Buying used from Musiciansfriend

epictring · 2012-03-10T00:00:46+00:00

So I wanna get my hands on a Roland Juno-Gi Keyboard. They are extremely expensive in SA (12k+), on eBay they go for about 9k (excluding extra costs) and tod...

Buying used from Musiciansfriend

MattAttack

Jackson Chris Broderick Soloist 7 TW. Latest & greatest flashy high end 7 string, what can I say. :-[ And my collection is so in need of a white guitar. S/s frets hmmmm.
[/quote]

I also want a white guitar now =D
However I want the SLX soloist in White, which they don't have (Thomann) =( They've only got the SLSXMG with the EMGs in white, but I don't like active's much =(
I might have to settle for it if they can't get the model I want.

I'm waiting to hear from them regarding that, I've also asked about their R500 shipping regarding ETA, insurance policy and such. I will share the info when they get back to me.

If I buy a flight case to ship the guitar in (It weigh's 7.5KGs =/), will it raise shipping costs?
I forgot to ask that.

BMU

I'm waiting to hear from them regarding that, I've also asked about their R500 shipping regarding ETA, insurance policy and such. I will share the info when they get back to me.

Cool, please do.

AlanRatcliffe

Norman86 wrote: well, you know its bad when the wantitall price is cheaper than the store price...
and im sure we've all seen what their prices normally are!

Wantitall: R11085
Music connection: R14000

Norman I was intrigued by your claims on this one, so I went and found out the price from Music Connection - R11,995 RRP and they typically sell it for under R9,500. So where on earth did you get that R14K price from? Are you sure it was for the Baja Tele?

Max

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Norman86 wrote: well, you know its bad when the wantitall price is cheaper than the store price...
and im sure we've all seen what their prices normally are!

Wantitall: R11085
Music connection: R14000
Norman I was intrigued by your claims on this one, so I went and found out the price from Music Connection - R11,995 RRP and they typically sell it for under R9,500. So where on earth did you get that R14K price from? Are you sure it was for the Baja Tele?

I agree with you Alan because every time I received a quote from a Music Store for Guitars and Guitar amps it was always cheaper than WantitAll and Takealot after discounts.

chris77

Alex B Broadway wrote: This is probably a stupid question, but does PayPal factor into this at all or can you just use a credit card?

Nope, EFT or Paypal. I tried buying a Masterbilt Epiphone from them a while back using my C.Card and was politely informed that they do not accept credit cards from our part of the world. Bugger, especially since I had already transfered my GAS cash to my C.Card :'(

Giggsy wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote: does thormann discount the goods by the applicable VAT in country?
Numbers are my kryptonite, so I may have got this wrong, but yeah, when I did the purchase it did say that the price does not include VAT so I have budgeted for that, plus an additional 14% for the customs fees

The way I understand it is that prices include 20% British sales tax, which they don't discount if you buy from overseas. So plus the 14% VAT payable upon delivery, it adds up to 34% taxed in total, more than a third of the netto price. Actually come to think of it, we get taxed 14% on top of the 20% incl. price, so it is in reality even more than 34% on the base price. >☹ I will maar be saving up and holding out until another MF Free Shipping deal comes along or I can get the amp I want locally for a better price. One popped up on Gumtree a short while ago, but the seller didn't want to sell to me because I am not on Facebook. ? WTF. >☹

A plus is that if you buy from Europe instead of the States the voltage used by amps and other electrical equipment is the same as in S.A., so no need for an extra transformer.

Bob-Dubery

chris77 wrote: The way I understand it is that prices include 20% British sales tax, which they don't discount if you buy from overseas. S

They should. I've looked before at buying instruments from the UK. If I go there and pay there then they have to factor in VAT and it's up to me to claim it back (which you do at point of exit from the UK). But if they are shipping to an address outside the country then their VAT falls away and they don't charge it.

