New York shopping - To haggle or not to haggle???

Bazcab

That is the question.....

Me and the OH are off to New York on Thursday, and we intend to do a lot of shopping, going for a few big items, the main one being a laptop.

I was gonna try out BHphoto & Video, and wondered if anyone knows, is it appropriate to haggle in these big stores, or are you likely to be told where to go??

Is there a better/cheaper place to buy laptops?

Any help would be great.

Cheers
Baz

alison74

IMHO I wouldn't haggle about the price of the lap top, but try and get 'extras' thrown in as you would do in this country

Bazcab

cheers Alison, how about paying by cash and asking if they could remove the sales tax?

hammy_the_hammer

Bazcab wrote:

cheers Alison, how about paying by cash and asking if they could remove the sales tax?

have you asked at comet or john lewis' if they'll take off the vat if you pay them cash ?
if you are spending a lot of money there you may need to go out of state to new jersey or connecticut . you would probably be best asking about sales tax on a US forum as it can even vary between counties.
remember your customs allowance will be exceeded by buying a laptop and if stopped it may be hard for you to get out of it back at uk customs

Steve_xx

Do be aware that you are only allowed to bring goods to a total value of £145 into the UK from a non-EEC country. You will be liable to pay duty on items you import in excess of this amount. If you do not declare such items and Customs seize them, they could confiscate them and may ossibly fine you too!

Bazcab

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

have you asked at comet or john lewis' if they'll take off the vat if you pay them cash ?

When I go into Comet or John Lewis, the price on the shelf is the price I pay, in the US it's not!! I don't think its a stupid question to ask, although you're making it sound as if it is

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

remember your customs allowance will be exceeded by buying a laptop and if stopped it may be hard for you to get out of it back at uk customs

Remember though, if you're sensible enough to dump the packaging, send all the instruction manuals, discs, etc to yourself via the postal service, then who's to say you bought it whilst there???

polarbearit

B and H did want to haggle in any way

Some shops have specific schemes for foreign shoppers (eg Macys) - you need to take your passport to avoid sales tax, but most don't.

bengal-stripe

Bazcab wrote:

When I go into Comet or John Lewis, the price on the shelf is the price I pay, in the US it's not!! I don't think its a stupid question to ask, although you're making it sound as if it is

Why did you ask if it’s appropriate to haggle, if you knew the answer already?
By the way, defrauding customs and excise is a criminal offence.

zappahey

Bazcab wrote:

Remember though, if you're sensible enough to dump the packaging, send all the instruction manuals, discs, etc to yourself via the postal service, then who's to say you bought it whilst there???

The US keyboard might give it away for a start.

Things to consider:

Have you thought about the warranty issues with buying a laptop overseas? Will it be covered in the UK? Will it have to go back to the US for warranty service?

Can you live with the US keyboard? No pound sign, no Euro sign, some keys in different places.

Is the saving going to be enough to cover VAT and duty if you were to get caught by HMCE on the way back in to the UK?

PeteW

B&H are a very busy shop who selling LOTS of very expensive stuff every second. Unless you're spending is in 5 figures, they're very unlikely to budge - so just make up for it by helping yourself to lots of sweets from the bowls all around the shop! That said, it's worth a try, what's the worst that could happen!

hammy_the_hammer

Bazcab wrote:

When I go into Comet or John Lewis, the price on the shelf is the price I pay, in the US it's not!! I don't think its a stupid question to ask, although you're making it sound as if it is



Remember though, if you're sensible enough to dump the packaging, send all the instruction manuals, discs, etc to yourself via the postal service, then who's to say you bought it whilst there???

it is a stupid question as you are asking a store to evade state tax ...that's pretty dumb ....sorry.
also you'll find that the customs officers aren't that stupid... thankfully the others have advised you of the obvious ways you can get caught out not withstanding the fact that they'd want proof of purchase