Buying from US

[brian_neale]

There is a an earlier post here that comments on buying electronics from West in US. Has anyone any experience of doing this, and how much it cost in the end?

I have recently bought a Raymarine radar/plotter (2 days before ST published a comparative report on them!). Excellent service from Greenham Regis in Southampton, and prices competitive bearing in mind the advantages of local dealer, etc. However, I hunted around to get prices on the chart cartridges (C-Map NT for this model).

In the end, I found a US site with a price at the "$ for £" rate and ordered from there. With carriage costs and a £35 bill from the local carrier (for duty, as I understand it) the savings were much less than expected. List price in UK is £299, price paid in US was $299 plus $25 carriage (=£229 on Visa bill). Plus £35 to UPS in UK makes £264, so roughly 10% less than UK price. I have to say that the carriage was much more than expected; I assumed letter post for something that is barely larger than a postage stamp, but the packaging meant that it was too big for the letter box in the end and came via "guaranteed delivery" service.

And I was not even in a hurry, as the radar is not yet installed!

I would be fascinated to hear of the total price paid for other items when ordered from US.

 

[ccscott49]

I went through this test a couple of years ago and found it just not worth the hassle, especially for a liveaboard, who had to have it sent to the uk then to the boat. I tried having it sent direct to Portugal, they charged me import duty aswell as VAT, so it was more expensive! I just shop around now, on the net and elsewhere.

 

[Skyva_2]

I tried this with a GPS from WestMarine. Like you the saving was about 10-15% after postage and VAT. However the service was excellent - faster delivery than UK mail order!

Keith

 

[Peter_the_Grate]

I've bought a couple of things from West Marine. A good service, which took only a few days from order to delivery. I also saved a chunk of money because the thing I wanted (HH VHF) was on offer as well. Watch out for the delivery agent this side (at Heathrow) making a charge to deliver, as well as VAT from Customs. West Marine will advise on what the VAT costs will be this side.

You might be interested to know that many chandlery items are also cheaper in France. If you're going there, you might care to take a look around. A few weeks after getting the HH VHF from West Marine (at what I thought was a good price of £96 all in) I saw a similar spec. one in USHIP in Le Havre for 900FF (approx £90). I didn't look closely at it so I don't know how close the spec. was, but it looked the same but was yellow. Mine's white...

P.

 

[pvb]

Generally cheaper; plus amazing service...

I've bought lots of things (boat and domestic) from the US in the last couple of years. Prices are generally appealing, and the speed and quality of service is excellent.

On the odd occasion when something wasn't quite what I wanted, I just posted it back and got a replacement by return.

 

[numenius]

Every time for me.

Regularly buy stuff from the US now. (Just got a couple of T shirts only yesterday). By the time I'd paid carriage, they came out at a similar price to a couple of good T shirts bought here. Except I know I'll not see anyone else with the same design, & they are about twice the thickness. Started buying from the US after saving about £150 on electronics from West Marine about 2 years ago. Occasionaly items may end up a little dearer - but then its difficult to compare, as often you are buying items that cannot be got here. One thing I will say though (and it pains me to say this), is that without fail, everything I've bought has been higher quality, or higher spec than same or dearer priced stuff here in the UK. You should'nt be paying $=£ though, that defeats the whole point. I've had this tried on me over the years twice by British companies when ordering stuff they need to get from the US. Each time I've then just ordered it myself at the proper exchange rate.
Delivery varies. West re-sent a shipment to me after it crossed the Atlantic safely only to be er, "lost" by Parcelforce. West immediatly sent a replacement at no cost to me, which arrived in 3 (yes 3) days - this time by FedEx. The T shirts which came today (from a different firm) took 4 weeks. Mind - I've waited even longer for stuff from only 100 miles down the road, so up to now, I'm still more than happy to buy from the US (and they actually seem pleased to have your business - quite refreshing for a UK consumer to experience!)

http://members.lycos.co.uk/boaty1965/index.htm

 

[Guest]

Re: Every time for me.

I agree with Numenius.

I buy a lot of stuff from the US, and even with the shipping, vat and import duty it still usually works out cheaper.

It's also true that a lot of stuff just isn't readily available here, and as said before the service is so much better. They actually like customers.

I usually buy from Boatfix, and it works out better if you wait till you have a reasonable size order, but a couple of examples off the top of my head, 3M 5200 large tube $10, about £7, local chandlery £19.00. Large Igloo cooler $99 (£70) here in the UK about £170.

Bill

 

[brian_neale]

Re: Every time for me.

When I said $=£, I meant the same number of dollars as we pay in pounds - like the chart cartridge ($299, £299). I have just had a look at the West Marine price for the radar that I bought - Raymarine SL72RC. I paid around £1900, which was about the usual price in the UK. West advertise it currently for $1950. Raymarine manufacture just down the road at Portsmouth...

The uncertainty seems to be the carriage (which I failed to confirm in advance) and duty (not quite sure how this is calculated). Service does not seem to be an issue with US ordering, from what I see here (and from my own one-off experiment). Credit card exchange rates do not seem to be too bad either.

 

[quaelgeist2]

For mail order it is great for speed and service.

However, as some people mentioned earlier, the alternative is a trip to France, Belgium or Holland, where in the large chandleries you get the very same bargain and can take it with you immediately.

Calais, Dieppe, Nieuwport, Flushing, Ijmuiden all have broad range of chandleries.

chris

 

[Guest]

Regarding carriage and duty.

Carriage can usually be quoted by the supplier, however on top this you get mugged by the Post Office this end on behalf of Customs & Excise.

Charges consist of VAT at 17.5%, an import duty of around 3.5% and a Post Office handling charge for clearing customs that they make up as they go along. You'll also be pleased to know that VAT and duty is charged on the total amount which INCLUDES the cost of delivery...what's that all about?

All that being said, I still find it cheaper in many cases to buy from the US and often more convenient.

Given the greater level of customer service I probably still would even it were more expensive.

Bill