Keysight Scope Giveaway

[janoc]

I would have to pay VAT on any prize valued $1159 or above (25% of that is not insignificant), is this why you're excluding certain countries? Can't you just add the legalese of "you're responsible for any VAT and import fees" etc etc.

We haven't excluded countries for taxation reasons.  There are a lot of different laws regarding contests/giveaways and we are offering it everywhere that we legally can.  There are restrictions on prize value, total prize value, skill based/random, etc. 

Winners will be notified and can choose to reject the prize if they don't want to pay the taxes, etc.  I've also seen one winner of the "Dreambench" giveaway donate their winnings to the local makerspace.  This way they didn't have to pay taxes on it because it was a "charitable donation."

In fact, a way around this would be to send the price from a local distributor instead of your HQ. That would avoid the recipient having to pay customs and probably a VAT too in most cases. Otherwise a nice $10k scope win becomes an enormously sour lemon once the tax & customs bill start to come in - and people have to refuse it or give it away.

[ion]

I see Malta is not on the list.  I didn't think there would have been legal obstacles for something like this.

[ion]

I would have to pay VAT on any prize valued $1159 or above (25% of that is not insignificant), is this why you're excluding certain countries? Can't you just add the legalese of "you're responsible for any VAT and import fees" etc etc.

We haven't excluded countries for taxation reasons.  There are a lot of different laws regarding contests/giveaways and we are offering it everywhere that we legally can.  There are restrictions on prize value, total prize value, skill based/random, etc. 

Winners will be notified and can choose to reject the prize if they don't want to pay the taxes, etc.  I've also seen one winner of the "Dreambench" giveaway donate their winnings to the local makerspace.  This way they didn't have to pay taxes on it because it was a "charitable donation."

In fact, a way around this would be to send the price from a local distributor instead of your HQ.

I agree.  I would add that for any european winners, sending the prizes from anywhere within the EU should at least avoid the customs bill (I don't expect Keysight have an office in every country).  No idea how it would effect VAT though.

[TheAmmoniacal]

Agreed with the comments above, Keysight should channel the prize through a local distributor. Or Keysight could "buy it" in the winner's name from that local distributor, or however it would be managed.

Things to consider.

[broz]

This giveaway would be awesome if I wasn't screwed over by the province of Quebec...

Sadly, I see that happen often....always in the fine print. Sorry for your luck!

[LHelge]

Strange to see Denmark included but not Sweden. Didn't think our regulations around this kind of giveaways were so different.

[luney]

I personally would gladly pay taxes on anything "given" to me. I work very hard for the money I make and any type of test equipment would help with my desire to make things better for myself and most of all my family. My 9 year old deserves better than I can give her for now. Heck, a new multimeter would be welcomed, heh. Anyway, thanks for at least a chance for this Daniel 

[kakureru]

Make the prize a limited run 'limited edition' at an obscenely low price by comparison.  (could be accomplished with a modified badge and or serial number)
we all know those things at most contain a few hundred dollars in actual materials so it would not hurt the bottom line compared to institutes and orgs
who would otherwise pay normal price.

[free_electron]

Be careful what you are signing up for:

All entries become the property of Keysight and will not be acknowledged or returned. By entering, the entrant hereby assigns to Keysight all IP rights,
including copyrights.

I suggest go and screw yourself. That's what you are going to do for entrants anyway, right?

wow, talk about mr sourpuss... slept on a pea ? sheesh

[edavid]

How about making it possible to enter the giveaway without getting a bunch of marketing spam?

[rch]

How about making it possible to enter the giveaway without getting a bunch of marketing spam?

I dislike spam as much as the next person, but it seems  a pretty fair bargain to me.  I give Keysight my name as someone who would be interested in owning a oscilloscope, and agree to receive spam for at least a certain amount of time, and in return they enter me in a lottery for a 'scope.  I can accept or refuse, but I can't quite see what is unreasonable about such a bargain.  After all, selling things is generally the point of commercial companies' marketing competitions.  Why else would, or should, they do it?

[edavid]

How about making it possible to enter the giveaway without getting a bunch of marketing spam?

I dislike spam as much as the next person, but it seems  a pretty fair bargain to me.  I give Keysight my name as someone who would be interested in owning a oscilloscope, and agree to receive spam for at least a certain amount of time, and in return they enter me in a lottery for a 'scope.  I can accept or refuse, but I can't quite see what is unreasonable about such a bargain.  After all, selling things is generally the point of commercial companies' marketing competitions.  Why else would, or should, they do it?

What's the point of it?  Obviously I already know they sell oscilloscopes.  Getting spam from them won't make me any more aware of that, it's just annoying and makes me not want to give them any money.

[rch]

How about making it possible to enter the giveaway without getting a bunch of marketing spam?

I dislike spam as much as the next person, but it seems  a pretty fair bargain to me.  I give Keysight my name as someone who would be interested in owning a oscilloscope, and agree to receive spam for at least a certain amount of time, and in return they enter me in a lottery for a 'scope.  I can accept or refuse, but I can't quite see what is unreasonable about such a bargain.  After all, selling things is generally the point of commercial companies' marketing competitions.  Why else would, or should, they do it?

What's the point of it?  Obviously I already know they sell oscilloscopes.  Getting spam from them won't make me any more aware of that, it's just annoying and makes me not want to give them any money.

Most people believe their decisions are unaffected by advertising.  Interestingly, most people believe they are unaffected by political propaganda.  But there is overwhelming good-quality empirical evidence that most people (perhaps not all) are mistaken.   That, at least on a statistical basis, advertising actually works.  Please don't shoot the messenger, I don't like the idea either.

