NorioDS
It occurs to me that we have some people here that are quite experienced with buying things from eBay, Amazon, etc and saving a few odd shillings here and there in doing so.
Can we have some advice on where to look for what, how to get them to ship to SA and how to avoid as many of the extra costs that normally come with doing this as possible (without getting into trouble ?)
I, for one, give up pretty early when I see how many sellers only ship to the US/UK/Aus.
Tks ?
JoeyBones
Here goes.
eBay
Do your homework. You might be able to get the same product for a very similiar price locally without all the shipping and customs issues. Make sure you compare new prices internationally as well.
- Make sure the buyer uses Paypal and that the auction has buyer protection to te amount or more than you going to pay.
- Check the persons feedback. I've bought from guys with anywhere from 95% to 100% positive feedback.
- Make sure you read the item discription clearly and ask questions. Most auctions are footstoots.
- If the description or any information is not clear, ask the seller. It's better to ask many stupid questions than to loose your money or end up with a dud.
- Feel free to ask guys if they'll ship to SA. I've bought a lot of stuff that was listed as shippng to the US only. Most of the guys don't bother to list shipping as international cause it's too much of a schlep, but I've managed to convince them.
- Take the insurance on shipping. Unless you are willing to take the risk, I would spend the extra.
- Try to use USPS for shipping if you are extremely price sensitive.
Forums :
- Try not to buy from newbies or at least ensure you do your best to ask all the questions you can about the deal.
- I've bought my last three pedals of guys on an american forum. You have the advantage of being able to negotiate with these guys and most of them use paypal as well.
Buying online :
- Most of the US retailers won't ship to SA due to the fact that we have distributors in our country.
- The price difference is normally not worth the hassle as they are pretty close for the run of the mil stuff.
- USE PAYPAL. Even retailers have been known to be a bit dodgy.
Shipping :
- Make friends with a flight attendant. My buddy brought my Annoversary Edition over for me and I didn't have to pay any import duties or anything else.
That's all I can thin off right now. Will add more when my brain wakes up ?
AlanRatcliffe
On the larger stuff it is not always worth it because the shipping of a heavier item usually makes up the difference. Smaller items it's often worth it.
While many of the bigger shops will not sell outside their own country, some of the smaller ones will if you ask them - it's often worth asking around.
Also bear in mind that when shopping for electronics in the US, you are dealing with US power: 110V - so often you will still need to buy a local power supply or a step up transformer. Europe has the same power as us, so you can buy from the UK without doing this.
Duties are convoluted and depend on the classification of the item. I don't know what the story is on many items these days, but I know you used to be able to bring in loose speakers or unloaded cabinets and not pay duties, but the moment you bought an amp or cabinet with a speaker in it, the duties were something like 20% + 14% VAT.
E-Bay is another option - there is no restriction on secondhand goods (although you will still pay 14% VAT - I'm not sure about duties, but many parts I buy are duty free anyway). The problem is most E-Bayers will not sell overseas to someone who hasn't got an E-Bay "score" - it's a bit of a risk for them too, thanks to Nigerian and Singapore-based gangs of Credit Card scammers. So you have to buy a few smaller items to build up a buyer's rep, then only try the larger items.
Also beware of the sellers who themselves have no feedback - you want to be sure that they are not just a fly-by-night outfit or a chancer. And if it sounds too good to be true ($200 Gibsons from Chinese sellers, vintage guitars for a few hundred dollars, etc.) - it usually is.
I've always bought more expensive stuff like guitars and things directly from the seller, rather than using an intermediary like E-Bay - usually from guys I "know" on mailing lists, etc. - Much less risk.
It's tricky buying instruments, as you really don't know what you are getting - I find it's scary to buy something unheard and unplayed. I've only ever bought one guitar from overseas - and that was from a guy I have known for years, who has similar tastes to mine and whose tonal judgement I can trust implicitly. Even then, while it was an amazing guitar with tone for days - I found the neck was way too thin and small for me and the Gibson scale-length made my left hand hurt badly after a while playing it.
So, all in all, not something you jump into without careful consideration. Although I never hesitate with smaller stuff like parts, pickups, necks, bodies, etc.
Also remember, many local stores are willing to haggle - If you go to them and say "I can get this guitar/amp/pedal from the UK for X amount, but would rather not wait. Can you get close to that price?", they will often do whatever it takes to get the sale, as long as they make something. If you push a little, it's amazing what prices you can get. It's easy to push for 25% discount - sometimes even 33% (especially when the store is also the distributor for that product). The high tech stuff is often different, as they may not get much of a markup on it either, so have no room to negotiate. Don't do it for a pack of strings or a plectrum (unless you're buying a box at a time) - if you become a nuisance, demanding discounts on everything, they will judge your business not worth the trouble. Just do it on the bigger stuff where it makes a difference.
Reinhard
I have imported to Gibsons, no hassles. Shipping is usually quite expensive, but still works out cheaper than buying high end gear in SA. Done the same with pedals etc. Ebay is cool, use a PayPal account and buy from seller with good feedback. Good advice in the other posts.
