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SHORTAGE OF ELITE CONTROLLERS


The Musicman

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Hi Everybody, has anybody noticed the shortage of Elite controllers,some dealers are saying they will not have any new stock until November.Out of about twenty dealers there is only about three of them with any stock.Even Hornby don't have any either,they are like gold dust.Cheers

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Just bought a new one for £135, on Leboncoin, france. There is another one on now for £10, more  This site is well worth a look, as have bought many things on same site, including hornby sound loco, retailing at £200, plus,for £105  Waited 3 years to find an elite at good price, then 2 come at once.  This site is particularly cheap at present, given the exchange rate of the eoro, which is at 0.74. john

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Roger, thats not how we do it. We copy the leboncoin advert into Google translate, then select french, and paste. Its instant. We then, write our reply/offer in same page, copy, and paste back to email, in leboncoin. You dont need a lot of translation. Divide price by 0.74, or 1.30. If you find something you like, email me. The savings, are immense. john

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Don't forget the import duty! A couple of times I've bought small items (spare parts) from Hong Kong, and the import and handling fees have been greater than the value of the contents. On other times, they have come through 'on the nod'. It all depends on the mood of the Customs officer!

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There is as far as i know, no import duty in EEC. I buy from uk, germany daily, and have never paid a penny. You are right about Hong kong, and usa. Also buy from ebay, america, on regular basis. My understanding is that goods are free to move within EEC. john

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Ditto Eric...

I recently had to drive15K into the city main post office to fill out a declaration form of some kind and pay 6 (yes SIX) Euro-Cents duty on a small value order from China. I couldn't believe it.

Another time they tried to charge me duty on a package from UK until I pointed out that we are all in the EU and duty had already been paid. The discussion went a bit like this: Them - But its got a green Customs form on the packet. Me - So tear it off as its not needed within EU. Them - I'll have to get my supervisor. In the end it all went away, but we do have some pro-Numpties behind our counters.

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When we came here 13 years ago, they used to use customs forms to uk. Now, dont bother. Same applies in reverse. My son lives in US, and we  put on back of package, value and contents, but never fill in a form. May well be its done by french postal service. though. john

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Just bought a new one for £135, on Leboncoin, france. There is another one on now for £10, more  This site is well worth a look, as have bought many things on same site, including hornby sound loco, retailing at £200, plus,for £105  Waited 3 years to find an elite at good price, then 2 come at once.  This site is particularly cheap at present, given the exchange rate of the eoro, which is at 0.74. john

 

 

HI john ,  an Elite ??  are you now conceding that the Elite is

a far better road to go down ,as opposed  to the E- link, even allowing for extra expense? , regards, Hugh. 

 

 

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Google translate doesn't seem to like translating that site within a frame.

If you go to that site, enter your search terms, then put the resulting URL into Google Translate it will translate automatically. No need to select the language.

 

You do not pay Import VAT from within the EU. The VAT has already been paid in the country of origin.

 

Model railway products are zero rated for Import Duty. If you import from outside the EU you have to pay 20% Import VAT, (plus the Royal Mail or Parcelforce handling fee which is £8.00 for RM and £13.50 for Parcelforce, (if posted by the GLS or EMS system).

It is possible to avoid paying these handling fees if you declare the goods yourself, but that can be complicated.

Import VAT is not charged if the item is valued at £15.00 or less.

All items with contents up to the value of £270.00 must have a signed and dated customs declaration form CN22 http://www.royalmail.com/sites/all/themes/royalmail2012/img/icon/newwin-red-13-12.png attached to the front.

 

Some sellers from outside the EU might say that they'll put 'Gift' on the customs declaration so that you can buy items of up to ££40.00 to avoid the Import VAT. Be aware that it is you, the buyer, that is responsible for what is written on the customs form, not the seller.

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Gitter, Hi, Hugh, NO, NOT FOR A MINUTE, am converted elink man, and if i lived in uk, would not have contemplated. But here, right in the middle of rural france, connections are  a bit of a lottery , My european elink connection, plays up packs up, for about a quarter of  an hour then comes back in. Whenever any children from the village come  to look at layout, then thats the time it decides to be difficult. It is apparently due to location.  Farmers regularly cause power surges, which result in temporary total loss of power, for about 2/3 minutes. It all comes back, but then  i need to start whole connection process again. I have been experimenting with a select, which, instantly returns to full operation.  Our internet and telephone, are in the same position, we never know from hour to hour whether we will have either. Given all this, i feel for the sake of my sanity, and my wifes temper, i will experiment with Elite. Given the price, the scarcity of supply, and demand, i dont think i have anything to lose. Hope this clarifies, john

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Gitter, Hi, Hugh, NO, NOT FOR A MINUTE, am converted elink man, and if i lived in uk, would not have contemplated. But here, right in the middle of rural france, connections are  a bit of a lottery , My european elink connection, plays up packs up, for about a quarter of  an hour then comes back in. Whenever any children from the village come  to look at layout, then thats the time it decides to be difficult. It is apparently due to location.  Farmers regularly cause power surges, which result in temporary total loss of power, for about 2/3 minutes. It all comes back, but then  i need to start whole connection process again. I have been experimenting with a select, which, instantly returns to full operation.  Our internet and telephone, are in the same position, we never know from hour to hour whether we will have either. Given all this, i feel for the sake of my sanity, and my wifes temper, i will experiment with Elite. Given the price, the scarcity of supply, and demand, i dont think i have anything to lose. Hope this clarifies, john

Hi John,  that would drive me nuts.  No, you just threw  me a wee bit re,  purchase of an Elite. I couldn,t  resist  having a wee knock, in fact I thought  Fishy would have got in before me,  hope you get an easier solution to the problem, Hugh

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Gitter, you're doing a great job there, no need for me to get involved.

 

Must go to France someday, although I understand connections with the French are problematic and you can lose communication with them at random times and for various periods.  Especially when you are trying to show others how well you speak the language.

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Losing connection with the French usually happens a couple of hours either side of lunchtime when you want a shop or bank and they are all closed.

Having holidayed in France for many years and although having a reasonable grasp of their language I always found that as soon as I said anything they would immediately switch to English to practice their language skills.

Similar thing hapens over here, which is why my Greek is rusty, coupled with the fact in many bars, restaurants, and hotels there are very few local employees, they all seem to be from the Baltics and speak little English and no Greek.

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Raf, your right. Heather and i, teach english here, have done for 5 years. all free of charge, as we found at every opportunity,  the french, like to try their school english, and are dead keen to learn, having found that when they go on holiday, anywhere, a little english, is advantageous. Our present class has an average age of 50. john

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