Rip Off Britain and Golf?

[MadAdey]

Most advertised prices in the UK have VAT included at 20%.
most prices in the USA have 8% added sales tax added at the till .
this is not shown on the rack price.
i have played a lot in the states and found some more expensive and some not usually USA made goods.
but the price of club membership there would make your eyes water.

Price of membership can be ridiculous over here. Take my place for instance, $170 a month, so about £135. But on top of that you have to add in cart fees, as members can't walk at weekends until after midday. So if I played every Sunday my fees each month is going to be $244, so about £190 a month.

When I was in California, the cheapest membership to a club I could find was $5000 retainer upfront with $300 a month plus cart fees and that was a very mediocre course.

 

[Capella]

Playing golf in the UK is definitely a lot cheaper than in Germany; that goes for green fees as well as for memberships. Equipment prices seem to be more or less the same (even though, the availability of stuff seems to be lot better in the UK and therefore it might be easier to find a good deal).

 

[TheBionicGolfer]

Most advertised prices in the UK have VAT included at 20%.
most prices in the USA have 8% added sales tax added at the till .
this is not shown on the rack price.
i have played a lot in the states and found some more expensive and some not usually USA made goods.
but the price of club membership there would make your eyes water.

That’s a very good point, and should be taken into account when comparing items.
I wonder if purchasing something directly from a U.S. store, and having it shipped, would mean it’s exempt from the local taxes?

Though, you’d probably end p getting stung with some kind of import duty once in the U.K. and before customs will release it for delivery.

No escape from the tax man.

@TheBionicGolfer

 

[BiMGuy]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

 

[TheBionicGolfer]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Haha. I hadn’t realised it was so old until afterwards.

 

[IanM]

The bit expressing shock at Bobby Jones' retirement should have done it!

Sorry! I often fall foul of this now the site brings up connected themes.

 

[Jigger]

Agree with all thing written above but you have to take into account the cost of shipping and VAT that needs adding. example of this is training aids like pro sendr. Go to check out the thing and see about £80 added.

 

[clubchamp98]

That’s a very good point, and should be taken into account when comparing items.
I wonder if purchasing something directly from a U.S. store, and having it shipped, would mean it’s exempt from the local taxes?

Though, you’d probably end p getting stung with some kind of import duty once in the U.K. and before customs will release it for delivery.

No escape from the tax man.

@TheBionicGolfer

Anything imported into the UK has 20% VAT added .
You get an invoice from the tax man.

Was in the USA last week and it’s become very expensive for golf and equipment.
I think most things are cheaper here !

 

[Teebs]

The US is very expensive like for like v the UK for Golf.

 

[cliveb]

The US is very expensive like for like v the UK for Golf.

Last time I was in Florida, playing golf was a lot cheaper than in the UK - provided you avoided the "big name" courses.
Book a hot deal on GolfNow and we got 2 players with buggy included for around $60.
These were public courses that were not pristine, but perfectly playable.
Admittedly that was back in 2018, pre-covid. Don't know how prices may have changed since then.

If you want to talk about expensive golf courses, I give you Belek in Turkey. You won't find any green fee under €100 (the best courses are more like €160+), and they'll charge you €40 for a buggy. We go there every year, and it's only because the hotels are such good value that the overall holiday package is affordable. Mind you, the courses over there are generally superb.

 

[clubchamp98]

Last time I was in Florida, playing golf was a lot cheaper than in the UK - provided you avoided the "big name" courses.
Book a hot deal on GolfNow and we got 2 players with buggy included for around $60.
These were public courses that were not pristine, but perfectly playable.
Admittedly that was back in 2018, pre-covid. Don't know how prices may have changed since then.

If you want to talk about expensive golf courses, I give you Belek in Turkey. You won't find any green fee under €100 (the best courses are more like €160+), and they'll charge you €40 for a buggy. We go there every year, and it's only because the hotels are such good value that the overall holiday package is affordable. Mind you, the courses over there are generally superb.

Was there last week.
Most decent tracks now are $80 + 8% tax.
good ones are $140+ tax.
Disney courses were £165.+ tax.

Petrol is $3.45 that’s a big hike since before covid.

 

[Springveldt]

That’s a very good point, and should be taken into account when comparing items.
I wonder if purchasing something directly from a U.S. store, and having it shipped, would mean it’s exempt from the local taxes?

Though, you’d probably end p getting stung with some kind of import duty once in the U.K. and before customs will release it for delivery.

No escape from the tax man.

@TheBionicGolfer

You do get hit with import duty. I've bought a few clubs from Callaway PreOwned US site (usually takes 2 days to get here, amazing service) and you get 20% VAT, import duty and also £12 charge from the courier for telling you that you need to pay the VAT and import duty before they will deliver it.

Even with all that added I still got a good deal on the clubs at the time.

 

[clubchamp98]

You do get hit with import duty. I've bought a few clubs from Callaway PreOwned US site (usually takes 2 days to get here, amazing service) and you get 20% VAT, import duty and also £12 charge from the courier for telling you that you need to pay the VAT and import duty before they will deliver it.

Even with all that added I still got a good deal on the clubs at the time.

There is a Callaway pre owned site in the UK.
Did they not have what you wanted.?

 

[Springveldt]

There is a Callaway pre owned site in the UK.
Did they not have what you wanted.?

The first time, the Europe version wasn't up and running, it was back in 2019. Second time was last year, the Apex 21 hybrids were on sale on the US site and there were no stock on the Europe site for one of the clubs. It also worked out cheaper just importing them.

I have bought a putter from the Europe site as well, delivery was free but it took 4 days to arrive, the US ones had a $40 delivery fee but both times they arrived within 2 days while being shipped from Texas.

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Last time I was in Florida, playing golf was a lot cheaper than in the UK - provided you avoided the "big name" courses.
Book a hot deal on GolfNow and we got 2 players with buggy included for around $60.
These were public courses that were not pristine, but perfectly playable.
Admittedly that was back in 2018, pre-covid. Don't know how prices may have changed since then.

If you want to talk about expensive golf courses, I give you Belek in Turkey. You won't find any green fee under €100 (the best courses are more like €160+), and they'll charge you €40 for a buggy. We go there every year, and it's only because the hotels are such good value that the overall holiday package is affordable. Mind you, the courses over there are generally superb.

Portugal will cost you 150 euros plus for the privilege of a 5 hour round behind Francoise and Pierre that take double digit number of shots each on every hole and have no clue about etiquette. The yanks often aren't much better. I'm rapidly going off holiday golf. It ends up being very frustrating and a waste of a lot of money.

 

[sunshine]

Playing the top courses in the U.K. Will cost you between 70-150 quid a round - how much does it cost in the US to play the top course like Pebble Beach for example ? Double the price of Turnberry ?

But then prices are different all over the world for many items the same - don't feel we in the U.K. Are being ripped off

Pretty shocked how out of touch these numbers are, then I realised it was written in 2016! Pretty good illustration of how expensive top end golf has become in the last couple of years.

When it comes to US v UK, I tend to find an FX rate of 1.50 is the balancing point. If GBPUSD is above 1.50 then things appear cheap in America, if it's below 1.50 (which it has been for a while) then it's expensive compared to UK.

 

[clubchamp98]

Portugal will cost you 150 euros plus for the privilege of a 5 hour round behind Francoise and Pierre that take double digit number of shots each on every hole and have no clue about etiquette. The yanks often aren't much better. I'm rapidly going off holiday golf. It ends up being very frustrating and a waste of a lot of money.

Yes not much calling through in the USA.

one fourball holding us up said” we can’t let you through as there is someone behind you”

We said “ They are behind us because your holding us up”
Couldnt make it up we just laughed at them..

Never argue with a strange American