to buy or not to buy

[madameMscastle]

my 17years ds has already requested his christmas present.
The trouble is its in America and shipping cost is a few pounds short of the item price. the total cost of item and shipping puts about £20 over my budget.

Am i unreasonable if i dont get it for him?

Christmas??

Wait and see if the prices comes down later in the year

You’ll likely have to pay vat too so factor that in

You’ve got 9 months notice, you can save the extra £20, the price might come down while you are saving the extra money up

And possibly custom duty too.

This is from AI
Importing goods from the USA to the UK requires paying VAT and potentially customs duty. Goods over £135 usually incur 20% VAT, and duty applies to items over £135, often 0%–12% depending on the item. Gifts under £39 are exempt, while higher-value gifts and goods incur charges collected by carriers (e.g., Royal Mail) before delivery.

yes, my ds being organinsed.
last year he found something in July that he wanted. (cost of item was £160.)
His birthday is at the end of the year too.

i have a buget for their xmas present, i guess he doesnt want to buy it himself so asked for it for christmas as item and shipping costs near the christmas budget.

What if he changes his mind later in the year, finds something he would prefer instead? Is it likely to sell out soon?

Yes you are being unreasonable.

It's what he wants which is a lot better on spending pounds on tat that people don't even want.

£20 excess spend is not that much unless you are very hard up (in which case YANBU).

the item is on a pre order so buy now for delivery from October -January.
Not sure if he will change his mind later on and no idea if it will come down in price.

Im more against the price of delivery than going £20 over budget.

Well that changes everything, if you need to order now to get a chance of having for Christmas and your DS is 100% certain he wants it I would order. If it’s over budget, explain that to DS and tell him he’ll need to pay the extra £20.00 out of his own money.

If it's likely to be popular... could you order 2 and sell one in the UK for 1.5 times the item price? But without the shipping costs... it will still be a bargain for someone here.