[OliverK]

I have a Surface RT and I really want a Pro version. I love the flexibility of the RT and like many on here I would love even more choice and variety that the Pro offers.

So how do we get it over her in the UK and Europe. There are two ways to get it immediately.

1) eBay - I am sure there will be plenty of them available on ebay from US based buyers from Saturday.

2) Bundlebox/Comgateway etc - For those of you not familiar these are shipping forwarding services. You pay them the cost of the device and shipping to the UK and they deliver it to you. Of course they take a percentage cut to make money and the item would get shipped to them and then shipped onto you so it would take longer than eBay. It isn't yet clear which method is cheaper.

3) Wait for Microsoft to sell it in the UK. I have heard rumors that it will be available in February so it may mean waiting a week or two but we may get it much cheaper in Europe in only a few weeks.

I am of course incredibly impatient. So I will see what is the cheapest method over the weekend and I should think go the eBay route unless Microsoft offer details of a UK release and great pricing.

[bauerbach]

just going off the RT, its 480 for 32gb+touchcover in UK. its 599 for the same in the US. currency conversion suggests it is ALOT cheaper in the US, (480 GBP ~ 750 USD). Looks like a lot of potential margin for both sides to got through ebay. tariffs not withstanding.

[thatguyhugs]

You could buy it online, have it shipped to someone in the U.S. that you know then they could ship it to you.

[foaf]

For each of the scenario's (ebay, forwarding service and 'a US friend') do they all have the same probability of being picked up by customs and import VAT being charged? I would assume US friend could legitimately label it as a gift, whilst ebay or a forwarding service would find it difficult.

[OliverK]

I generally don't like the idea of getting a friend to buy it because unless you know them really well they probably won't be in any rush to purchase it and ship it, whilst eBay sellers are.

The truth is everything will be picked up by customs - it just depends how much they declare its value. My experience is that FedEx is the best courier for that - they invoice you AFTER delivery and pay the tax for you. They don't charge a large handling fee and of course you could always ask an eBay seller to value it at much less.