Bringing Back The Best: Lotii And Other Assorted Love Songs

[waxoff]

Hey SF, you're EU based aren't you? If it's not to rude to ask, how much was the postage to get the skis in hand. And did customs charge you as well? Hoping next year there'll be a little more cashflow next year and I can get in on the pre orders.

I'm EU based, Germany, and my numbers for the BC110 this fall were: Shipping €104.95, Import Tariffs and fees €194.27

It sucks when tariffs hit...

[gaijin]

Tarrifs (import duty/tax?) into Japan paying to the shipping company were less than 6,000yen. Can't remember the exact number... 5-something. 30bucks, US$.
R110. Enough to scoff at...enough to say, "Hey-- you don't need to tax my pleasure!"

[banzai]

Tariffs ain't half bad, the VAT sucks ass.

[waxoff]

Tariffs ain't half bad, the VAT sucks ass.

Well, it's labeled as Import Tariff on my invoice, but I guess it's the 19% VAT. Fortunately, also printed on the invoice, the Tariff itself is VAT-free!

[Core Shot]

If HL takes off in Europe it would make sense to have a distributor somewhere there.
Wouldn’t have to be a full on biz, but leaving the Europe pre orders in Europe would make sense.
The blossom skis shouldn’t be shipped across the Atlantic and back. Not sure where the other factory is.

Of course they wouldn’t have the MO hand tune

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I don’t think there’s going to be anymore blossom made skis after the first run, Marshall touched on this last year. I don’t think this is as big of a project as you think Core Shot, likely not many buyers of these skis outside TGR forums, so a distributor in the EU might not pencil out. Kind of like Down skis over here. Correct me if I’m wrong about this Marshal.


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[Marshal Olson]

Folks are always able to ping me direct with specific q's etc on delivery. I am exploring every possible option for delivery to Canada, Oceania, and Yurp -- but also in a holding pattern until the new administration signs their legislation as +/- a few % points make some paths feasible and some impossible. Europe in particular is challenging due to pretty even splits to a number of different regions with their own specific rules and currencies and such.

A distributor wants to pay 60% less than retail to make their margin and needs payment terms (ie I am financing their inventory). That is extremely far away and/or never going to happen with HL -- mainly because the retail price would need to increase SIGNIFICANTLY to absorb all of that -- which is counter to the goal.

My main point here is that we are building small batches of skis made with the absolute best available materials and designs on the market, which deliver a superior ride, and comparably priced to mass market stuff. That is not easy to pull off! Sure it costs a few bucks to ship them around the world and listed online prices exclude VAT, so it is really up to the rider if its worth importing a set. I certainly think so

[bw_wp_hedonism]

I have no qualms paying shipping and VAT for these skis to Switzerland. Price point for what you get, even with the shipping and VAT, is so good.


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[banzai]

Well, it's labeled as Import Tariff on my invoice, but I guess it's the 19% VAT. Fortunately, also printed on the invoice, the Tariff itself is VAT-free!

Splendid customs officers you got over there. Mine shake us out anyway possible. VAT on shipping too? Yesssir.

The blossom skis shouldn’t be shipped across the Atlantic and back.

This reminded me of my HL t-shirt adventure. I ordered my FR132s and a t-shirt to a buddy in the US. Got two tracking numbers, the t-shirt shipped from Czech to the US, and then got back to me in Bulgaria with the skis. Unfortunately, the print only lasted a couple of washes, Marshal hope you switched suppliers since.

I have no qualms paying shipping and VAT for these skis to Switzerland. Price point for what you get, even with the shipping and VAT, is so good.

Swiss bankers, officially the dentists of euro TGR Fine skis nevertheless.

[jackattack]

I will volunteer to mule HL skis to the motherland via Delta, no sweat.

[hoarhey]

What color shirt was it?

My brown HL tee shirt shirt with tan printing has held up fine over multiple washing

I ordered it spring/sumner 2023



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[banzai]

White, ordered Jan 2023.

[McDee]

I'm EU based, Germany, and my numbers for the BC110 this fall were: Shipping €104.95, Import Tariffs and fees €194.27

It sucks when tariffs hit...

Thanks for the info waxoff, shipping sounds reasonable and not much you can do about the import fees.

[Core Shot]

My comment about a euro oceana “ distributor”
Wasn’t about normal channels.
Maybe a maggot that reships for beer money and ski schwag . Or maybe direct ship if the factory would do it.

PS. Oceana is always stealing powder from Eurasia and East Asia

Is airstrip one still operational?

[Marshal Olson]

My comment about a euro oceana “ distributor”
Wasn’t about normal channels.
Maybe a maggot that reships for beer money and ski schwag . Or maybe direct ship if the factory would do it.

PS. Oceana is always stealing powder from Eurasia and East Asia

Is airstrip one still operational?

Trust me, I hear you. There are lots of small/challenging hurdles but they turn into hard roadblocks pretty quick.

