Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
'I am looking to order additional sets of leaves for my collections, have bought several over the past 18 months.
Has there been a large price increase in your products? The prices you list on the website are perhaps 40% higher in may cases than in the last catalog I received, dated 2015. It appears I would in most cases now be better off obtaining these here locally.
Would appreciate some explanation as to what may have prompted this. I would also like a new catalog as the one I use is obviously out of date! Thank you. '
I know price increases are the norm. What I find astonishing is that in most cases prices for sets of country leaves have shot up at a rate way past something that could be accounted for by inflation. I am looking at their Austria pages. Most units for that album are up by at least ten Euros across the board. Some appear up by as much as 30% over what was on the site less than a year ago.
Some of these increases are stunning. One set of Germany pages was priced at around 35 Euros, now at 68. They must be losing money hand over fist to have to do this.
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Could be their costs to produce the pages, which probably amount to one-off printing, packaging and shipping, have gone up, for whatever reason (and not necessarily they are losing money).
Or maybe demand has increased so much, they have raised prices.
Or perhaps VAT has been added up-front. I was never able to figure the VAT stuff and whether they would deduct that from the cost.
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VAT is included which makes up for some of the additional but in most cases the increase is nearly 50%. I sort of doubt anyone there will reply to my inquiry. This used to be an affordable alternative to Lighthouse, Lindner, etc. They are still lower but in some cases not by much. I just don't get it. The price for their standard pages is in many cases almost what they listed for hingeless last year.
Last year I bought nearly an entire set of their German pages, probably at the right time. I don't often buy things at the right time.
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I order a lot of printing within Europe. VAT runs 18% of the order and even the shipping costs were taxed.
They cannot charge you VAT for delivery in the USA.
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" I was never able to figure the VAT stuff and whether they would deduct that from the cost."
VAT is actually pretty simple. If a business within EU area sells to:
* Another business located within EU, then VAT is applied (but buyer is eligible for exempt if both business are VAT registered)
* private person within EU, then VAT is applied based on buyers country of origin (online sales only) or based on sellers country of origin (physical sales only). VAT percentage can vary from 0-28% depending on the country and type of product/service sold.
* private person or business outside EU, then no VAT should be applied.
As for price increase... I fear it is all about dollar/euro exchange rates.
-k-
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Regarding this subject, I know this is a shameful plug, however check out the article here on Stamporama "Bringing Madness to the Order." I had a similar experience.
The Rev
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pastorleon,
It's been a long time since I laughed out loud at an article on any philatelic web site. That article captured the humor of the German philatelic obsession disorder better than anything I ever read. I've been caught up in it. I have traipsed from one album to another in my quest for perfection of display and protection. First Schaubek, then Lighthouse, then Lindner now Schaubek again. I need to stay where I am, have already sunk a lot of time and money into mount cutting for the Scuaubeks. (I don't like the splitback mounts they use for their hingeless pages).
What little I've read about the German psyche seems to suggest there is an obsession with perfection, resulting in a never ending search for the right solution. There really is no such thing.
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My problem with the VAT on Schaubek's site was that I would have to trust them to remove the VAT after processing my credit card payment. I prefer to see upfront what I'm paying before committing to it. I wasn't sure they would do that and they never responded to my email. Thus I never bought the Schaubek products I was considering. Maybe a good thing given the increased prices.
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I sent them six orders covering a several month period in 2015-16. Each time I paid using Paypal at full price including VAT. I then got a refund covering the amount of VAT, usually a week to ten days later.
I think their non responsiveness to emails and inquiries may be due to language issues. They are based in Liepzig, formerly in the DDR. I have noticed over the years in dealing with other outlets in that area that there is a residual sort of ineptness in business dealings. Possibly due to dealing with people who grew up in a different sort of economy than they live in now.
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"Possibly due to dealing with people who grew up in a different sort of economy than they live in now"
Back when Russia went through the economy changes, and Ford set up the first car dealership, they had trouble training sales people. The Russians they hired seemed more like people guarding the dealership, approaching customers with a stern, "Why are you here?" than the typical American sales schmooze.
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Snick, Glad you enjoyed the article.
The Rev
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Here is a copy of a message I sent to Schaubek customer service in Germany today:
'I am looking to order additional sets of leaves for my collections, have bought several over the past 18 months.
