So, the new Nucleus One is priced at $499 in the US. Here in the UK it is selling at £599. The exchange rate makes the cost of the US version a little over £400. £200 is a hell of a lot for postage. Maybe we are being hit with import tax. Simple pricing cost, based on the manufacturer wanting 100% mark up puts the basic cost of this unit way less than £200, yet they want us to pay well over 3 times that value. Sorry, not for me at that price. I am sure someone will correct me on the cost price, but surely it is evident that we are being shafted here in the UK.
Unless you’re into ROCK and absolutely dread installing it yourself, you’re being shafted anywhere when you get a Nucleus.
That made me laugh out loud, thanks
Import tax and vat will play a part, plus the UK distributors markup for being a middle man.
IMO just get a nuc off eBay or another small computer, lots of cheap options get recommended here all the time.
No way would I get a nucleus one at £600.
US prices never include VAT, UK prices do. Plus import tax plus tariffs plus conversion rate volatility plus an importer in the mix.
It’s more expensive in the UK but I don’t know if shafted is the right word as there are very real costs that you ignored and that the seller can do nothing about. (And if the price was the same, the US customers would be subsidizing the UK)
Plus the exact same is true in the other direction - ask Naim users in the US about the price of Naim gear.
Maybe leaving a common market without internal tariffs wasn’t such a great idea either.
Price seems about par for the course as a foreign import.
There’s no need to rub it in!
Couldn’t help myself
It’s ok. You don’t need to buy one. There are many better, cheaper, more accessible options
I already have ROCK on a cheap NUC I got from eBay. The only reason I mentioned this was because I received an email from ROON today promoting the new hardware. At that price, I don’t see them selling many here in the UK.
You can get a new Mac mini in the UK for the same price as a nucleus one. Hugely betters spec and can be used as a zippy personal computer as well.
More importantly you can get a 10 year old Mac mini for £60 and with a £40 SSD it is more than adequate for most users.
You don’t even need an Apple ID. Bypass that at installation and run it headless and it does the job perfectly.
Preaching to the Choir.
I’ve just got a Nucleus One in the UK, despite the price, after a long period running the Roon server on my general Linux server.
Had there been a supported NUC available, I’d probably have got one of those instead. A Mac Mini might have been a better option.
But I really didn’t want yet another system to maintain/backup, etc. I have enough of that in my day job.
I’m quite happy with the Nucleus One, other than the slight disappointment that it’s not up to MUSE on DSD256, but I don’t have a lot of that. And that was noted in the details.
Not on the ROCK approved hardware list, but I’ve had great luck with these. I set one up for my nephew and another for my nextdoor neighbor. They are both now happy Roon subscribers as a result!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/GMKtec-Desktop-Computer-3-60GHz-Business/dp/B0DFWPX1P8/
Easiest ROCK builds I’ve ever done. Simply flash a thumb drive with the Roon OS factory reset image using etcher, connect power, network cable, HDMI display or TV, and USB keyboard, and follow the prompts to complete the installation. Then shut it down, connect it to your router and power and job done. (Optionally, you can install codecs.)
I posted about this a while back here: MOCK Success Report - GMKtec Mini PC N97
As this is technically a “MOCK” build, the hardware is not officially supported, but so far, so good.
Price across the UK waters to Ireland and a Nucleus One retail priced at €608.90 which today that equates to £509.74 and that includes Irish Vat at 23%, I do think the UK retail price is too high at £599.
How to kick a man when he’s down. We didn’t all vote for that nonsense, but that’s democracy for you. Let’s hope you don’t follow suit with the fun and games happening in your neck of the woods.
20% VAT on price and shipping equals…
It could be worse, buy a Titan (anywhere in the world) and get truly shafted.
No amount of complaining will make the price go down. If you don’t like the price, get something else. I know I would.
You have to admit it’s kind of funny in a way to rant about Roon shafting customers when a large portion of that higher price are tariffs that too many UK people voted for
I’m Austrian and be assured that I’ll ridicule my fellow countrymen when THEY complain about getting shafted by the fascists they keep voting for