MattAttack

I'm still waiting on a reply from Thomann regarding my soloist and shipping info, however I found a link hiding in the fine-print at the bottom of the page regarding shipping:

South Africa

Delivery time: 10-20 days
Shipping Cost Calculator: DHL-Flatrate
You always pay 506.95 ZAR shipping fee.
Maximum weight: up to thomann 30kg
Orders that exceed 30kg must be calculated individually. We will confirm the exact shipping prices by email.
More information: A UPS shipping quote is possible, please ask when making your order. All Thomann services such as 30-day money-back guarantee, 3-year thomann warranty etc apply for this country as well. All duties and VAT must be paid by the customer upon arrival in this country.

Also, regarding the TAX:
* The prices shown exclude VAT. and are valid as long as stocks last.

So, they use DHL, and do discount Euro tax.

giggsy

MattAttack wrote: I'm still waiting on a reply from Thomann regarding my soloist and shipping info, however I found a link hiding in the fine-print at the bottom of the page regarding shipping:

South Africa

Delivery time: 10-20 days
Shipping Cost Calculator: DHL-Flatrate
You always pay 506.95 ZAR shipping fee.
Maximum weight: up to thomann 30kg
Orders that exceed 30kg must be calculated individually. We will confirm the exact shipping prices by email.
More information: A UPS shipping quote is possible, please ask when making your order. All Thomann services such as 30-day money-back guarantee, 3-year thomann warranty etc apply for this country as well. All duties and VAT must be paid by the customer upon arrival in this country.

Also, regarding the TAX:
* The prices shown exclude VAT. and are valid as long as stocks last.

So, they use DHL, and do discount Euro tax.

Well, my guitars left Germany on Friday so are in the country - as soon as I can collect them I will let you know all about the costs (after playing them for a bit that is 8))

chris77

X-rated Bob wrote:
chris77 wrote: The way I understand it is that prices include 20% British sales tax, which they don't discount if you buy from overseas. S
They should. I've looked before at buying instruments from the UK. If I go there and pay there then they have to factor in VAT and it's up to me to claim it back (which you do at point of exit from the UK). But if they are shipping to an address outside the country then their VAT falls away and they don't charge it.

Thanks Bob, I stand corrected. :-[ I just visited their site and made up two "dummy carts" for an amp, one shipping to South Africa and one shipping to Brittain. Cost on the amp to SA was 752.10 Euros (+50 Euro shipping = 802.10 Euro) and to Brittain 855.00 Euros (free shipping). So not quite less 20% on the excl. cost (closer to 14% actually), but yes no British VAT is charged upon Checkout. Hmmmm...... :-\

Nicholas-L

Threads like this make me want to sell some of my gear to buy other, but I've spent so long trying to get these :'(..... InstaGAS.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

giggsy

Okay, so if this can help people with their GAS problems, here are all the details ?

I bought a Fender Jim Adkins signature Tele and an Epiphone Nighthawk from Thomann on Tuesday 3rd of July (late that night) and got them this morning, Friday 13th (lucky for some) 10 days later (although I did have a huge helping hand getting them from the International Mail Centre - you can contact them directly yourself to get the local tracking number and check if its there etc but they hardly ever answer the phone).

So... It cost me R8927.38 for the purchase of the two guitars including shipping and insurance.
My fee when collecting them was R1306.38 (R1275.38 VAT and R31 Clearance Fee)
So that's R10233.76 in total.

If I had ordered the Tele through a local shop it would have cost me R8000 best price (and taken a miniumum of 6 weeks) - there's no ways I could have got the Nighthawk for just over R2000 new anywhere (and none of the shops were able to order one in for me). I would have saved a bit of money on MF for 'mint condition' used models of the two, but then would have had to have paid R2500 shipping, although I think VAT is less or not charged because they are used?

So yeah, I'm a happy chappie 8) Will post pics on Monday...

Any questions, just ask, I will try help when I can

IceCreamMan

Giggsy wrote: Okay, so if this can help people with their GAS problems, here are all the details ?

I bought a Fender Jim Adkins signature Tele and an Epiphone Nighthawk from Thomann on Tuesday 3rd of July (late that night) and got them this morning, Friday 13th (lucky for some) 10 days later (although I did have a huge helping hand getting them from the International Mail Centre - you can contact them directly yourself to get the local tracking number and check if its there etc but they hardly ever answer the phone).

