Warmoth orders from EU barely affordable anymore (not Warmoth's fault)

[alexreinhold]

Disclaimer: I think Warmoth is a great company and by far the best in the market. This is not a criticism against Warmoth but a macroeconomic reality.

Given the way things are right now in Europe, I don't see myself ordering from Warmoth anytime soon. Let me explain:

If you live in the US and want to order a custom body and neck for $500 each, you will incur the following costs:
Body: $500
Neck: $500
UPS Shipping: $20
Customs: $0
VAT: $0
--
Grand Total: $1020 (or 850€ in April 2021; read on so you know where I'm going with this)

If you are in Europe, you will incur the following costs:
Body: $500
Neck: $500
UPS Shipping: $179
Customs: $25
VAT: $190
--
Grand Total: $1394

Now all of this, we alway knew... But now this happened:



Over the last 18 months, the Euro went from $1.2 to $0.97, meaning that the above Grand Total went from
April 2021: 1162€ to
October 2022: 1437€

For reference, that's roughly the price of a Fender Tom Morello Strat and nearing a Fender AM Pro II Strat. Or put differently, while Americans pay 850€ (in April 21 conversion terms), Europeans now pay 1437€ - a difference of 70% for the exact same thing. So it's simply a question of whether it's worth it

Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming anyone for this - just letting out some frustration. Maybe some of you even have ideas how to overcome this. But for now, I know I'll unfortunately have to hold off on my next Warmoth order - which SUCKS :-/

 

[mayfly]

I totally understand this. I'm a lot closer to the W and my currency is not hit as hard, but it still makes a big difference. Sometimes it's the difference between doing the project and not doing the project.

On a brighter note, what's happened on my end is that several local companies have sprung up and started making bodies, necks, and pickups. Many of them are excellent quality. The only thing that stops me from going that route is finishing, which no one does to warmoth's standard. At least not yet...

 

[electric__steve]

Just curious on this, what's the cost of a made-in-USA Fender/Gibson/etc... over that same 18 month period? Did that go up by over 20% as well?

Because if it did, hey, at least you can still feel good about the value you get from Warmoth versus those others?

Inflation is killer though, as is pandemic-related price gouging. Businesses across the globe used the pandemic to raise prices just because they could, and are reporting record profits. It's a shitty time to not be a billionaire.

 

[4406Pack]

Government imposed vat tax is ridiculous!

 

[bruzanhd]

I’m in Canada and shipping plus customs is $100+$100 and our dollar is like 0.75USD to 1.00CAD so it’s nearly $300 in added fees in my own currency. I just accept it as the reality of the economy. Then again I’ve never really known any different.

 

[Rick]

These things ebb and flow ... as you point out the Euro was real strong. Every dog has its day.

I was just in Southern Europe for two weeks recently, and as someone who uses the dollar it was very affordable. For all you Gringos I recommend that now is the time to go! Food, accommodations, transportation all affordable.

You gotta take advantage of things when you can ... I went to Bali after the bombings, was in Croatia after the war, Hong Kong at the end of SARS ... now, I want to go to England, unfortunately I blew my nut in Spain so maybe next summer, hopefully they'll remain a disorganized mess.

How to overcome it? .... Just know that the worm turns, and eventually Europeans will be snapping up anything made in America. Just wait.

I want so much to talk about politics and energy policy, but will refrain.

 

[stratamania]

@alexreinhold I am in the same camp as you on this. It's not just Warmoth parts, going back to my early builds I would order pickups etc from overseas and with cost increases, exchange rates and so on it just got to a point where it is just a challenge and the value proposition reduces meaning I order most things in Europe now, not even the UK any longer.

Fortunately I have about 2.5 projects to do which will take me a while given the unfortunate changes in my own personal situation.

It will ebb and flow, but these things can sometimes take years to steady out.

 

[aarontunes]

@alexreinhold @stratamania and all our other EU and foreign forumites - I totally get where you're coming from. Despite being "priced out" for a while I hope you'll still participate here. I think of this place more of a builder's forum that strictly Warmoth, and you guys have a lot of great info to share.

I have not done the math, but I'm feeling kind of the same as you guys about Marshall and Celestion here in the states, honestly.

 

[stratamania]

@The Aaron I am sure we will still be posting, participating and offering help etc.

At some point, I will still order some things, though since my wife passed away in July, I have little income till things get fully sorted out. At the moment it is a challenging time in various ways. Though the spring will come again.

 

[alexreinhold]

@alexreinhold @stratamania and all our other EU and foreign forumites - I totally get where you're coming from. Despite being "priced out" for a while I hope you'll still participate here. I think of this place more of a builder's forum that strictly Warmoth, and you guys have a lot of great info to share.

I have not done the math, but I'm feeling kind of the same as you guys about Marshall and Celestion here in the states, honestly.

Oh, we will continue to be active here - and no doubt, we will continue building. However, for now, I've pressed the pause button, at least until the situation relaxes a little bit again. Or my personal finances FWIW. I'm actually thinking of buying a cheap Harley Benton or similar and go rogue on it (scrape off the lacquer and pretty much replace everything)... But not sure about this yet

 

[Waraxe]

Note to self: buy European sourced stuff......

Lol.

Nah. I just spend a small fortune on my latest W build.

 

[Jeremiah]

There are places in the EU (and UK) that supply necks and bodies without all the tax and import hassles, but none of them that I am aware of have anything close to the range of options that Warmoth does.
So if I do end up building another guitar, I'm almost certainly going to still go with Warmoth, at least for the body.