Has there been a large price increase in your products? The prices you list on the website are perhaps 40% higher in may cases than in the last catalog I received, dated 2015. It appears I would in most cases now be better off obtaining these here locally.
Would appreciate some explanation as to what may have prompted this. I would also like a new catalog as the one I use is obviously out of date! Thank you. '
I know price increases are the norm. What I find astonishing is that in most cases prices for sets of country leaves have shot up at a rate way past something that could be accounted for by inflation. I am looking at their Austria pages. Most units for that album are up by at least ten Euros across the board. Some appear up by as much as 30% over what was on the site less than a year ago.
Some of these increases are stunning. One set of Germany pages was priced at around 35 Euros, now at 68. They must be losing money hand over fist to have to do this.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
Could be their costs to produce the pages, which probably amount to one-off printing, packaging and shipping, have gone up, for whatever reason (and not necessarily they are losing money).
Or maybe demand has increased so much, they have raised prices.
Or perhaps VAT has been added up-front. I was never able to figure the VAT stuff and whether they would deduct that from the cost.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
VAT is included which makes up for some of the additional but in most cases the increase is nearly 50%. I sort of doubt anyone there will reply to my inquiry. This used to be an affordable alternative to Lighthouse, Lindner, etc. They are still lower but in some cases not by much. I just don't get it. The price for their standard pages is in many cases almost what they listed for hingeless last year.
Last year I bought nearly an entire set of their German pages, probably at the right time. I don't often buy things at the right time.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
I order a lot of printing within Europe. VAT runs 18% of the order and even the shipping costs were taxed.
They cannot charge you VAT for delivery in the USA.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
" I was never able to figure the VAT stuff and whether they would deduct that from the cost."
VAT is actually pretty simple. If a business within EU area sells to:
* Another business located within EU, then VAT is applied (but buyer is eligible for exempt if both business are VAT registered)
* private person within EU, then VAT is applied based on buyers country of origin (online sales only) or based on sellers country of origin (physical sales only). VAT percentage can vary from 0-28% depending on the country and type of product/service sold.
* private person or business outside EU, then no VAT should be applied.
As for price increase... I fear it is all about dollar/euro exchange rates.
-k-
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
Regarding this subject, I know this is a shameful plug, however check out the article here on Stamporama "Bringing Madness to the Order." I had a similar experience.
The Rev
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
pastorleon,
It's been a long time since I laughed out loud at an article on any philatelic web site. That article captured the humor of the German philatelic obsession disorder better than anything I ever read. I've been caught up in it. I have traipsed from one album to another in my quest for perfection of display and protection. First Schaubek, then Lighthouse, then Lindner now Schaubek again. I need to stay where I am, have already sunk a lot of time and money into mount cutting for the Scuaubeks. (I don't like the splitback mounts they use for their hingeless pages).
What little I've read about the German psyche seems to suggest there is an obsession with perfection, resulting in a never ending search for the right solution. There really is no such thing.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
My problem with the VAT on Schaubek's site was that I would have to trust them to remove the VAT after processing my credit card payment. I prefer to see upfront what I'm paying before committing to it. I wasn't sure they would do that and they never responded to my email. Thus I never bought the Schaubek products I was considering. Maybe a good thing given the increased prices.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
I sent them six orders covering a several month period in 2015-16. Each time I paid using Paypal at full price including VAT. I then got a refund covering the amount of VAT, usually a week to ten days later.
I think their non responsiveness to emails and inquiries may be due to language issues. They are based in Liepzig, formerly in the DDR. I have noticed over the years in dealing with other outlets in that area that there is a residual sort of ineptness in business dealings. Possibly due to dealing with people who grew up in a different sort of economy than they live in now.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
"Possibly due to dealing with people who grew up in a different sort of economy than they live in now"
Back when Russia went through the economy changes, and Ford set up the first car dealership, they had trouble training sales people. The Russians they hired seemed more like people guarding the dealership, approaching customers with a stern, "Why are you here?" than the typical American sales schmooze.
Login to Like
this post
re: Schaubek Albums, Huge Price Increases
Snick, Glad you enjoyed the article.
The Rev
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this post