Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hello. Actually a happy user of 2 Einsteins, VML and Cyber Commander with receivers.
I live in France and unfortunately there is no distributor of Paul C. Buff in France, the only place where i can buy your gear is in England by your distributor.

For sure it's the best place because it's near, but the prices are too high...
530 pounds for an Einstein...That's crazy... it's 350 dollars difference with U.S. . Why don't you take Apple's example... They manage to sell an iPad for 499$ in US. 399 pounds in UK and 499 euros in France... 399£=475€... This seems correct.

Well i understand that there a shipment, bank charges etc... but they are official european dealer...Shouldn't they get special prices???

My company imports Peugeot motorcycles and scooters from France to a non Europe country... and we manage to offer the same (some times even cheaper) retail price as in France... we negotiate the price with manufacturer, so that even with transport charges, taxes, our margin etc. we offer the same retail price.

All my gear i ordered with help of a friend who lives in states... the only problem was time.. i waited about two month to get my gear.

Now the second problem is, that i lost my VML charger and i can't order it in UK because they simply don't have it on their website.

The pricing has been discussed several times on the forum, though that is beyond the scope of the forum. Simply put, we sell at what amounts to be wholesale since we sell factory direct. If we had distributors in the US, then thier prices would be similar to those overseas. If we gave a discount to the distributors, then we would not only not profit, but would take a loss. Import taxes and VAT are things that will add to the cost, which none of us can circumvent.

If you contact the distribuor, they should be able to get any item we carry.

Well i think that i will still ask my friend to order your lights, charger and ship them to me...Because einstein costed me bout 650 dollars, including shipment and VAT. 200$ economy only on 1 light...

I didn't want to continue this thread but I had to comment...

Why don't you take Apple's example...

It is not really fair to compare PCB to Apple. PCB makes fantastic products with great service so it is easy to forget that they are not a big corporation with extensive distribution networks. PCB produces thousands of products a year with a small staff of less than 50 people (I think) whereas Apple produces millions of products a year with a staff of somewhere north of 60,000.

Well, i took Apple as well known company, but there are tons of small companies which act this way.

Well it's not my business to critic Paul C. Buff or his dealers for sure.... Just expressed my opinion. It's just a shame that people who live in europe can't benefit Paul C. Buff's quality products at the right price.

No they don't...you're comparing apples (distributed) and oranges (direct sales), as PowerEngineer mentioned. As an importer (who understands your tax structure) and businessman, you should know this :|

If people could buy Peugeot motorcycles from the factory for 50% less than your selling price, you'd get them coming into your store and asking why you're charging such a ridiculously high price.... :lol:

For sure they can't because while being an importer i have a contract to respect. I have x motorcycles to buy per year, x parts, i have to buy their tools, database software and so on. That's how you get the factory price. And if somebody knocks on the factory's door and asks to sell a motorcycle, the factory will sell at the recommended retail price.

People who would like to buy from the factory and import there where i sell them, will have the transportation to pay, taxes etc. So they will make few economies for sure, like 10 maybe 15 percent cause this is what my margin is. But in my case, ordering direct at Paul C Buff saves me 35-40 percent.

The thing that i didn't knew, is that Paul C. Buff already sells to the final customer at the factory price. And if their dealer can't get any extra discount, now i can understand.


BTW.
18 years ago my dad bought me my first go kart in Czech Republic. A small factory that produced like 300-500 go karts per year. We asked for the price, the answer was 2999 $, and than asked the dealer price, it was 1800$. For sure you have to sign a contract and so on and so on.

That's why i said that there are even small companies which act this way.