Global commerce

Twenty years ago when I lived in the UK, there was a whole thing called “Rip-off Britain”. It was all about how Brits are charged over the odds for, well, everything, both goods and services. One of my colleagues told me that the rationale for the stupid prices was that the island is so small and real estate is consequently expensive, so that has to be factored into everything.

Well, maybe, but I was reminded of that this weekend, in a big way.

My friend MLD is a bell ringer in England; she also rings peals on handbells. Both these activities have been curtailed by COVID—there was first the absolute lockdown, and then gatherings were restricted to six people or fewer, with appropriate social distancing. So, for example, her church tower could only ring six of the ten bells, and any handbell socials had to be held outdoors. (In England’s climate, this pretty well restricts things to about seven weeks total.)

Well, now that even those opportunities have been squelched (thanks, never-maskers!), the church towers are silent again and the handbell ringers are attempting remote practices.

Well, MLD does not have a headset, and she’s a little unsure about how to get one, especially since shopping is a mare’s nest these days, so—since I totally screwed the pooch on her birthday in June—I thought this would be something I could easily take care of as I was waiting for my pizza stone to heat on Friday evening.

Naturally, I read some reviews, went on Amazon and found something suitable. Wired, since she doesn’t have Bluetooth.

(Here follows really tacky monetary revelations on my part, so MLD, feel free not to read further.)

AmazonUS told me that the headset costs $30.99 and I could get free delivery to my home by Saturday via Amazon Prime.

Uh—but when I shifted to Amazon.uk, it all changed. The price of the very same headset went from $30.99 to £33.32 ($43.82), it came from some third party and would cost me £3.74, plus VAT on both the merchandise and the shipping. Total: £44.48 ($58.50). Also—it won’t be delivered until Thursday, 12 November.

Look, I am happy to be able to help MLD out with this tech, and in the global scheme of things, the cost is a bagatelle. But to pay just about double for something just because of the UK surcharge is really annoying. If I lived there again, I’d be pissed off about it all the time.

But I’m looking forward to hearing about the handbells-via-Zoom sessions. That’s a good thing.