Despite previous comments that seem to indicate that the Americans do not need the 'small' UK market this is quite untrue. The reason why this excuse exists is because US manufacturers have used it to justify their viewpoint on the whole CE marking issue.
They see no benefit in making their products CE approved and getting the necessary CE accreditation, although this has changed over recent years as they do realise that 'Europe' requires products to be CE marked and it's not just the 'small island' Brits demanding it.
The other problem is the perceptions of both Americans and British towards the market. Americans are worried they are up against many British, European and Japanese competitors and feel their product may be a 'small fish in a big pond' and will not be taken seriously, whereas many British consumers are often very wary of US built products (IMHO: this is pure ignorance).
Other factors surround pricing. We have a prime example with this message thread in that it was started from a member seeing products advertised on Audiogon for what seem to be remarkably cheap prices.
Well let me tell you, if you, the consumer want to see products from the US sold through the audio retail sector you can forget those 'cheap' prices immediately. Running the Dollar to Pound conversion just simply does not reflect what you would have to pay.
As well as adding costs such as freight, insurance, Duty and VAT there are also the costs of the importing distributor to account for, the marketing and promotion of a new product to market, and the expected margins the dealer would require for selling the product.
Having run a import and distribution business and been in distribution for many years within the electronics industry, not to mention talking with other companies (GTA for example), those who have tried to import products from the US market struggle because people like us on these forums see these great products advertised in Dollars then gripe when they eventually see them for sale here in the UK at much higher prices.
If you can import yourself then I would advise to do so, you may not get a CE approved product or one with correct mains transformers and you would only have to account for the freight, insurance Duty and VAT. Of course you would also not have the priviledge of auditioning the equipment beforehand either.
Personally, I would love a Sophia Electric 300b power amp with their Princess valves
? ...........THAT'S why we don't get much US stuff over here, because the UK stockists don't generate as much interest as it's cheaper for people to import themselves).
-
