RCBS Rock Chucker pricing

[aris]

Been considering getting a Rock Chucker - they are supposed to be nice heavy duty presses. One thing holding me back though - price.

They are $112 in the US Amazon site (call it $125 after tax). Over here they are £225-£236 depending on where you look. Now I FULLY understand that includes duties, and 20% VAT. But come on! How is this justified?

 

[Klenchblaize]

Its the same with most if not all US imported goodies.

Firearms Dealers/Gun Shops have to make a living too.

Have you worked out the cost to import yourself? There may be a saving even if you get hit for Import Duty which is all but assured.

K

 

[mealiejimmy]

RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Press Single Stage Reloading Press Equipment Brand New

Works out approx £190 delivered to your door

Cheers

Bruce

 

[phaedra]

UK is a very small market, by the time you take into account trans-Atlantic shipping, handling costs (at both ends) distributor and retailer mark-ups, the poor £/$ exchange rates you quickly get into the (sometimes) huge differences we see between USA & UK pricing.

I say sometimes because unlike here in the UK there are USA produced items that can be sourced from Europe at the same or even a better price, as an example I just bought 2,000 Hornady 6.5 140gr match bullets, USA price $286(£216)/1000, UK price £300-£400/1000, price shipped to my door from Germany £205.50/1000, Nosler 140's or .30 168gr aren't much more and that includes the Germans 19% rate of tax.

I brought my RockChucker back from the USA, cost me $99 (£70 at the time) when it was on offer at Midway USA

 

[Ray7756]

First up the Rockchucker press is a seriously strurdy bit of kit that will last you a lifetime

comparing prices betweem uk and usa will only depress you, check any shooting gear in usa and compare with uk and you will see what i mean, so unless you decide to be an importer you are stuck with uk prices, try looking on here or online for second hand kit , you will find some good bargains

Cheers
Ray

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Can do you a Redding Big Boss II Press shipped to your door for £210

 

[Miki]

Been considering getting a Rock Chucker - they are supposed to be nice heavy duty presses. One thing holding me back though - price.
They are $112 in the US Amazon site (call it $125 after tax). Over here they are £225-£236 depending on where you look. Now I FULLY understand that includes duties, and 20% VAT. But come on! How is this justified?

I find it difficult to comprehend too, typically you see retail pricing and often this is trade + 30 sometimes 40%, the real prices are often shown when "sale time" comes along. I've seen cabellas and Midway sell these presses for U$90 and they are still making money. Right now Cabelas have the "supreme kit" for U$288 (under £220) cabelas.com/RCBS-reg-Rock-Chucker-Supreme-Master-Reloading-Kit.

Recently I bought a reloading book and when I said I thought it was a bit expensive compared to the US price I was told that it's the import duty and vat .... there is no import duty or vat on books !!
I don't like being lied to so I wont be buying anything off them again.

It is worth looking at importing this stuff yourself, it is easy to do and there is plentty of online information to help you calculate the total cost which is most often much lower than some retailers charge.
It's a time consideration as it can take a week or two to get the stuff here and some US retailers won't ship overseas (it is a bit of a faff to do) and of course some items need special export licences.
If you can find the weights and dims of the parcel you can call FeDeX, DHL or UPS directly to get a quote or you can call portal companies like Webshipexpress - here is another 'portal' shipper you can look at (I have not tried this myself, but I imagine it is pretty painless and efficient) myus.com

 

[enfieldspares]

There are, Aris, other presses worth considering and if you reload .270 WCF, .30-06 or any of the long Magnum rifle cartridges I'd steer away from the earlier Rockchuckers. They are good presses but have a less tall window than the current Rockchucker models. But! The current Supreme whilst having that taller window opening also dump spent primers and are as user friendly on how they prime if priming "on the press" is important to you.

I sold my old Rockchucker and bought the Australian Simplex press that is a knock-off of the Lyman Crusher press. Except it is a nice crinkle blue. It has a taller windown opening that the contemporary Rockchucker, doesn't spit spent primers and if it is important is still slotted so that the loader can prime "on the press".

Importing isn't difficult and I bought a Lyman Ezy Loader through eBay so as to swage shot gun slugs.

 

[aris]

Don't get me wrong - I fully understand the intricacies if importing wholesale and selling retail - i've done it myself. But the rock chucker is just a glaring example.

If I look at the prices for Lee products - they are actually very competitively priced here and I would not bother importing or buying next time i'm in the US. Example - the Lee Clasic Cast - $125 or so on Amazon - and £132 at a UK retailer (both free delivery) 100% OK pricing! More than fair even. I'll buy that in the UK any day of the week.

I don't mind a 20% price difference. But 2.5 to 3x the price - sorry, this is taking the pee, or some middleman is ripping local resellers off.

Only reason i'm looking at pricing is that i'm more than likely going to be in the US in December for work - so busy building up my shopping list

 

[enfieldspares]

USA eBay is your friend! Used presses there are not expensive. If you have a USA delivery address you've got yourself sorted.

 

[aris]

USA eBay is your friend! Used presses there are not expensive. If you have a USA delivery address you've got yourself sorted.

As it happens - I have a mate I can deliver to. Typically I buy from new from Amazon and have it delivered to him. I pick it up from him when we go buy a freedom bucket of .223 at WalMart and unload it all in his AR Murica!

 

[308tikka]

as an example I just bought 2,000 Hornady 6.5 140gr match bullets, USA price $286(£216)/1000, UK price £300-£400/1000, price shipped to my door from Germany £205.50/1000, Nosler 140's or .30 168gr aren't much more and that includes the Germans 19% rate of tax.

may I ask where from !?

Thanks

 

[phaedra]

Several sellers in both Germany and Luxembourg, have a look on eGun

http://www.egun.de/market/list_items.php?cat=812


Update, bullets I ordered Thursday were shipped Friday afternoon and arrived this morning, 5 days from Germany including a weekend