Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So, I'm new to Rickenbacker and looking for a new one, and I have noticed that on eBay and on-line stores that the prices of Rickenbacker's in England are unbelievably high compared to their American counterparts, like almost double in some cases??

What is the reasoning behind this?? Is it a tariff thing or is Rickenbacker themselves charging the extra??

What's to stopping U.S. dealer and owners from shipping their guitars to England with the reduced prices, or people living there from just buying outside the country??

I feel sorry for you Rick fans over there if you have to pay those prices, ouch!!!

Rickenbacker don't allow dealers to send guitars or parts to the UK from US.

moleng1 wrote:..Is it a tariff thing or is Rickenbacker themselves charging the extra??

Certainly, not! The retail/dealer cost is determined for a particular country by that country's distributor with the street prices decided on by the individual retailers.

jps wrote:

moleng1 wrote:..Is it a tariff thing or is Rickenbacker themselves charging the extra??

Certainly, not! The retail/dealer cost is determined for a particular country by that country's distributor with the street prices decided on by the individual retailers.

So is Rickenbacker selling these guitars to English vendors at the same price they do to American/Canadian vendors (plus shipping costs obviously) If so it's then the English vendors who are marking them up to such exorbitant prices??

Seems to me, if this is the case, that there's an opening here for someone to start a small business exporting used, in good shape Ricky's to England and both the buyer and the seller might be happier in the long run?

You really have to factor in import duties/taxes (VAT), which can account for a chunk of the mark-up.

Plus these charges naturally limit the number of Ricks going into the UK so supply is low and demand is high.

Ho ho ho..... suck it up it makes vintage much more appealing to Ric fans.

moleng1 wrote:So is Rickenbacker selling these guitars to English vendors at the same price they do to American/Canadian vendors (plus shipping costs obviously) If so it's then the English vendors who are marking them up to such exorbitant prices??

Seems to me, if this is the case, that there's an opening here for someone to start a small business exporting used, in good shape Ricky's to England and both the buyer and the seller might be happier in the long run?

In fact, we sell to the overseas wholesalers for less than what we charge the North American dealers. But the reason we can do that is that we don't offer warranty or customer service ourselves- that's the responsibility of the distributor. For that, they need to be compensated and build that into their price to the retailers, along with the costs of shipping, brokering the goods, and paying both duty and VAT.

moleng1 wrote:noticed that on eBay and on-line stores that the prices of Rickenbacker's in England are unbelievably high compared to their American counterparts, like almost double in some cases??

What is the reasoning behind this??

The exchange rate is a major burn to start with. I always am grumpy when dealing in £ .

johnhall wrote:

moleng1 wrote:So is Rickenbacker selling these guitars to English vendors at the same price they do to American/Canadian vendors (plus shipping costs obviously) If so it's then the English vendors who are marking them up to such exorbitant prices??

Seems to me, if this is the case, that there's an opening here for someone to start a small business exporting used, in good shape Ricky's to England and both the buyer and the seller might be happier in the long run?

In fact, we sell to the overseas wholesalers for less than what we charge the North American dealers. But the reason we can do that is that we don't offer warranty or customer service ourselves- that's the responsibility of the distributor. For that, they need to be compensated and build that into their price to the retailers, along with the costs of shipping, brokering the goods, and paying both duty and VAT.

New 2013 Rickenbacker 381/6 V69 in the USA - $3100
New 2013 Rickenbacker 381/6 V69 in the UK - $6855
$3755 for shipping, brokering, duty and VAT?

Of course, there's also the markup that the distributors & dealers add. And like most places, they will add whatever they think the market will bear...

TSS wrote:
New 2013 Rickenbacker 381/6 V69 in the USA - $3100

Where in the USA can I buy a new V69 for $3100?

Len wrote:

TSS wrote:
New 2013 Rickenbacker 381/6 V69 in the USA - $3100

Where in the USA can I buy a new V69 for $3100?

$4949 is the MSRP.

Lefty4001 wrote:

Len wrote:

TSS wrote:
New 2013 Rickenbacker 381/6 V69 in the USA - $3100

Where in the USA can I buy a new V69 for $3100?

$4949 is the MSRP.

New in the US
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Rickenback ... 417b2b5af6

RRP in the UK. - $8046
http://www.rosetti.co.uk/Product/Ricken ... V69-Guitar

Guitar Guitar recently had one listed at £4175 = $6875

So, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. That's the real way to complain about something and be heard, rather than kvetch about it here, which will accomplish frickall.

It obviously is a matter of a price that the market will bear, or at least the dealer's understanding of it. If they're wrong and can't sell it, they're the one that's harmed economically, not you.

Besides, the one on ebay is not new. It is not being sold by a dealer and has no warranty and so can't really be considered new regardless of what the seller claims.

Musician's friend (an actual dealer) is selling them for just a bit over $4400...