For example, one can really only ship to Netherlands in europe, as paperwork can be setup as VAT deferred to clear customs... but everyone is still paying VAT when the skis arrive, and still paying international shipping from Netherlands to their homes (not sold any skis to Netherlands yet!). Otherwise, sending them all to someone in DE of FR or whatever, the recipient/good-deed-doer would be on the hook for ALL the VAT on ALL the skis in order to clear customs. Direct-shipping one pair of skis or 7 pair of skis in a box is nearly the same price... the driving markup is dimensional. Shipping individual skis one-at-a-time direct from the factory would actually increase shipping costs about $150-$200 per pair.

One of my ideas is to ship skis to a hotel in the Netherlands, fly in, re-pack everything into boxes, and send them on. But there needs to be a large number of skis to save enough $ to justify hotels and transatlantic flights to just break even on that proposition. I guess my point is that the government is going to get its taxes no matter what and shipping big awkwardly sized packages costs real money no matter what. Since I am not a registered business in europe (and would need to be individually registered in each country), I cannot collect VAT at the point of sale... but all that does is increase the list price ~25% to include VAT, so no net savings to be had and a TON of admin overhead to handle.

I am definitely open to ideas, anyone with executive level global logistics experience is welcome to shoot me an email, I'd love to chat for 15min. I did spend a decade managing this stuff in prior roles, and have good confidence everything is setup to best practice, but by no means an expert with nuanced views of every fine detail.

As a data point, it costs about $40 to ship a ski from Utah to Colorado, $60 to ship that ski to the east coast, $120 to ship the same ski to far northern norway, and about the same to get it to canada. I am pretty certain it would be $100+ to ship a ski from netherlands to switzerland or norway too. Obviously expedited shipping options accelerate the prices quickly and not all services are available in all markets. My calculator on the site for shipping costs should be accurate, as it pulls based on current rates for the relevant carriers, but if something is way off (ie quoting a bajillion or something) please let me know and I can revise accordingly.

I get that huge online stores have free global shipping programs and the like. I am not a huge online store... I am one dude in his basement trying the get the world's best skis onto the feet of people that really care about that sort of thing!

[toast2266]

One of my ideas is to ship skis to a hotel in the Netherlands, fly in, re-pack everything into boxes, and send them on. But there needs to be a large number of skis to save enough $ to justify hotels and transatlantic flights to just break even on that proposition. I guess my point is that the government is going to get its taxes no matter what and shipping big awkwardly sized packages costs real money no matter what. Since I am not a registered business in europe (and would need to be individually registered in each country), I cannot collect VAT at the point of sale... but all that does is increase the list price ~25% to include VAT, so no net savings to be had and a TON of admin overhead to handle.

Fly in to wherever and bring the skis as checked luggage on the airplane with you. For $100 per "bag" you can bring a bunch of extra "luggage."

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[shirk]

The only money to save is by not importing skis going to other markets into the US once the tariffs are in place.

Marshal moves to Canada to skirt the new US import tariffs then just make the Maggots all come to Canada to pickup their own skis and smuggle them into the US themselves.

[Marshal Olson]

Fly in to wherever and bring the skis as checked luggage on the airplane with you. For $100 per "bag" you can bring a bunch of extra "luggage."

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The only money to save is in avoiding paying import tariffs on skis that are destined for other markets… but more to the point, why fly all over the world if it’s basically the same price to ship a pair of skis from the us to Europe as it is to ship skis from one European country to another European country?

[shirk]

Actually if you could get your price under $800 usd you would be able to ship skis from Canada to the US and avoid the incoming Trump tariff of 10% on all China made goods.

Clarification this would be on individual purchases. Personal sales of $800 and under don't get hit for duties going into the US from Canadian stores.

[Marshal Olson]

Actually if you could get your price under $800 usd you would be able to ship skis from Canada to the US and avoid the incoming Trump tariff of 10% on all China made goods.

Clarification this would be on individual purchases. Personal sales of $800 and under don't get hit for duties going into the US from Canadian stores.

He plans to end the de minimis exception right out of the gate

[Marshal Olson]

But 100% and great point!

[McDee]

Sorry Marshal, didn't mean to make such a fuss, was just interested in the numbers so i could budget incase I could pre order at some point. Thought a post here would have been the less complicated way. I've ordered and sent enough skis in my life to know what a hassle it can be. Hell, just receiving Xmas presents from the UK to Austria is such a pain, we've asked relatives to not send anything if possible and just wait for us to come visit.

[bw_wp_hedonism]

I could maybe fly to Netherlands for you…


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[Marshal Olson]

Sorry Marshal, didn't mean to make such a fuss, was just interested in the numbers so i could budget incase I could pre order at some point. Thought a post here would have been the less complicated way. I've ordered and sent enough skis in my life to know what a hassle it can be. Hell, just receiving Xmas presents from the UK to Austria is such a pain, we've asked relatives to not send anything if possible and just wait for us to come visit.

All good, glad to confirm!

The site bills at actual shipping rates, so easy to see what that will be in the shopping cart. If your country has VAT, it will be assessed by your country at delivery.

[ASmileyFace]

Had a little post work HL mounting party. 187cm AM100s & Beta BC120s



I'll post my thoughts in the respective threads.