Buy graphics cards in the United States? It is not the bargain you think

Read this before Buy graphics cards in the United States Because it can be a decision that is a mistake.

Many have thought about whether to buy graphics cards in the United States is a mistake or not. There the price is much more interesting than here because, among other things, they do not have a VAT of more than 20% (there is VAT). Not to mention that there are difficult models to find and maybe in the US it is easier to find them. We tell you how this play can come out.

Buying graphics cards in the United States, is it crazy?

I will use the knowledge that I have about international trade, but alert that this post can contain inaccuracies due to updates on community legal norms (regulations, usually).

USD change to Eur

He exchange rate will be the first metric to observe To decide whether it is worth it or not. There we are going to buy in US dollars, and, if we are European, we are interested in the USD as low as possible. In other words, the more dollars we can buy with 1 euro, the better.

There are 2 exchange rates:

It is not the same. To have a calculation as precise as possible, we will choose USD to EUR because we will have to buy in dollars.

I summarize What happens when we buy in a currency different from that of our bank account (this applies even to pay coffee in the US, for example).

• There is a purchase of dollars from your bank account (in which you are euros).
• The transaction with dollars is paid.
• The bank applies a commission for that dollar purchase transaction.
• The exchange rate applied by traditional banks (not revolution, Wise or Trade Republic, but Santander, BBVA, Sabadell, etc.) is not beneficial and is the one that most interests them.
• Therefore, the coffee that cost $ 3, in the end you get $ 4-5 between whistles and flutes.

I do not want to mess up much, but the banks will never apply the exchange rate in the market (the one that appears on Google when we look), but will be “more expensive.”

Why so much roll to buy a GPU? Because we talk about a product that can cost +$ 1000

Summary for bums: The higher the change in this Google graph, the better.

Tariffs more than 150 euros of merchandise

The Tariffs are rights charged by the Tax Agency because an imported product harms the internal competition of Europe. That is, if a product is manufactured here and you import it to China, it can have tariff.

Can? Yes, it depends on merchandise value = purchase price + shipping. There are 2 differences here:

• If the value of the merchandise is less than 150 euros, there is no tariff.
• If the value of the merchandise is greater than 150 euros, there is tariff (except exemption).

In the case of buying graphics cards from the United States, general theory says we do have tariff. Now we need to ask ourselves What type of merchandise is subject to tariffbecause there are certain goods that are not subject to tariff because Europe does not manufacture or market.

How do I know if graphics cards are subject to tariffs? It is time to investigate What kind of merchandise is for Europe.

• NC codewhich is the code with which the goods are identified in customs.
• Europe considers that “graphics cards” 2D and 3D are classified as subheading 8471 80 00 00 00.
• The regulation that regulates tariffs is EU Execution Regulation Nº1001/2013 (still in force).
• In said regulation, It is specified that goods 8471 80 00 have tariff exemption.

This means that, according to this rule, the graphics cards are not subject to tariff (in principle).

VAT of 21%

You are not going to saveand it's about Apply 21% of VAT to any product that comes from a third state. When we say “third state”, we refer to everyone who is not in the EU or appears as a member state. For example, the United Kingdom is a third state; Morocco or Algeria is too; China or the United States are third states.

What is there to apply 21%? To the value of the merchandise = to total cost of the operation (Purchase price + shipping). This is key: it may not be so interesting after all.

Simulation of purchase of graphics cards in the United States

In the United States we have 4 main stores where to buy graphics cards: Newgg, Microcentr, Amazon and Best Buy. Nevertheless, I'm just going to choose Amazon and Microly Because they are the only ones that send internationally.

I would love to have made a simulation with the latest RTX 5080 or 5090, but, ladies and gentlemen: there is no stock. Let's start with an RX 7900 XT, I'm going to make an order in a specialized online store and on Amazon.com.

Amazon.com

On Amazon.com Import rates charge you (They are not tariffs) A shipment of about $ 20 and they offer you the possibility of paying in euros or dollars. In fact, That deposit is calculated according to the merchandise And the order is not a fixed cost. As I calculated, equivalent to 21.08%that block quite with the Spanish VAT; Probably, do so that you don't have to pay anything or have unpleasant news.

Now, let's analyze the internal exchange rate That applies Amazon. According to Amazon, the guy they apply is that 1 dollar is equivalent to 0.96872 euros.

However, we are going to xe and we see that a dollar is equivalent to 0.96071385 euros (market price).

We are going to do basic mathematics:

• Amazon exchange rate:
  • • 1 USD is equal to 0.96872.
    • It costs $ 909.
      • • $ 909 x 0.96071385 = are 873.29 euros.
    • According to the type of change they raise They: $ 909 are € 896.36 (23 euros more expensive)

Here is the currency businessdear friends. Scaling that operation to thousands of orders (earnings of more than $ 23,000 just for applying a more expensive exchange rate).

Microly

In Microly is simpler: you pay shipping and product price in dollars. If you buy with euros, the “Tortazo” will come from your bank; So, do not be foolish and do it with account in dollars (read “USD a Eur” there I explain it).

Here we find First contradiction: VAT included and “import of VAT 0%” (They call it Vat). We chose the RTX 4080 Super cheaper and this is what comes out.

We are going to put ourselves in the best stage in terms of currency:

• EUR to USD exchange rate in Revolution: 0.9598.
  • • 1360.49 dollars = 1305.80 euros (-45 euros less).
• We apply VAT 21% = 1580 euros.

Simulation of graphics card purchases in Spain

I'm going to take Amazon already pccomponentto remain fair; I will continue with the RX 7900 XT on Amazon and RTX 4080 Super on PCC.

• Amazon: 775.99 (+ shipping).
• PCcomponents: 1,138.26 euros.

Conclusions about buying graphics cards in the United States

It is not worth it. Of entry, It is not so cheap as 5 years ago, and, secondly, the exchange rate Eurusd is not at the best time.

To all this we must add 3 very important things:

• Customs problems: I don't think they make it so easy being a merchandise of a high value.
• Problems with guarantees: You will have to send the component you and assume the cost of the shipment with almost total security.
• Limited guarantee: There are no 3 years like here.

According to the calculations made, it is much more expensive to buy GPUS in the United States. I would have liked to take Newgg or Bestbuy prices, but they don't sell internationally.

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What do you think?