Just a little whinge

Anthony03

Just a little whinge from me. I stay in a small town and recently added a Les Paul to my collection. After unsuccessfully trying to buy a harmonica holder and a DiMarzio ClipLock strap( for my Gibson) from a larger close-by town I went to a major musical shop in Cape Town ( 2.5 hours drive ) only to find that ( you guessed it ) NO STOCK. My next option was to go online on Bid or Buy but when i saw the prices that were being bandied about by many so-called suppliers who are actually drop-shippers, I was astounded. I have now taken to importing all my items from the USA at a fraction of the South African cost even taking the Rand / Dollar exchange rate, USA Postal costs and SARS charges into account. Generally it works out less than half the price. I will not support local when I know I am being exploited!

Norman86

i find if i'm driving a long distance for something i want to phone the shop and confirm stock. but that's just me.
for some things, i try find second hand, other things, depending on the effort, i will just buy here.
each to their own, other people say support local, but yeah, not my opinion either ?

Anthony03

Fortunately we had to go to Cape Town on that day for a number of other things so no loss other than frustration !

V8

Anthony03 wrote:I have now taken to importing all my items from the USA at a fraction of the South African cost even taking the Rand / Dollar exchange rate, USA Postal costs and SARS charges into account. Generally it works out less than half the price. I will not support local when I know I am being exploited!

Less than 1/2 the price???

Maybe if you compare only to the drop shippers (Import it all), but I can't say that's my experience. Though I do typically get a very reasonable discount locally (10-40%, depending on the item) so I usually import if the item isn't available locally.

When I was shopping for a Focusrite Scarlett I was a bit astounded by the discrepancy between the Amazon price and the local RRP (about a 1k including shipping/vat) - but after a few phone calls and some gentle arm twisting, I ended up paying about R300 more than importing would have cost and I had a local warranty. I felt the local backup was worth something. Boss/Roland, Yamaha and Fender have decent backup locally. Others not so much (Line6...tsk-tsk)

warrenpridgeon

V8 wrote:
Anthony03 wrote:I have now taken to importing all my items from the USA at a fraction of the South African cost even taking the Rand / Dollar exchange rate, USA Postal costs and SARS charges into account. Generally it works out less than half the price. I will not support local when I know I am being exploited!
Less than 1/2 the price???

Maybe if you compare only to the drop shippers (Import it all), but I can't say that's my experience. Though I do typically get a very reasonable discount locally (10-40%, depending on the item) so I usually import if the item isn't available locally.

When I was shopping for a Focusrite Scarlett I was a bit astounded by the discrepancy between the Amazon price and the local RRP (about a 1k including shipping/vat) - but after a few phone calls and some gentle arm twisting, I ended up paying about R300 more than importing would have cost and I had a local warranty. I felt the local backup was worth something. Boss/Roland, Yamaha and Fender have decent backup locally. Others not so much (Line6...tsk-tsk)

I've also had the experience of being able to get it a lot cheaper than store price...even after store discount.
Not less than half, but low enough for me personally to go through the exercise
Please note that these are prices at time of purchase, which was a few years ago.
Example 1:
TC Electronics Nova delay
Shop price: R4500, after discount: R3800
Ebay (incl shipping): R1800, total incl vat/duties: R2000+-

Example 2:
TC Electronics Poly Tune
Shop Price: R1400, after discount: R1100
Ebay (incl shipping): R678.36, total incl vat/duties: R800+-

Example 3:
Suzuki GSXR Headlight protector
Shop Price: R650+
Ebay (incl shipping): R240.12 , add vat/duties: R300 - R350

Example 4:
Straplocks (prob not a "known" brand)
Shop Price: R120+
Ebay (incl shipping): R40.88

Example 5: (this one really annoyed me)
3PDT Custom Kit Guitar Effects Stomp switch
Shop price: R120 (FOR A SALVAGED SWITCH FROM A DAMAGED PEDAL), over R200 for a new one from allparts
Ebay (incl shipping) R36....

Yes... I buy quite a lot from ebay...

singemonkey

We've had a lot of threads on this. Everytime people who've worked in the stores have argued passionately without being able to adequately explain how buying retail from the states could work out so much cheaper after shipping and duties.

It was even more dramatic before the decline in the exchange rate. I was once offered by local camera store, Orms, a 2nd hand lens at R11,000. I bought it brand new in the box from the USA, and it cost me R6500 in total. If something had gone wrong (it never did. When buying from B&H in NYC, they always made sure you were happy), I could have bought a second one and barely spent more than the 2nd hand offering from Orms.

Saying all that, I don't think things are as bad as they were. And you also need to take into account the stores' bizarre practise of marking gear vastly more expensive than they actually sell it for.

aubs1

Norman86 wrote: i find if i'm driving a long distance for something i want to phone the shop and confirm stock. but that's just me.

singemonkey wrote: We've had a lot of threads on this. Everytime people who've worked in the stores have argued passionately without being able to adequately explain how buying retail from the states could work out so much cheaper after shipping and duties.

+1

8)

21Fretter

@warren and anthony: which sites do you buy import from? Maybe you give us a little advice on the process.

The only thing I've imported were earplugs and that worked out nicely, approximately 1/2 what I'd pay here, but the effort wasn't really worth it.

Tokai-SA

Buy the correct brands and you'll get them a lot cheaper here in SA than importing them from overseas. ?

Banditman

There's merit to both arguments - buy overseas as well as buy here.

When its come to bike parts I've mostly bought from overseas. For example, a standard clutch kit for my Suzuki Bandit 1200 (from SA agents) cost more than the same kit in England. In fact it cost R 150.00 more than a top quality heavy-duty Barnett clutch kit from the UK.

The fuel tap petcock was leaking after years of use. Suzuki SA - "No rebuild kits available, new petcocks about R 1150.00". A rebuild kit sourced through a Gauteng specialist - R 350.00.

I had three years of headaches with the carbs due to worn slide guides. Every single part in the carbs was listed on Suzuki's microfiche (I have a copy) EXCEPT for the slide guides, which are vaguely detailed and not listed. Local agents: "We can get a new bank of carbs from the USA, it'll cost about R 20000.00 not including shipping". The same specialist supplier had a contact in Europe for Mikuni parts. 4x slide guides R 2096.00 plus shipping.

Some stuff I'll buy directly myself. If Andrew (said specialist) carries the item, I don't mind paying a little extra to support him as he'll do the schlepp of ordering and shipping. But justify your pricing please, Mr. Official Agents.

Norman86

Tokai SA wrote: Buy the correct brands and you'll get them a lot cheaper here in SA than importing them from overseas. ?

Johan's 105Q is quite tempting ☹