wsestmarine

[maha]

Hi

Has anybody brought anything from westmarine and was it sucsessful or a headache??

How long did they take and were you stung by heavy import duty and the dreaded(vat)...

I am thinking of buying a new dsc/vhf and its less than half price even with shipping but is the saving worth the headache???

Any feed back greatly appreciated

cheer Maha

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[maha]

ooops sorry WESTMARINE........

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[Trazie]

Re: westmarine

Bought a battery management system from them.
The portuguese vat mans eyes lit up with glee when he realised how much he was going to rake in from us - 19% iva here.
Took all day too cos had to go to Faro airport to collect it but then they couldnt find what category to put it in. Come 12.30 he just shrugged and said sorry, lunchtime. Had to go back again after 3!!
When he went for lunch he just left us in the freight area - airside.
Still worked out considerably cheaper though, just over half price.
The parcel was in Portugal within 24 hours but then it had to get from Lisbon to Faro which took 4 days
Trazie

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[bedouin]

I have ordered from them a couple of times. Their service is good and their delivery often puts UK based companies to shame.

On both occasions I did get invoiced by the delivery company for the duty, VAT and a handling charge. That added significantly to the bill.

That are frequent threads on this board about buying VHFs from US. I personally would not do it - by the time you've added the duty and vat the saving is not that great and it cannot be used legally in Europe.

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[pvb]

Faster than a speeding bullet...

On Weds 3 March, I ordered a replacement Lifesling bag from West Marine's website. It arrived at 7.30 in the morning on Mon 8 March in sunny Essex. No apparent bill for VAT, etc.


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[duncan]

from a number of experiences by members of the fishing club service is excellent - duty 3.7% then add vat on price + duty + delivery.
however purchases have revolved around electronics other than VHFs for reasons gone into on these forums (and others) at length.

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[rich]

Ray marine Autopilote 4 days and on my door step,,saved loadsssssss£££££££

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[marchhare]

I recently bought a raymarine 435 chartplotter and a wide navionics gold English Channel chart.
The customer service desk was excellent, product advice from both Westmarine and the on site Raymarine guy first class.
Delivered in 4 days via Fed Ex, had to pay the duty and vat before delivery.
The nitty gritty costs, UK best price 435 £750, Navionics chart £219.
Westmarine, 435 900$, (£500), Navionics 300$, (£170), delivery, 45$ (£21), duty and vat on the 1200$, £171. So total cost £862, a saving of approx £100.

When I bought I knew due to the strength of the £ I would be ok but would I do it again? Some prices do not stack up, depends on product. For example I would not buy the chart from the US, not worth the difference but for the chart plotter, which is identical spec with world wide guarantee then good deal.

Used the free phone number 0800 895 4731


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[VicMallows]

As you say, only works when dollar is as weak as it is. Hope it gets (much) stronger .... have US shares! However can still be useful for bits you can't otherwise get hold of here, especially if you can creap in under the 'de-minimus' limit. To others: don't forget the loss-on-exchange/cc charge .....unless you can pay in US funds.

Vic

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[longjohnsilver]

Well the answer is to buy more US shares now.

What's the de minimus limit re west marine sales?

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[VicMallows]

Last I'm aware was £15 equivalent. Sure the C&E site has details. But much up to luck so guess you factor on worst case.

Vic

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[DEJAVU]

West Marine are excellent. HOWEVER, is the VHF/DSC you want an international model as I believe their frequency band is different to ours. My handheld VHF has two settings. One for here and one for the states. Only a thought............

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