JoeyBones
I spoke to a guy in Cape Town to see what he could sell my Black Falcon for and he was going put it up for R1000 more than what I paid for it new with shipping and import duties. On top of that he wanted 20% of the sale price for selling on consignment.
The South African market is way overpriced. I could understand if they were selling for 1K or 2K more then in the states, but in most cases it's more like 50% to 100% more.
Riaan
Does anyone know what the import duties are when buying audio software such as Cubase etc. from overseas?
I just noticed Cubase 4 Full Retail Version for over R11.5 K on a local music shop's website, compared to about $550 USD including shipping on EBay.
Unless there are massive import duties on audio software, I don't understand the local dealer's price.
Graeme
I bought Sonar online. Can't remember what shipping duties I paid, but it still worked out way cheaper than I could have got it locally.
Mr-M
Riaan wrote
I just noticed Cubase 4 Full Retail Version for over R11.5 K on a local music shop's website, compared to about $550 USD including shipping on EBay.
Unless there are massive import duties on audio software, I don't understand the local dealer's price.
I thought Cubase 4 goes for R9000?
http://www.soundz.co.za/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=STSTE105
As for software or musical instrument prices in SA being higher, I'd have to guess it's got to do with sales volumes. Overseas online retailers like Musiciansfriend or Sweetwater probably order more of a particular item from the manufacturer for their own sales than the local SA importer would order for the whole country here because our market is so tiny in comparison to the US or EU. Compare how many hugely expensive musical items (like a Marshall JVM for instance) on Musciansfriend have loads of reviews from buyers vs how many of that product you've ever seen in SA in total at all the music stores you've been to and all the bands you've seen. Basically you'd see that they sell way more than SA has ever even seen of a given product IMO. The more you buy, the bigger the discount in most industries, so I don't see why it would be any different for the music industry. It's probably not just that simple but I'd guess that's most of the reason why.
AlanRatcliffe
The retail on Cubase is about R10K. Compared to the US Retail of about $1000, it's in line if you take shipping, VAT, etc into account. Where the difference comes in is with the discount structure - and that's as Mr M has explained.
Attila
Gents,
The biggest killer when importing instruments is shipping cost +- 120 -150 USD, door-to-door, for a guitar and case, from the USA. There are no duties payable on musical instruments and parts. and of course everything is VATable.
Beware if declaring a lower value on the item, should it go missing the insurance will only pay out the declared value...
JoeyBones
Attila wrote
The biggest killer when importing instruments is shipping cost +- 120 -150 USD, door-to-door, for a guitar and case, from the USA.
This is true, but I've bought 6 guitars and parts for 2 more and it still worked out way cheaper than buying stuff here.
Attila wrote
There are no duties payable on musical instruments and parts. and of course everything is VATable.
I've had to pay duties on every item I bought ☹ Is there some sort of import duty clause I can quote to get my money back ?
AlanRatcliffe
I've had to pay duties on every item I bought
You will only have paid VAT. If you use the bigger courier companies, they will often charge a "clearance fee" on top, but that isn't duties
per se, that's just them gouging you for more money.
Riaan
One thing to be careful of though, is a deal that seems too good to be true. It usually is...as I found out with a DVR card which never materialised. Best to stick to established sellers with lots of good feedback, and who are authorised resellers, even if they charge more than others on EBay. Even then it often works out cheaper. Of course there's the ever present risk of theft once the parcel hits our borders... ☹
Attila
JoeyBones wrote
Is there some sort of import duty clause I can quote to get my money back ?
I am no expert on this but if you have the paper work, theoretically it could be reversed...... give it to a friendly shipping agent and see. It may well be worth your while.
Riaan - seems its the smaller parcels that get "lost"
AlanRatcliffe
If you are buying for resale at a profit and are a VAT registered vendor, then you can claim back the VAT. Then you pay the VAT when you sell it again. If you are the end user, then even if you are VAT registered, you are not eligible to get the VAT back.
Garth-S
I bought a SanDisk compact flash card off ebay for my BR600, and a week after i received it it started playing up.. then I stumbled upon an article on ebay published just after I received the card saying look out for fakes, and how to spot one. Turns out mine was a fake, and when I searched for the seller, he had disappeared. The seller had a 99.5% rating too. So be very careful.
JoeyBones
There was a scam like that for Gibson and Fender guitars as well. No doubt that you gotta do your homework before buying online.
Martyr
if you want to get cubase and reason and so on check online trade website(www.gumtree.co.za or www.bidorbuy.co.za) it's worth getting it 2nd hand over new
Malkav
My two cents, you can't get dimarzio in this country unless you go through Ebay...
And for Ibanez enthusiasts www.ishibashi-music.com it's funny when you read the translations and it's all priced in yen but they have an extensive line of Japanese made guitars (only place to get J-Custom models) and they also have an extensive and weekly updated second hand section and apparently ship quickly and have very good customer care.
Reinhard
After seeing what ES 335's are going for locally, I'll probably be buying one or a 339 off ebay.
