Using the Euro exchange rate to purchase gear.

I noticed a post on another forum that pointed to the French Ricoh website which said the new 70-200mm and 150-450mm lenses were to be released the end of March. For the larger zoom Ricoh had a price of 2200 Euros which with the current exchange rate works out at approximately £1550. The 70-200mm has a Euro price of 2000 which is approx £1425.

Quite a difference ... I know it's not the fault of UK retailers but that sort of saving is hard to ignore.

If there really is that much difference in the respective prices then I would expect the UK price to drop by a couple of hundred pounds soon after launch otherwise UK dealers will be left with stock they can't shift.

Does anyone know the cheapest method of paying for consumer gear costing hundreds of pounds bought online from the UK but in a foreign currency...particularly Euros?

When paying by credit card you seem to get hammered twice...once on the conversion rate (which might be applied days after the purchase using a different rate than applicable on day of purchase) and secondly there seems to be a 'fee' of typically 2.5%-2.75% which VISA or Mastercard charge on top.

To be on the safe side I currently assume the Euro to Pound Sterling rate to be 7 cents less than the 'official' exchange rate to allow for these charges and uncertainties. So today although the official rate is
about 1.40 Euros to the Pound I work on 1.33 when converting to compare prices.

It would be interesting to hear from people who have regularly bought photo gear from the EU as to their experiences and prices paid ultimately compared to what they expected to pay once all the extra charges were included.

I recently got a Halifax clarity card for just such occasions.

They charge to convert to Euros but no other charge after that.

I just bought a new K-S2 for 699 Euros which equates to 492 pounds, well over 50 quid cheaper than uk stockists are selling for....
I live in Germany so postage etc are in my favour as well.

I (mainly for holidays) have long had a Caxton FX Euro Visa Debit currency card. Minimum 150 Euros loading at a time. No fees on card, no fees on use when drawing from machines or paying in Euros. The rate to top up at the time I'm writing is 1.37 to the pound, it tends to change morning and afternoon and stay fixed over weekends. I top up whenever the rate looks good and I have some spare cash. The beauty is once bought your Euros stay the value they started with. No interest paid on it though

Take out a Post Office Credit Card. There are no commission or exchange charges as long as you pay off before time and you get the exchange rate at the time of the transaction. Which is always better than what any bank or exchange bureau will give you.

I took one out well over 10 years ago and use it exclusively for my annual summer holidays in France and Christmas shopping aboard.

There are no fees overseas on HALIFAX Clarity Mastercard credit cards either, although bizarrely there are on their debit cards. I suggested the currency card as you can lock in when a good rate usually 2 cents below the average that day trading.

I think ( for the wrinklies amongst us ) Saga also do something similar

I and my wife have the same one (Post Office) as Jimd for the same reason. We use them on holiday anywhere abroad. CHEERS Vic.

The currency card is probably a better bet in this case as the exchange rate could change drastically by the end of the month when the lens is released.

Some very useful information there guys...thanks for that. Its a bit of a gamble trying to guess which way the £/Euro exchange rate is going to go. If I had to jump I think the Euro will weaken a bit more maybe down to 1.45/1.46 over the next 2-3 months. It could even drop to about 1.50 to the £ if the Greek stalemate doesn't get resolved. Good news for UK purchasers of goods and services from the EU.

I hope not, we have our villa in Spain up for sale atm ... prices are low enough already without taking an even bigger hit because of the Euro.

Good luck with that Mike. Some neighbours of mine have just escaped from the same predicament. They bought in Spain many years ago when the Euro was even weaker against the £ than it is today and had to sell recently when the Euro was about 1.15 or so...took about 2 years though and they took a big hit...but they had had the benefit for many years and were just delighted to be finally shut of it.

Karlo

Have a look at the Dutch online shops too when you are looking for bargains - http://www.cameranu.nl/ , www.kamera-express.nl/ , and www.fotokonijnenberg.nl/ .
www.fotoshopaalten.com/ isn't a Pentax dealer, but they do have lots of useful other stuff for reasonable prices.
Amazon.de too.

I'm just glad we went to the US on holiday last year.
Looked at ferry prices for visiting the UK for a wedding - on of us could fly to America for less than the return on the Hull ferry
I shan't be buying any new gear while it is so painful. And yes I think it will go lower, thanks to the Greeks.

Depending on the outcome of the election it could very well go either way