Sebber
Hi all,
Has anyone on this forum ever purchased an instrument off Ebay and had the item shipped to SA? How does it work regarding customs and all that?
BMU
Yep, mine came via EMS (Expedited Mail Service), to my local post office. You pay the dues at the Post Office when you pick it up.
As I recall it took a bit of phoning some central post office place in Cape Town (ah, here it is: Cape Town International Mail Centre) to find out where exactly it was ...but nothing too serious.
rvvn
Hi,
Yep, I've also done this before. Shipped via USPS which hands over to the local Post Office. I collected it straight from Cape Mail, which is the main hub (for Cape Town) where they actually calculate the VAT - just call track and trace with the international tracking number and they will give you the local tracking number, this way you dont have to wait another week or so for them to send you a notification.
Sebber
Thanks for the responses guys. Another quick one: what would I need to pay as far as VAT/import duties are concerned? If the instrument is US$1800 what am I likely to be paying?
BMU
On guitars there are no customs charges, only the 14% VAT.
BMU
rvvn wrote:
...just call track and trace with the international tracking number and they will give you the local tracking number, this way you dont have to wait another week or so for them to send you a notification.
Exactly right.
Sebber
Thanks again guys, another quick one: where do I tell the seller to ship the equipment? Do I give them my physical address or my Postnet Suite address?
BMU
I gave my Postnet Suite... I don't think it matters that much since you'll be phoning and collecting as described previously. It's not really physically going to come to either destination.
FruitarGeek
Yes. All these fine fella's are correct.
Sebber, it doesn't really matter where you tell the item to ship, it will still go to the post office, the only difference is that the little slip telling you your parcel is in the Post Office will arrive at either your house or P.O.Box.
I usually let mine go to the P.O. Box just cause my house postbox allows for mongrols and mother nature to destroy all thats in there.
Sebber
Thanks again guys. Another one: shipping from the US using USPS Priority Mail International (is that what you guys used?), how much for a guitar in a hard case and how long to arrive in SA?
FruitarGeek
Yes. USPS is really good, thats what I used, although I wasn't bringing down a guitar ?
It may be expensive, last I saw, it cost something like $300 to get the thing down, but its up to the seller really.
