VKB-SIM

Still waiting for an official answer for the following questions:

When will North America get more stock?

Can I order something from a non-North American VKB store and have it shipped to Canada?

Na,

As someone else mentioned earlier on the last thread:

Go to www.aliexpress.com

Type in "VKBSim" to the search bar. Browse the actual, available stock. When stuff is in stock, it shows up there first. The NA and European store sites are 3rd party vendors not related directly to VKB staff, and only have stock when the vendor decides (and there is enough for) to order them. The Ali Express site is straight from China, and has the most accurate accounting of what's available to purchase. Just buy off of there. You don't need to worry about the other two sites at all.

ahahahah are you serious?

Alliexpress has expensive VAT and customs applied to the original price. Also VKB sim has official US and EU webstores. The availabilty of gear is a problem yes but it seams a bigger stock is coming to both stores this or next month.

Hi guys,

Thanks for your replies but what I'm after here is official response from vkb employees.

I want to give them my money but so far they seem reluctant to take it.

Same here mate. Good luck in that.

Cheers. More than a week now and no response.

They were quick to insult me but seem unwilling to provide actual customer support.

blackram wrote:VKB sim has official US and EU webstores

Yes an no
Official dealerships, yes. Official stores, no.
Dealers are, strictly speaking, independent businesses who don't have to follow orders from us (and knowing that, we don't put ourselves in situations when they can show their defiance).
Talking price difference between buying from our dealer in the USA and from aliexpress - it is little, if any. US customers can buy from either outlet, and receive their goods in nearly the same time for nearly the same money.
It may be different in Europe because of erratic EU customs but sorry we have nothing to do with it. Sometimes the customs officers charge you 20 euro import duty, sometimes 100 for exactly the same device; arguing with them is little fun. That's why our EU dealer orders container shipments and yes it is better to buy from him than from aliexpress. Comes out cheaper & faster, but it depends on stock at EU dealer's.

na85 wrote:They were quick to insult me but seem unwilling to provide actual customer support.

Is it some sort of trolling? What is that abut insulting, yet another gossip?
Then: if we fail to provide you actual customer support, please describe in detail what problem you have with your VKB device. Requesting support please follow the guidelines set out here: http://forum.vkb-sim.pro/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2762
Otherwise asking about when a device will be available is a sales inquiry not customer support request.
Canada is a much different story from the US; shipment costs more and import duties may vary pretty arbitrarily. But then again, as there is no dealer in Canada, in your situation buying from USA dealer or from aliexpress makes little difference, if any.
"When will North America get more stock?" - don't know what exactly goods you mean, hence not able to answer.

If ordered from Aliexpress (China) we in EU are paying VAT and customs (import duties). VAT is 25% here (on full product price WITH customs applied). With that said Im paying around 35-40% more than I would from EU store. So my only hope is that the EU store will be resupplied soon, as announced.
Its in your interest to be available accross the globe because as we see there is a very comparable competitor on the market now and in that department they do well (at least currently). I sure love VKB products and I hope that it will last long. As soon as there will be time for new pedals or stick I will need to take into consideration all the aspects of the whom and from where Im buying.
I know sim market is small niche and Im happy that we have 2 very good makers of the quality flight sim gear. Up to recently we all were dependand on our own mods and individuals who were making better stuff for flight sims.

blackram wrote:If ordered from Aliexpress (China) we in EU are paying VAT and customs (import duties). VAT is 25% here (on full product price WITH customs applied). With that said Im paying around 35-40% more than I would from EU store. So my only hope is that the EU store will be resupplied soon, as announced.

Once again, it is totally in the hands of a customs officer. We have recorded cases of the same item being taxed by the customs of the same country at 25 euro and 100 euro just because the duty officers had different ideas, or different moods, or different stages of hangover, or who knows what else was different in their heads.
Some customers are happy ordering from aliexpress (I guess it's those who pay 20 euro), some aren't (for obvious reasons).
ALL our goods sold in EU are also properly taxed and VATed, however the dealer being a legal person and a long term client at his local customs enjoys optimal rates independent of some officer's digestion. Hence generally lower prices.