[janoc]

Make the prize a limited run 'limited edition' at an obscenely low price by comparison.  (could be accomplished with a modified badge and or serial number)
we all know those things at most contain a few hundred dollars in actual materials so it would not hurt the bottom line compared to institutes and orgs
who would otherwise pay normal price.

That doesn't help with customs in most places. They will not believe that that price is real and will instead use their tables (supposedly based on prevailing market prices for similar items) to determine the value. And subsequently slap both the sender and you with a fine for attempting to evade customs by falsely declaring the value of the goods.

This is the same thing as getting the sender to mark the item as "gift". From the POV of customs it is irrelevant in most places. If the declared value is wildly different from what could be expected for such item then the declared value will be ignored and they will determine the value themselves using their own procedures for the tax and customs purposes.

[station240]

I actually thought of this and asked our legal team about it.  It's a no-go. You'd just owe taxes on $(Discount - $1) because it's still part of a "contest."

Yes, we have taxation laws here that relate to "capital gains", it's to stop things like the boss giving you unlimited use of a particular company car to reduce the amount of tax you pay. Also stops things like $1 items that usually cost way more.

It's a shame the world's contest laws are so complex and disconnected. But the US's taxation system's W-8BEN form is a much bigger problem, why the hell do non US people need to get a US tax file number ?

[jippie]

Strange how the Netherlands is not on the Keysight list, they share an office building with my employer in Amsterdam. I guess it is local regulation as mentioned before, rather than drop by the office during lunch time...

[lpc32]

Thanks for the alert.

[Brumby]

I actually thought of this and asked our legal team about it.  It's a no-go. You'd just owe taxes on $(Discount - $1) because it's still part of a "contest."

Yes, we have taxation laws here that relate to "capital gains", it's to stop things like the boss giving you unlimited use of a particular company car to reduce the amount of tax you pay. Also stops things like $1 items that usually cost way more.

I think you mean the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).

I remember when that came in.  Working for a financial institution, home loans were given at a very useful discount for staff - but with the introduction of the FBT, for the company to be on the same footing as before, those with loans had to pay nearly as much as retail customers.

Took the gloss right off working there.

[Ice-Tea]

I would have to pay VAT on any prize valued $1159 or above (25% of that is not insignificant), is this why you're excluding certain countries? Can't you just add the legalese of "you're responsible for any VAT and import fees" etc etc.

We haven't excluded countries for taxation reasons.  There are a lot of different laws regarding contests/giveaways and we are offering it everywhere that we legally can.  There are restrictions on prize value, total prize value, skill based/random, etc. 

Winners will be notified and can choose to reject the prize if they don't want to pay the taxes, etc.  I've also seen one winner of the "Dreambench" giveaway donate their winnings to the local makerspace.  This way they didn't have to pay taxes on it because it was a "charitable donation."

In fact, a way around this would be to send the price from a local distributor instead of your HQ.

I agree.  I would add that for any european winners, sending the prizes from anywhere within the EU should at least avoid the customs bill (I don't expect Keysight have an office in every country).  No idea how it would effect VAT though.

The customs bill is the VAT bill.

[wraper]

Most people believe their decisions are unaffected by advertising.  Interestingly, most people believe they are unaffected by political propaganda.  But there is overwhelming good-quality empirical evidence that most people (perhaps not all) are mistaken.   That, at least on a statistical basis, advertising actually works.  Please don't shoot the messenger, I don't like the idea either.

Exactly, most people are stupid enough to think that. As for me, I clearly  observe how my opinion gets changed while I read, watch, listen something even if it is a complete BS.

[EEVblog]

What's the point of it?

Their marketing department has to justify their existence, and need to meet a certain KPI on engagement etc.

  Obviously I already know they sell oscilloscopes.  Getting spam from them won't make me any more aware of that, it's just annoying and makes me not want to give them any money.

You don't have to enter the contest.

[janoc]

The customs bill is the VAT bill.

Umm, no? Whenever I have received anything from the US from Digikey, there were always separate items for VAT and customs. The "customs" part typically includes both the duty and also the handling/papework fees of the company doing the processing for you (aka Fedex/UPS/etc. in this case). I recall having to pay the VAT on the spot to the courrier and then two weeks or so later I got a bill for the customs and fees from the transportation company.

These are definitely separate items, collected by different parts of the government in most places.
VAT is a tax you pay on everything, even within EU, customs is a levy on items imported from abroad.

[edavid]

  Obviously I already know they sell oscilloscopes.  Getting spam from them won't make me any more aware of that, it's just annoying and makes me not want to give them any money.

You don't have to enter the contest.

Entering the contest gives me a good feeling about Keysight, which might make me more likely to buy from them.  Getting spam from them kind of ruins that feeling, so it's counterproductive.  They should just have a "no spam" checkbox.

[wraper]

Entering the contest gives me a good feeling about Keysight, which might make me more likely to buy from them.  Getting spam from them kind of ruins that feeling, so it's counterproductive.  They should just have a "no spam" checkbox.

It gives you a good feeling for one hour, then you forget. By sending some ads they'll refresh your interest once in a while. As it often is, you are not even after the device which you will buy the next week, so won't even try to search for it. But if you see some ad, get interested about this stuff, then after a bit of research, decide that you "need" it and finally buy. How do you think why iphones are sold in such quantities?

[edavid]

How do you think why iphones are sold in such quantities?

I don't think it's because Apple sends out spam to people who contact them about something else