US to Europe price comparison

It’s tempting to look at the cars TwinSpark run and the things we do for fun and assume we must be loaded. It’s also tempting to look at WEVO and Zuffenhaus prices in the USA, and decide the reason we are loaded is because we stick a giant margin on the seemingly low dollar prices!

Well, the news is we’re not rich; we just work our asses off.  Nor are our prices loaded with thick, creamy margin. We are enthusiasts selling to enthusiasts in our own community, making a modest profit from low overheads and volume discounts – that’s it. Here’s how it pans out.

Let’s say you’re a UK buyer wanting to buy a WEVO PSJ. You might visit the US WEVO site and see the part priced at $254, or £156. Then you flick to our site and see it priced at €204.47, or £173. Add tax and you are up to £206. “I can save £50 if I buy from the USA,” you think to yourself.

As your comparison is not complete, you would be wrong.

We purchase wholesale from WEVO and absorb the transportation cost. If you buy directly from the USA, you will pay at least $20 in shipping, handling etc, even for a small item like a PS-J. When shipping to you via registered mail we do not charge you. So that’s a $20 advantage. We also check and update our exchange rate EVERY DAY, so you are always getting current rates.

When importing into the EU, 4,5% import duty applies. This is included in our prices, but needs to be added to the price you see at Hayden’s site (for example). This rate is applied over the value of the product, plus any shipping expenses, plus the daylight robbery customs ‘inspection charge’ on arrival in the UK, usually about £8. But let’s leave that out for now.

When you import the part from the US, 20% VAT is applied in the UK, whereas we apply 19% in NL. Either way, that must be added to the US price.

Finally, when you purchase with a credit card, the card company applies a spread in the exchange rate of about 2.5%. When you pay us, the same thing happens but to the EURO value. So no difference, except it applies to a smaller value.

Using these numbers, the complete picture looks more like this:

WEVO US $254.00
+$20 shipping = $274.00
+4.5% import duty = $12.33
+20% VAT = $54.80
+2.5% Currency Exchange = $6.85
Total is $347.98 = £213.86 = €251.89

Ordering from TwinSpark you pay:
G50 PSJ €204,47 = £173.60
+19% VAT = £32.98
+2.5% Currency Exchange = £5.17
Your price, product delivered at home: £211.75 = €249.40

We are cheaper and we ship from stock. We’re in the UK and the NL; no time differences if your mechanics need tech help, no email delays in product queries, no returns headaches and so on.

If buying from TwinSpark doesn’t make complete commercial sense to anyone, let me know! My email is john@twinsparkracing.com.