List is more like $8.5K (i.e. 53,800 RMB) and we just need to ask them how much they're actually asking for
They're indeed the sole authorized dealer in China
In other words, all those other "dealers" in China (and those who purchase from them) are dealing in the black/grey market. (Or so it seems.)
However, as I keep trying to say, I'm not complaining about exchange rates and taxes, that's out of anyone's control. I'm simply talking about the actions of the distributors that are independent of exchange rates and taxes. I don't understand why my post is being misrepresented as complaining about exchange rates and taxes. I've tried to clarify this as much as possible.
I'm not complaining about the pre-existing prices, so much as the significant additional price increases the distributor is enacting on February 1st that don't really correlate to any significant cost increase or significant value the distributor is adding to the consumer end. That is all.
Come to think of it, though, it would appear that this
is simply due to the currency exchange rates. (And perhaps import taxes as well.) Looks like we were wrong. See below.
Another option would be to use one of those shipment forwarding services and buy it in the UK and through the service for an extra fee ship it to the US. It might still be cheaper this way rather than getting it through Bluebird.
I wouldn't be so sure. Here are the UK (VAT included) prices for some Chord products, then approximately converted to USD and compared to the US prices before and after February 1st.
Mojo: £399 / $565 / $529 / $579
2Qute: £995 / $1,410 / $1,349 / $1,495
Qutest: £1,195 / $1,693 / ? (US price not finalized)
Hugo 2: £1,800 / $2,550 / $2,379 / $2,695
Hugo TT: £3,199 / $4,533 / $3,995 / $4,795
DAVE: £8,499 / $12,043 / $11,288 (at least from
this dealer) / ? (not sure what the US price would be after February 1st)
Basically, the current US prices are actually lower (sometimes by quite a bit) than the UK prices, so the US prices will be increased soon to reflect the stronger value of the pound.
Even though I'm assuming the American distributor does not pay VAT, there are bound to be other expenses and factors involved when importing Chord products to America.
So all this is understandable, and some of us shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about Bluebird Music.
(For those who don't know, they are the Chord Electronics distributor for the US and Canada. A complete list of distributors can be found
here.)