Why is OP-1F only ~£1599 on Thomann/Bax?

Hey all! I’m considering the OP-1F. I noticed that it is only £1599 on Thomann.de with a 6-8 week estimated delivery and the same on Bax with 19 week delivery.

I contacted Thomann support via live chat, asking this question, to which the person replied: “I don’t know. Prices are made by our product managers”.

Sure, it’s still very expensive, but still well below MSRP. Does anyone have an idea why this is £400 cheaper than all the other retailers? Do you reckon there’s a catch?

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with the current exchange rate, that is €1886 so that is €113 discount. Nice, but not excessive.

Not quite for us in the UK since all other retailers including TE themselves are selling it to us for £1999. It’s still a £400 discount

feel like i wouldn’t poke the bear
and just enjoy the 400 pounds
if u are so inclined to
not every mystery needs to be solved

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thanks for your rather poetic and calming words.

maybe I’m too cynical or been bitten too many times in the past but generally I’ve found that if something is too good to be true, it isn’t! Alternatively, perhaps 2k initial MSRP is just for the early adopters that they know they’ll have and the £1600 is an inevitable equilibrium it’ll reach anyway. Who knows, I’m probably overthinking and should probably just order.

these are pretty (ie very) reputable places tho if i’m not mistaken
i’d be more skeptical if it was some no name online shop
(which i have seen before, selling SP404’s for like $100)

maybe its b/c VAT (or something like that) is not included in the 1599 price?
def dont ttotally understand how all that works for yall over the pond

fair, i’ll take the punt, thanks!

On VAT:

  • the price does say it includes VAT - was the first thing I checked
  • likewise, I don’t understand sales tax in the US which varies by product type and state! Why do I have to do mental maths with non-round percentages on labelled prices before I go to the checkout?!
  • VAT is mostly included in the price of goods (always clearly labelled, by law). VAT is generally excluded by default for retailers that typically sell straight to businesses (again, clearly labelled). Business get to claim back VAT on purchases used for business purposes.

That’s just Thomann being Thomann. You can find some crazy deals on there. I’m not sure how or why they can offer things so cheaply, but I got a Tascam Model 12 from there recently and they are legit, the only catch is shipping can be expensive.

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Edit: Mistakes fixed in my post, with strikethrough for the false and bold for the replaced truth :slightly_smiling_face:

I talked to my colleague/collaborative musician friend, from Bulgaria about this, as he uses Thomann as a supplier for his father, who lives in France, and has been a famous traveling guitarist since the 1970’s.

At any rate, the reason for the price diff, is because of the changing value of the EU’s :euro:, UK £, and US :dollar:. As you can see from the pics, the value of the OP-1 and OP-1 Field, change, depending upon what currency and location you happen to be.

For EU nations, the cost is €1999, US and UK are $1699 and £1699 respectively. Prices do not include/consider VAT in the EU, but not for the US, which actually isn’t a big deal, as it will still be cheaper, even if you end up having to pay customs duty for the imported item, if you have it shipped to the US from the UK (where Thomann is based, I believe) Bavaria, DE is where they actually are located.

I just wanted to post this up here, since it has been bothering me for a few weeks, wondering why I paid $350 more than the $1649 that it cost, the day I noticed the price diff. Also, if anyone buys from Thomann, and DOESN’T have to pay duty on the import, it’s probably best to keep that info to yourself, I imagine. Just my thoughts. :slightly_smiling_face:

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It entirely depends on where you are importing to/from

The UK is no longer in the in the EU and the £UK is quite a strong currency compared to the EU and US (which are pretty much 1:1 at the moment)

As an EU citizen (Ireland) it would probably end up costing more than €1999 to import an OP-1 Field from the UK after currency conversion, postage and EU VAT is added

£1599 is currently about €1892

you can about 21% to that to get the real cost of importing to the EU from the UK

About €2289

That you have already paid VAT on the UK price is irrelevant as far as I know

You’ll be hit with EU VAT on import from a non-EU country anyways

No idea how this works in the US - they have a much more complex system than the EU

Edit: Thomann would probably contact you beforehand and ask you why you were ordering from their UK store and not their EU store

VAT is indeed irrelevant, but so are import duties, at least for the UK, since Thomann claim that they handle import duties on their UK specific shipping page.

So, as a UK customer, I have a choice between at least 6 retailers. They all sell the OP1F for ~£2000, yet Bax and Thomann choose to sell it a whole £400 cheaper. I’ve purchased whole desktop synths for less than that difference, and it isn’t explained by VAT, import duties OR exchange rates!

I think @FrankC was probably the most correct here: