[Elecraft] Excahnge rate is excellent from Europe to $$ and inport problems

[Michael D. Heit KD7YLA]

Eric and list members,
I have been following the threads on this list about the VAT, GLS USPS , 
etc and the problems of importing. Elecraft cannot get around any of the 
VAT issues and import customs. I buy a lot of parts and things from 
England and the reverse is true here as far as US Customs fees going up 
so much and the dollar falling through the floor against the pound 
sterling. To solve me problems in so far as the raw parts I need, I have 
made a deal with my supplier to buy a large quantity of production and 
replacement parts from them so I can "stock" these items here. Now, let 
me clarify one thing, this is a very expensive thing to do, but not as 
expensive as the alternative, that is not having parts for my customers 
when they need them or watching every month the cost of doing business 
climb through the roof due to not only the falling dollar and the VAT, 
etc. We don't have a "VAT" here but we do have other business "taxes" as 
I call them, the difference is they are called other things...the end 
result is the same.
So, that being said, might there be the possibility of some one, or 
maybe a group forming in Europe that could become a "partner" with 
Elecraft. This group could order kits and spares in mass quantity and 
thus have them onsite in Europe for dispatch from that point. Maybe this 
is not feasible? Maybe it is, it was just an idea that I have sort of 
used for my small business and wondered if it might be some thing that 
should be explored in this issue. One good point about that idea is 
this: Elecraft is free to use whomever they want to ship in bulk to that 
group, and by mutual agreement it could be FedEx, or UPS or even USPS 
... from that point the group can decide on an individual basis how to 
ship to the customers based upon the individual circumstances of each 
order? 
One other neat development, I have made arrangements with one of my 
suppliers to deal in gold and silver tender, I like it, he likes it and 
it is interesting to see how they can scratch their heads at the customs 
office trying to figure out the "exchange rate" on the payment. My last 
shipment had a "customs fee" of $27.00 on a parcel that in the past cost 
me more than $50.00 USD, but customs could not figure out how to bill 
"silver exchange rate" .... so I paid the bill as sent. Later they tried 
to up the amount so I complained to the New York customs office [kind of 
a headquarters I guess] and the dispute was resolved with a ruling that 
if you pay the amount they bill and the bill is in error, you owe no 
more as long as there was no fraud involved in the original process. 
Since the declared value of the parts (I ship no complete units either 
there or over to here) was correct for what the supplier and myself had 
agreed upon, there was no fraud. It is still 100% legal to deal in gold 
and silver tender; there just aren't to many folks around anymore who 
know how to. Against the falling dollar the American wins with gold and 
silver tender right now. My British supplier loves the stuff and is 
happy to accept it. As the dollars decline continues, I shall us the 
gold / silver tender as much as I can. I think the use is predicated 
upon the size of my orders which are "large" to me. For them I know they 
are small ...
Just some thoughts, maybe good, maybe a waste of bandwidth?

73, de Michael Heit KD7YLA
"Real Hams do it at a high frequency"


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