chris77 wrote: ....Instead they now call that section "Open Box Instruments."

Which shouldn't really be much of an issue. (They can call that section Frank or Sally or Moose Butt for all I care.) But there's a catch. They seem to no longer ship the gear in that section to SA. Or let's rather say they have severely limited the brands available to us. It used to be that the brands with local Distribution Agents weren't available to buy new, but in the Used section you could get them all. Now it looks like even the used gear with local distribution agents are no longer available to us.

So one less option available to get the gear you want at a decent price. Unless you ship via a US based shipping agent I guess, but then it will probably work out the same as buying locally anyway. Will still be worth it if you are looking for something specific because they normally have a much bigger selection in their used section than what I've seen available in stores and in the secondhand classifieds, but we will no longer really be saving much money anymore.

It all depends on the individual item/scenario... and whether you have a good relationship with the retailers here.
Unfortunately I don't have the connections/relationships...
For my example... I was looking at a line 6 POD HD500X.
Normal retail: R12500
Street price: R9500 (as quoted by around 3 retailers, some of whom I visit and purchase stuff from occasionally)

Found a couple of retailers online in USA that would ship via UPS/Fedex (courier to avoid using our ground postal system).
Price incl shipping: R6614.43 ($600)
Vat (@14%): R926.0202
Total: R7540.4502

I know that there would possibly (very likely) be clearing charges and stuff at customs and perhaps they would decide to add on duties (even though there shouldn't be apparently).

For a lot of effort I could get the item at 20% less.

Unfortunately I have never had the spare money to purchase often from the store to build up the rep to save money... lol.

In the past, however I managed to get certain items at 50% less (including shipping, clearing etc) than the best store price they would give me... and those times I went for it. This time I'm working on another plan... hehe.

Hi Guys,

But isn't there a place locally where we can buy used items? pups etc? not all of us have bucs in ample....

The Gear Junkie, Salt River, Cpt - http://www.thegearjunkie.co.za/index.html
Guitar Centre, Tableview, Cpt - http://www.guitarcentre.co.za/
Ronnies Allbang and Strumit Music Shop, JHB. http://allbang354.wix.com/ronniesallbangandstrumit#!
Revolution - Music Gear Trade & Sale South Africa - Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/739245542817704/

Those are the four I know of, sure there are a few more. The Gear Junkie does do parts (new/used), not sure about Guitar Center & Ronnie's though. The Revolution facebook group often has interesting bits popping up and an wanted ad can be fruitful.

And, of course, the GFSA classifieds http://www.guitarforum.co.za/index.php?action=classifieds

Thanks