So... It cost me R8927.38 for the purchase of the two guitars including shipping and insurance.
My fee when collecting them was R1306.38 (R1275.38 VAT and R31 Clearance Fee)
So that's R10233.76 in total.

If I had ordered the Tele through a local shop it would have cost me R8000 best price (and taken a miniumum of 6 weeks) - there's no ways I could have got the Nighthawk for just over R2000 new anywhere (and none of the shops were able to order one in for me). I would have saved a bit of money on MF for 'mint condition' used models of the two, but then would have had to have paid R2500 shipping, although I think VAT is less or not charged because they are used?

So yeah, I'm a happy chappie 8) Will post pics on Monday...

Any questions, just ask, I will try help when I can

Thanks for posting the breakdown .....

i think the local business model will need to adapt a bit as more an more ppl start ordering online.....it aint easy for them though but somehow they need to...remember its in our interests that the local store sticks around too.

epictring

IceCreamMan wrote:
Giggsy wrote: Okay, so if this can help people with their GAS problems, here are all the details ?

I bought a Fender Jim Adkins signature Tele and an Epiphone Nighthawk from Thomann on Tuesday 3rd of July (late that night) and got them this morning, Friday 13th (lucky for some) 10 days later (although I did have a huge helping hand getting them from the International Mail Centre - you can contact them directly yourself to get the local tracking number and check if its there etc but they hardly ever answer the phone).

So... It cost me R8927.38 for the purchase of the two guitars including shipping and insurance.
My fee when collecting them was R1306.38 (R1275.38 VAT and R31 Clearance Fee)
So that's R10233.76 in total.

If I had ordered the Tele through a local shop it would have cost me R8000 best price (and taken a miniumum of 6 weeks) - there's no ways I could have got the Nighthawk for just over R2000 new anywhere (and none of the shops were able to order one in for me). I would have saved a bit of money on MF for 'mint condition' used models of the two, but then would have had to have paid R2500 shipping, although I think VAT is less or not charged because they are used?

So yeah, I'm a happy chappie 8) Will post pics on Monday...

Any questions, just ask, I will try help when I can
Thanks for posting the breakdown .....

i think the local business model will need to adapt a bit as more an more ppl start ordering online.....it aint easy for them though but somehow they need to...remember its in our interests that the local store sticks around too.

Maybe they should think about building a relationship with overseas companies to get discounted prices or something like that. It would help a lot if they would be able to provide the products to us at the same or close prices than what MF (for example) offers with the added positive to be able to play before you buy. But this is easier said than done, all I know is they're in trouble as this is just going to get worst with the increase in Internet availability in South Africa (and other similar countries).

21Fretter

Think I might look into online for a seven string, pretty limited choices locally it seems.

giggsy

IceCreamMan wrote: i think the local business model will need to adapt a bit as more an more ppl start ordering online.....it aint easy for them though but somehow they need to...remember its in our interests that the local store sticks around too.

Yeah, I know where you are coming from, and believe me, I did give the local guys a chance - 4 of the biggest stores in fact - and I am still waiting for someone to get back to me on the final price after I told him that I was going to buy it when I heard back from him...

Local would have been better in many ways, but as you can see, I bought online. :-\

BMU

21Fretter wrote: Think I might look into online for a seven string, pretty limited choices locally it seems.

The big JHB shops might have one or two, always worth checking first. 7s sometimes stay on the floor a long time and eventually get deeply discounted. (Which is why shops don't like to keep them of course, so it's catch 22.) I scored 3 great deals that way over the years, just by watching and waiting.

Of course, if you're not *in* JHB and you try to phone them for info, you'll get this:
"Ag bru it's best to come in and check around"
"I'm not close by. Can you not tell me what seven string guitars you have on the floor."
...stunned silence while this new paradigm makes its way through the neural cortex, with any number of unpredictable outcomes. None of them "certainly sir, give me five minutes to make you a quick list."
(True experience, and eerily similar to the customer service approach Giggsy described above LOL.)

So yes, most likely overseas is your best option. Just out of curiosity, what 7 are you looking for?

IceCreamMan

Also check the used accerories from musiciansfriend...some good deals on kit there too...pickups and the like.