnouts. You get the feeling people just dont trust them anymore and politicians are there for party politics and their own ends rather than the good of the general population.
 

chebby

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laserman16: This is probably why there is such a sense of apathy amongst voters during a general election resulting in pathetic turnouts.

The General Election turnout has only dropped below the post 1945 'normal range' for the last 3 elections since 1997......

http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/turnout.htm

Even so, the turnout in the last election was still over 6 out of every 10 eligible voters.

The last time the Americans managed to exceed our poorest (post-war) turnout figures was 1964 - 1968 ...

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/turnout.php
 

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