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fixed pricing by uk airsoft distributor and they wonder why we buy from europe

Ok, after reading it, im not sure its collusion, since the retailer is forcing the change, rather than the dealers, but it is certainly price fixing, and certainly illegal

 
Evike & Airsoft GI have numerous guns with MEP or whatever - no discounts or coupons can be used

Also worth noting is though we buy the more "budget" range from europe at a good price

them same retailers are no cheaper - in fact often more expensive on other stuff like G&G Raider's

Dunno why - but no doubt it is all to do with larger volume discounts of sales of say Cyma's but you do wonder...

How feckin cheap do these guys get them for ffs and are we being raped & mugged at same time buying cheap AK's over here in UK ???

Poland has 23% VAT btw so it ain't coz of UK VAT but maybe our import duty stings everybody a bit - but still begs the question why ???

 
that's my point surely the most profit to be made is on the low to midrange guns that fly out the door with a 60 pound price tag and lets be honest the quality is good on them. now i want to know what this forced mark up is they must be cheap if the minimum buy order is 500 pounds and i can buy from Poland delivered for 60 and this cant be the only wholesaler doing this or they would not still be in business. further more this loss in profit affects us in other ways as it means smaller retail stores smaller sites smaller choice and higher prices else where to make up from the loss in sales the likes of evike has not grown large as it has by sales of high end guns.

 
bigger question is what can we do to stop it because as we all know price fixing is illegal

 
You could contact the competition and markets authority (cma). It's their duty to sort this thing out. Also, just because profits are lost does not mean that retailers will pull out, especially if they are earning large profits, they might earn less but it could still be better than moving on to work somewhere else

 
Thing is with me I will pay say £100-ish for a gun from Europe and "take my chances"

unless it arrives in 2 dozen bits looking like Airfix kit I know it may need a tweak here n there

(not too fussed about spring tbh)

I know this may be a very good saving of £50+ maybe even more depending on model

and won't bother to send it back I suppose unless I get an Airfix kit

But if I buy from a UK place and I am not satisfied with I will return it for a repair/replacement/refund

TOO BLOODY RIGHT - if I paid that bit extra for it in UK then I expect/demand good decent prompt UK customer service

However - I do understand and support UK retailers, usually its quicker and good for them/us & the economy I suppose

They also have to put up with genuine returns, thick as $hit new users who may have played an unknowing part if gun failing

as well as people really abusing their new guns plus even the odd try it on scammers trying to return something.....

Just in the really cheapo "BB sites" out there - always said one is dire, (I could say a lot lot more but won't)

& another one offers better returns/customer service than the main well known one above

All comes to price in the end - there is quite a difference in different UK retailers pricing and shipping costs

is very easy to save £20 even £50+ on some UK special offers

And if price isn't much different to Europe then I'll shop at home

In fact All my G&G's have come from about 3 or 4 UK sellers - We seem to get a good deal on them

Cyma's & JG usually do seem cheaper overseas though

However recently this year I have noticed prices in Europe starting rise a bit and shipping costs too

(free shipping now requires 175 to 300 Euro's - jeez)

So either they are catching on or maybe I feel a rise in many things may be on the horizon with global currency rates up/down and prices held low for quite a while now that the world is "supposed to be coming out of recession" - yeah not sure about Greece though

None of this price structure is really illegal - a seller can charge whatever they feel is correct price for an item

they do not have to match any UK or Euro seller's price either...

Basic law of economics - supply & demand, yes they may not shift loads of guns, but if you want that model asap

and they have it stock at a higher price....

The final say is how is that gun worth to you and how much you are willing to pay for it - end of

Otherwise we would have angry mobs outside Tesco's, Sainsburys, Morrisons etc... just coz Asda sell those apples at 49p

but hang on Aldi were doing them last week at 39p.....

Even the cheap offers are a ploy to get you in there - they bolt you up or charge you more on other items to get their profits back up a bit

It is you the consumer that needs to check around and decide on what you buy/don't buy from tom dick harry airsoft

I don't really think we get ripped off that badly to be honest - most stuff especially with recent rises in some European stores make me think we ain't doing too bad ATM !!!!!

This could change though - we could be in line for some increases especially if the £ goes crap against the Euro - £1 = 1:38 Euro atm (very good)

ain't brilliant against the $ - £1 = $1:53 - not brilliant really

 
my problem tho was the distributor demanding the price be this much or else. i have not been happy tho with both guns ive bought from dear i say it Airsoft zone, my g&p m4 has never worked from the day i bought it despite multiple warranty repairs and my afv has now started causing me problems granted it is ex display but still. however much to my annoyance my 150 pound cyma from Poland outrages everything i own STOCK yes a stock cyma so i will be sticking to Poland for guns to be fair to airsoft zone that m4 did work for a couple of months and I just could not be bothered with it any more

 
Cymas are awesome.

 
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Hate to say it but - yup they kick some M4 a$$ out of the box

Even budget Cyma's are built well - AK's are not gonna win on looks or fancy variations

but airsoft wise these cyma mofo's are surprisingly good aeg's

 
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