It is only European bureaucracy that makes things hard on you: USA customers have no such problems. US dealer has very little or no storage at all (surprise? - but true). He simply transfers his sales to our database, and we drop-ship the goods to US customers. They receive their devices not from American storage but directly from us. Takes less than a week. Costs little. Maybe something's not right about this EU concept, huhh.

At least you are communicating with us.

blackram wrote:ahahahah are you serious?

Alliexpress has expensive VAT and customs applied to the original price. Also VKB sim has official US and EU webstores. The availabilty of gear is a problem yes but it seams a bigger stock is coming to both stores this or next month.

No, they don't. I'm in America, and I bought a GF2 MCG Pro back in Feb from Aliexpress. The price listed on the website was identical to the price listed on the US website...$399, not including shipping. Since I was deployed to Korea at the time, the Aliexpress website was unable to ship direct to my APO address (military shipping address for those deployed overseas from the US). So I had the stick shipped to a family member in the US. I paid for the DHL express shipping. Total cost was $456.45. If I remember, it shipped in less than 2 days, and and arrived in the US in less than one week from the time i hit the submit button on the website to complete the purchase. No additional VAT or customs prices. Exactly the same price I would have paid if the US distributor had them in stock, and I consider the shipping price reasonable considering the time and distance it had to travel.

blackram wrote:At least you are communicating with us.

I sincerely have no idea why Ed makes getting in touch with him such a problem.
He is a decent guy (yes I know it is not a job description) - at least, not a mean one that would intentionally make things sour for other people.
I'm glad I can be of help sometimes, but you know we have to respect the dealers' territorial instincts.

blatherman wrote:

blackram wrote:ahahahah are you serious?

Alliexpress has expensive VAT and customs applied to the original price. Also VKB sim has official US and EU webstores. The availabilty of gear is a problem yes but it seams a bigger stock is coming to both stores this or next month.

No, they don't. I'm in America, and I bought a GF2 MCG Pro back in Feb from Aliexpress. The price listed on the website was identical to the price listed on the US website...$399, not including shipping. Since I was deployed to Korea at the time, the Aliexpress website was unable to ship direct to my APO address (military shipping address for those deployed overseas from the US). So I had the stick shipped to a family member in the US. I paid for the DHL express shipping. Total cost was $456.45. If I remember, it shipped in less than 2 days, and and arrived in the US in less than one week from the time i hit the submit button on the website to complete the purchase. No additional VAT or customs prices. Exactly the same price I would have paid if the US distributor had them in stock, and I consider the shipping price reasonable considering the time and distance it had to travel.

Dude I was talking about VAT and customs applied for EU CUSTOMERS IF THEY BUY FROM ALIEXPRESS. Not US. VAT and customs are insane for most EU countries and that is without even mentioning shipping.

AeroGator wrote:

blackram wrote:At least you are communicating with us.

I sincerely have no idea why Ed makes getting in touch with him such a problem.
He is a decent guy (yes I know it is not a job description) - at least, not a mean one that would intentionally make things sour for other people.
I'm glad I can be of help sometimes, but you know we have to respect the dealers' territorial instincts.

I believe he is a great guy but I was talking about communication between him and EU customers. We are waiting for weeks and even months for response and even more for goods to be available in the store. At the end if the VKb is fine with it the customers now has "another option" on the market which will gladly sell its equipment in a fairly reasonable time. Thats what Im talking about and Im a VKB fan.

AeroGator wrote:"When will North America get more stock?" - don't know what exactly goods you mean, hence not able to answer.

OK,

I am interested in a gladiator or a gunfighter.

When will they be available in North America?

na85 wrote:a gladiator or a gunfighter. When will they be available in North America?

GFs are already available in China domestic market, and from our outlet at aliexpress. As I had written above, to NA customers it maters not in terms of price and speed of delivery whether to buy from NA dealer or from China directly, so you may buy it right away (aliexpress is undergoing annual tax and quality inspections, so sometime some shops can appear down, or some goods unavailable - in this case come again a day later). However buying through the USA dealer you maybe have faster aftersales service, hence you may prefer to wait for another 3-4 days. He will open ordering within this period of time.
Gladiators - I'm not sure at the moment, sales is not my field - check aliexpress, if there is no stock, ping me, I will see about it. Gladiators Pro are not in stock, and we are still not certain whether we will produce more of them, or not.