Originally Posted by pstock

I bought some gear from Wiggle recently and got curious about their pricing in different currencies for delivery to different countries/markets.

Wiggle shoppers based in the UK pay a 20% VAT (Value Added Tax) to the UK government. And that tax is included in the price posted on Wiggle's website.

So for a $120 item Wiggle keeps $100 and sends $20 to the government.

But anyone buying from outside of the UK or European Union do not have to pay that VAT.
Typically UK-based companies shipping to say the USA or Canada or elsewhere outside of the EU just reduce the price to $100. That's called Ex-VAT pricing.

It seems that Wiggle would want to do that, as it would make their pricing more competitive.

But when I drilled down on a number of items, switching payment currencies (GBP, $CAD, $USD) and delivery locations, I was surprised by what I found.

Not only does Wiggle NOT reduce their UK prices by the VAT amount and offer that to foreign buyers. They seem to actually INCREASE their export prices far above the net price UK shoppers pay, in one example (a complete bike sold into the USA) by 32%

Here are some examples I looked at. (I converted all currencies to USD for simple comparisons)
[NB. it's been noted that my price references are a bit out of date. I did this checking a few weeks ago. the items I referenced are currently ON Sale skewing the price differences. Let me swap in current items, not on promotion. though the UK prices are also on sale and so I expect the approx % price differences are the same.]

Vitus ZX1 Team Road Bike (Force eTap - 2020)

Delivered to the UK this bike is the equivalent of $4909 of which $818 is VAT (so Wiggle keeps $4091)
That same bike, delivered to the USA (and remember – shipping is extra - +$90 - so that’s not a factor) is $4699.
at first glance that looks cheaper. But remember – Wiggle doesn’t have to remit VAT. So they are keeping $608 more than they would if they'd sold that bike to someone in the UK. That’s a 15% premium.

Another example.
Le Col Women's HC Bib Shorts

UK Price including VAT: $245.50 (of which $41.5is VAT and so Wiggle keeps $204)
shipped to the USA those bibs are $259.
Wiggle keeps the difference $55, or 272%

When I asked about these pricing anomalies Wiggle Customer Service offered three excuses.
1. that different countries have different VAT rates (this though is irrelevant as Wiggle doesn’t collect VAT for other countries outside of Europe)
2. they have different costs of doing business (shipping, marketing...) in other countries (also irrelevant as I doubt Wiggle has any actual business costs outside of the UK. And a US buyer of that bike pays the shipping costs. )
3. Pricing competitively (which I guess means getting away with as high a price as possible based on a buyers local options)

Oddly, for most items being shipped to Canada, Wiggle’s posted prices are identical to their posted UK prices (and lower than their US prices). So, it doesn’t appear that for Canadian sales at least, Wiggle has carefully crafted their prices based on business costs or local market conditions or the duty and taxes we have to pay. They just keep the VAT amount for themselves.

I’m not sure what to do about this. But I thought I would share my research and solicit feedback.

If you feel that Wiggle is taking advantage of foreign buyers you could A) write the head of Wiggle to let him know and B) Boycott Wiggle (that would include Chain Reaction as they are owned by Wiggle) and seek out other suppliers who are more transparent in their pricing policies.

Peter