Saving ££££ in the UK buying ANY Dell/AW system OR accessories - please contribute!

[steviejones133]

Hi fellow NBR members.

Us poor people in the United Kingdom and other NON US locations (including Europe etc) need to have a dedicated thread so that they can go DIRECTLY to that thread to learn how to save money in their individual location.

I am gonna start this off by posting this thread and how I saved money on purchasing my Alienware system.

Although I looked throught NBR, I could only find advice on how to save money when buyiing in the US. Obviously, I found the majority of it was not applicable to me, being a UK resident.

I wanted start a topic so that we could reduce the RIDICULOUS prices being charged by Dell for the same configurations, in some circumstances....almost double that paid by US citizens.

I hope that ANYONE who has any money saving ideas will post them on this thread and, in turn, it will help out in getting the very best deal possible.

I will kick off by letting anyone who wants to know about a very good UK based rep. who managed to save me a small fortune on Alienware purchases.

Due to NBR rules, I cant post details here, but if you would like them, please feel free to send me a PM.

I would request that the PM includes:

Your Name
Your Location
Your contact details (for my rep - email & telephone preferable)
The system you are interested in (eg M17x R3 / XPS / AW Desktop etc)
Wether or not you are purchasing on Dell Finance or outright via your own methods.

In return for that, I will forward your contact details to the relevant Dell contact who helped me and he will contact you via email or phone as soon as possible.

Obviously, I would appreciate any feedback you have after your dealings with my contact but please do not divulge specific information about you deal on the open forums.

This is just something to kick off the UK based money saving guide, if anyone can contribute more to it, other ways, coupons etc etc....we all could do with knowing as we are amongst the very highest paying Alienware customers in the world.

Another useful thread can be found here How to order from dell US for non US citizens and may help Non US residents IF they want to order a system FROM the US but please bear in mind import/shipping/duty.

Also, recently added 17th March 2011:

It has come to my attention that another avenue to save money on buying an Alienware system has come to light. I wont detail too much here but it is suffice to say that a great deal of money can be saved by looking at this thread: HIDevolution

Ted, from HIDevolution http://www.hidevolution.com/ has recently joined the NBR forums. He specialises in overseas orders and there are lots of happy buyers who can provide testament to Ted's services. It is well worth a look at what Ted can do for you if you are looking to buy from the US and avoid the sky high Non-US prices that Dell charge.

Thanks guys.

Good luck!

[TurbodTalon]

It's too bad that there aren't more honest people in this world. You could get one at US prices and have it shipped to you.

[steviejones133]

Originally Posted by TurbodTalon

It's too bad that there aren't more honest people in this world. You could get one at US prices and have it shipped to you.

True - and even though im not buying or changing/upgrading, what I wanted to do here, is to try and help some other poor souls out who live in the UK and are faced with quotes of £1799 for a base spec R3....or anything else for that matter.

It shouldnt come to having to get someone from the states to post one over....thats ridiculous...and proposterous.

So, being the nice guy I am, I thought I would try and lend a hand!

[Joebarchuck]

I would not mind helping someone myself but there is a problem. Shipping from USA to UK is costly very costly then the guy in UK might get charged VAT or even custom fees making the laptop around the same price he would have gotten it in UK.

[Steveyruss]

Shipping from the UK to the USA means you will get smashed with VAT and duty fees. I ordered a painting over the internet once and the total cost ended up being over 30% more than the original pricing. I paid an extra thousand pounds or something ridiculous and that is with the old VAT %. It was a present for my wife and they wouldn't release it until paid. The government do more damage to the economy than anything! There is a way to get round it but I wouldn't want to label an expensive and new laptop like that as a gift they will stop it and investigate you would end up in serious trouble. You can get away with it with as poster or something cheap but not an alienware laptop.

Gone are the days of stuff floating through customs unnoticed, it's all high tech now with scanners they are far more strict you can't get out of it! You could lie about the price but again this is completely illegal and a lot of trouble to make it look realistic, especially if they contact Dell with the order number inside, not worth the hassle IMO they can be very thorough when they want to, you will get done for about 5 different charges and get a fined thousands.

[steviejones133]

Originally Posted by Joebarchuck

I would not mind helping someone myself but there is a problem. Shipping from USA to UK is costly very costly then the guy in UK might get charged VAT or even custom fees making the laptop around the same price he would have gotten it in UK.

Quite right Joe. The average UK citizen would have to pay VAT at the rate of currently 20% and import duty also. This would be based on the complete value of the item being shipped, including costs TO ship, therefore, techically, nullifying alot of the potential gains.

Although, given the ridiculous price tag of the R3 atm, this may STILL seem plausible, which itself, is hysterical.

Hence the thread really. I just hope that the thread will grow with more money saving ideas for UK people who really WANT to buy an Alienware/Dell system but at a SENSIBLE price.

[BatBoy]

Your VAT rate recently went up as well - from 17.5% to 20%. Wonder how this is playing into the news stories of price hikes across the board. I was just looking at this and it seems as if cellular service, Internet, fuel - just about everything was hit.

[steviejones133]

Originally Posted by BatBoy

Your VAT rate recently went up as well - from 17.5% to 20%. Wonder how this is playing into the news stories of price hikes across the board. I was just looking at this and it seems as if cellular service, Internet, fuel - just about everything was hit.

The whole lot BatBoy, everything in the UK has ovenight become 2.5% more expensive due to vat, current fuel (petrol/diesel) prices are at an all time high of £1.30 per litre.....(would love to pay US prices to fill my car up which now costs over £70gbp for a tank)....this , on top of everything else is crippling the economy.

Whilst these systems would be deemed "luxury" items, people still want to save as much as possible.

We face more hikes in the general cost of living with more rises in prices for various things....its a nightmare...global recession has hit us all but our government are really useless.

I wont rant on about "living in Britain" but you get the drift eh fella?

[Steveyruss]

Originally Posted by BatBoy

Your VAT rate recently went up as well - from 17.5% to 20%. Wonder how this is playing into the news stories of price hikes across the board. I was just looking at this and it seems as if cellular service, Internet, fuel - just about everything was hit.

Lol yep, even a lot of foods were hit! It's pretty much universal these days apart from a few things like baby clothing. My job requires driving, I'm spending an extra £5 a week just on fuel think of that over the entire year with other stuff. They tax the hell out of necessities so people have less to spend to drive the economy. Thankfully my wife is a US citizen and we eventually plan to leave this this place.

[Steveyruss]

And if you are really serious about ordering from the US I could talk to some of the wifes family in the states and get it directed to you with some chatter, I am friendly with them, but it would take some organising and time. Remember you will get smashed with VAT, duty, handling fees ontop of what you pay as well as shipping. The weight of the laptop is significant I believe it you would pay at least $50 alone even with the cheaper USPS if not more. With global priority you would get bleeding hammered! I wouldn't profit from it or see the thing so you might want to add in $50 or something to sweeten the in-laws even though they'd probably do it for free! There's a lot of cost there man but this is realism of what would be required. Also it wouldn't plug into the wall here in the UK if it was designed to be in the US, you'd need an adapter or some sorts