where to shop for marine hardware in Cyprus & Greece

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krissteyn

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My boat is currently in Cyprus - Latsi (near Paphos) and I am looking for a rib and a 15 hp as well as lots of bits and pieces of hardware. As I am based in Cape Town SA. , I am obviously looking carefully at prices and am concerned that I have not found a "reasonable" supplier so far - who if it is not in stock , does not shrug his shoulders and ignore me....
I am returning to Cyprus and then moving on to Greece and from there , on to Croatia - I would prefer to have all ship-shape before I leave - but where to shop ???

some things I can bring on the aircraft , but some I cant...

Kris
 
We're in the process of launching a service that would help with this by sourcing and shipping chandlery and any other liveaboard supplies globally. Obviously we don't want to break any forum rules about commercial posts so if you'd like to send me a PM, I'll send you full details and we'd be happy to help if we can...
 
krissteyn said:
My boat is currently in Cyprus - Latsi (near Paphos) and I am looking for a rib and a 15 hp as well as lots of bits and pieces of hardware. As I am based in Cape Town SA. , I am obviously looking carefully at prices and am concerned that I have not found a "reasonable" supplier so far - who if it is not in stock , does not shrug his shoulders and ignore me....
I am returning to Cyprus and then moving on to Greece and from there , on to Croatia - I would prefer to have all ship-shape before I leave - but where to shop ???

some things I can bring on the aircraft , but some I cant...

Kris
Click to expand...

If you look on the Motor Boat Forum, and look for Virtuvas, he is rebuilding a Mystere in Greece. Look for the Mitos thread, really interesting read. Virtuvas is a great guy, and I think young will find him very helpful.
 
krissteyn said:
My boat is currently in Cyprus - Latsi (near Paphos) and I am looking for a rib and a 15 hp as well as lots of bits and pieces of hardware. As I am based in Cape Town SA. , I am obviously looking carefully at prices and am concerned that I have not found a "reasonable" supplier so far - who if it is not in stock , does not shrug his shoulders and ignore me....
I am returning to Cyprus and then moving on to Greece and from there , on to Croatia - I would prefer to have all ship-shape before I leave - but where to shop ???

some things I can bring on the aircraft , but some I cant...

Kris
Click to expand...

Groetnis meneer!

Probably cheaper by far to source in the UK and ship down there. Get quotes and compare before committing funds! A 15hp ob and Rib will probably be 30% cheaper in the UK


Ahhh the Greek 'Shrug and ignore' ....... welcome to Greece! :)
 
nimbusgb said:
Groetnis meneer!
Probably cheaper by far to source in the UK and ship down there. Get quotes and compare before committing funds! A 15hp ob and Rib will probably be 30% cheaper in the UK
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+1 - Amazon now deliver a lot of stuff free or at low cost to Greece, and I've had good results using parcel2go dot com to ship other stuff down here.

--Dave
 
having experienced the caribean customs thieves , how does the article arrive in greece wirh respect to any duties ? and is Cyprus any different ?

Kris
 
If ordered from within the EU, no problem with customs - there's free movement of goods within the EU.

If ordered from outside, no problems (so far) with customs and no duty/VAT paid - I've only had one item shipped in from the States which was of any real value at about $200, and was pleasantly surprised when that just arrived with nothing to pay.

--Dave
 
DaveKnell said:
If ordered from within the EU, no problem with customs - there's free movement of goods within the EU.

If ordered from outside, no problems (so far) with customs and no duty/VAT paid - I've only had one item shipped in from the States which was of any real value at about $200, and was pleasantly surprised when that just arrived with nothing to pay.

--Dave
Click to expand...

From bitter personal experience (and from similar experiences by others) you should avoid using a courier company (FedEX, DHL etc.) if shipping items into Greece from outside the EU. The courier companies can (and do) charge a brokerage fee if the transport of your package is anything other than "normal", so it's in their financial interests to check whether any tax or duty is payable - and it usually is. The cost of the tax, duty and the (often exorbitant) brokerage fee can be many hundreds of Euros.

Shipping items to Greece from outside the EU via the normal postal service, whilst potentially less secure, does not suffer from this "brokerage" problem. So if you're shipping stuff from the USA to Greece for example, send it via the US Postal Service and not via FedEx or DHL etc.
 
Compass24.com will deliver to both places. I have had several deliveries recently in very quick time.

Also, the Greek chandlery group "Nautilus" - not to be confused with a family run business of a similar name in Corfu - are opening several new outlets in Greece. You might give them a try too.
 
As already suggested, much cheaper and more reliable to buy in N Europe (particularly UK) and ship to Greece. However, you need to have somebody to organise it for you as getting suppliers to deliver by courier is not satisfactory. Corfu or Levkas are probably the best places to get goods shipped to as there is a big expat population and there are a couple of firms that do regular overland deliveries there - post on the Liveaboard forum and somebody will give you the contacts. You do, of course need a local contact to take secure delivery.

When I kept my boat in Corfu I shipped out a big parcel with a courier we use for work every year without problems, and making significant savings.

You may find it more difficult to source and ship a RIB and motor from UK and you may well find you are better off buying that locally - although such things (RIBS that is) are not so widely available as they are in say UK or Italy.
 
May I offer a slight warning! different companies cannot always be compared, depending on the delivery location. Fed ex on Kefalonia can be very good point to point delivery. ACS can also be very good. I have had various goods delivered out here. Amazon is exellent. However what can happen is the local delivery company is supposed to ring you for delivery info, addresses out here are not as simple as in the uk ie no house or street number. What has happened to me is this, I speak enough Greek for a delivery company to ring me and ask for delivery instructions, the fact is most DONT, they deliver to the local capital depot, then you are expected to pay again (or collect) for home delivery. It is far easier if you can give delivery instructions to a marina or local bar. Even the locals here do just that!
If anyone needs a delivery out to Kefalonia at any time, I will take the delivery and hold onto it for your collection, as long as it does not cost me cash or I am reimbursed for the cost to me. (once bitten twice shy)
 
Hi Kriss,

There are several chandelries in LIMASOL. There is a big one that I have used occasionaly. If you go down the road to the PORT pass macdonalds at the fly over roundabout. Down to the last main road, turn left at the lights and about a mile down the road on the left is the chandelry. This is the main coast road into town. There are many other Chandelries on the road.

If you import into CYPRUS you will be stung by money grabbers (all illegal) but without the payment NO GOODS.

Peter
 
Thanks for the input everybody - its been a while since I owned a boat and this one is now far from me and I am having separation "issues"...

It looks like I can close a deal on a complete new garmin system here in Cape Town and take it with me on the plane to Cyprus as accompanied baggage. I am finding several hardware items here at less 40% from Cyprus costs - so will be probably pay for extra KGs on the plane.

The dingy/motor combination is another story. I contacted most of the Suzuki agents in UK and only 1 has replied ??? and then not with full costings , altho specified ???

its a process , and I have a little time.

Cheers - hopefully not landsick too much longer

Kris
 
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