Import directly from the US?
Most of the equipment sold on this site can be purchased and imported directly from the United States. As a webshop owner, prices in the US are the biggest competitor for Backpackinglight.se. There are of course many advantages of buying from a Swedish/European webshop, not least that you get the product home relatively quickly. But in addition to that, there is also the possibility of returning the goods if you are not satisfied.
But if you can save hundreds of dollars on importing directly from the United States, why not?
Honestly, a Tarptent Stratospire with mesh inner tent, directly from Tarptent.com, looks very appealing for only 309usd. Which is approximately 2452sek with today's exchange rate. It costs more than 4100sek on Backpackinglight.se. But, is that all? Do you really save about 1650sek by importing directly the the USA.. or?
The truth is that if you buy directly from the United States there are some "wonderful" extra charges and time delays that are easily forgotten. There is first shipping from the United States, shipping for Tartent is about 50usd for a Stratospire. Then customs duty of around 12,7%, but not 12,7% on the US value, rather a very lax calculated Swedish value from the customs duty of just over 1usd = 9sek. DVS you tax on 2781 sek instead of 2450 sek. Then there's VAT at + 25% and not least time delay of 1-2 weeks depending on how fast your postal service can deliver. Suddenly, the actual cost of that Tarptent from tarptent.com is approximately 4523 sek. As a dealer, I also have such costs, but buy at a cheaper price which, of course, provides cheaper VAT and customs, and can then spread the shipping cost over several goods. Hence we can keep down the cost to you as a customer.
A simple calculation usually matches in the end when importing from the US are: (product + shipping) * 9sek + 12,7% + 25% = final price
In the tarptent calculation it will be: (309usd + 50usd) * 9 * 1.12 * 1.25 = 4523 kr
Backpackinglight.se sells the same tents for 4190 SEK!
- You will get it delivered within a few days, you have an open purchase and can return it and if it breaks, you do not need to return it to the U.S. for complaint.
Most of the equipment sold on this site can be purchased and imported directly from the United States. As a webshop owner, prices in the US are the biggest competitor for Backpackinglight.se. There are of course many advantages of buying from a Swedish/European webshop, not least that you get the product home relatively quickly. But in addition to that, there is also the possibility of returning the goods if you are not satisfied.
But if you can save hundreds of dollars on importing directly from the United States, why not?
Honestly, a Tarptent Stratospire with mesh inner tent, directly from Tarptent.com, looks very appealing for only 309usd. Which is approximately 2452sek with today's exchange rate. It costs more than 4100sek on Backpackinglight.se. But, is that all? Do you really save about 1650sek by importing directly the the USA.. or?
The truth is that if you buy directly from the United States there are some "wonderful" extra charges and time delays that are easily forgotten. There is first shipping from the United States, shipping for Tartent is about 50usd for a Stratospire. Then customs duty of around 12,7%, but not 12,7% on the US value, rather a very lax calculated Swedish value from the customs duty of just over 1usd = 9sek. DVS you tax on 2781 sek instead of 2450 sek. Then there's VAT at + 25% and not least time delay of 1-2 weeks depending on how fast your postal service can deliver. Suddenly, the actual cost of that Tarptent from tarptent.com is approximately 4523 sek. As a dealer, I also have such costs, but buy at a cheaper price which, of course, provides cheaper VAT and customs, and can then spread the shipping cost over several goods. Hence we can keep down the cost to you as a customer.
A simple calculation usually matches in the end when importing from the US are: (product + shipping) * 9sek + 12,7% + 25% = final price
In the tarptent calculation it will be: (309usd + 50usd) * 9 * 1.12 * 1.25 = 4523 kr
Backpackinglight.se sells the same tents for 4190 SEK!
- You will get it delivered within a few days, you have an open purchase and can return it and if it breaks, you do not need to return it to the U.S. for complaint.