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Buying pedals from USA


GazWills
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hi folks,

new to the forums, so sorry if this is posted in the wrong place!!

i recently ordered a couple of pedals from ElectroniX in Houston, which have now been built and were shipped yesterday, via USPS Priority Mail.

I've seen a couple of ElectroniX pedals on the pedalboards thread, so somebody has ordered from them before!! :)

I've never ordered from the States before, and wondered if anybody had pedals imported before, and knew if i may get stung for import VAT or other sneaky charges!! Value of the 2 pedals, plus postage, was about 260 dollars if that makes a difference.

cheers

Gaz

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I think it can be a bit hit and miss. All the pedals I've had in from the States have been marked as a total value of $25 in the shipping slip when they've actually cost $200+. A replacement scratchplate which cost me $40 I ended up paying a total of about £7 on top with import.

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[quote name='gnasher1993' post='729563' date='Jan 30 2010, 12:10 PM']It's definitely been hit and miss with me. No pattern at all. Sometimes the expensive ones have gone through without charge but the most expensive pedal I ever bought got caught up at customs and I ended up playing £46.40 :).

Good luck! :rolleyes:[/quote]

well, just got an email from the seller, and he said he put the lowest 'believable' value for the pedals on the paperwork, so hopefully won't be much more than £15 or so if i do get hit... just a pain some of the coolest looking effect pedals don't seem to be stocked anywhere in the UK. There are two Malekko dealers, and neither seem to have the 616 delay :lol:

Edited by GazWills
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I always thought the limit was £18 but it looks like they raised it to £105 in Dec 2008 and £135 January this year!

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7727717.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7727717.stm[/url]
[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8441546.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8441546.stm[/url]

That would be £135 per package, so you might get stung if they were shipped together and the sender put the full value down on the documentation. Some shops in the US put down the value as $25 to avoid customs charges (typically 17.5% VAT +£8 'handling' charge) but that means they are only insured for that much if it were to go missing. Looks like these people could get away with increasing that now though with these new limits in place!

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[quote name='dannybuoy' post='731201' date='Jan 31 2010, 11:17 PM']I always thought the limit was £18 but it looks like they raised it to £105 in Dec 2008 and £135 January this year!

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7727717.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7727717.stm[/url]
[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8441546.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8441546.stm[/url]

That would be £135 per package, so you might get stung if they were shipped together and the sender put the full value down on the documentation. Some shops in the US put down the value as $25 to avoid customs charges (typically 17.5% VAT +£8 'handling' charge) but that means they are only insured for that much if it were to go missing. Looks like these people could get away with increasing that now though with these new limits in place![/quote]

So how come I got stung for my Turbo Tuner? That's considerably less than £135, even shipped cost :)

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[quote name='Finbar' post='731243' date='Feb 1 2010, 12:21 AM']So how come I got stung for my Turbo Tuner? That's considerably less than £135, even shipped cost :)[/quote]

What were you changed on the Turbo Tuner, finbar? Just like to know what to expect, mine should be arriving this week..

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hi Gaz

I've never heard of these guys before but they lookand sound quite good.

Be interested to hear how you find them once you have play tested them Do come back on and post some reviews

Cheers

k

[quote name='GazWills' post='728744' date='Jan 29 2010, 02:32 PM']hi folks,

new to the forums, so sorry if this is posted in the wrong place!!

i recently ordered a couple of pedals from ElectroniX in Houston, which have now been built and were shipped yesterday, via USPS Priority Mail.

I've seen a couple of ElectroniX pedals on the pedalboards thread, so somebody has ordered from them before!! :)

I've never ordered from the States before, and wondered if anybody had pedals imported before, and knew if i may get stung for import VAT or other sneaky charges!! Value of the 2 pedals, plus postage, was about 260 dollars if that makes a difference.

cheers

Gaz[/quote]

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[quote name='krispn' post='732147' date='Feb 1 2010, 08:10 PM']hi Gaz

I've never heard of these guys before but they lookand sound quite good.

Be interested to hear how you find them once you have play tested them Do come back on and post some reviews

Cheers

k[/quote]

no probs, will do. hopefully have them in the next week or two.
I got onto ElectroniX myself through bassfuzz.com..

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They've changed the trigger point for CUSTOMS charges but you'll still pay 17.5% VAT on the value of all goods shipped in including the price of the actual shipping - which is a service mainly delivered outside the UK so IMHO that's a bit of a piss take (theft) sort of thing!!

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Last year, the bastards charged me £17 on a second hand DOD Bass Flanger that cost me £33. Even had the sale price listed on the forms.

Still, overall of about 7 items the last couple of years (5 of which were pedals), I've only been caught out with two. Some others seem to have had worse luck though, it really does appear to be a case of hit and miss with the customs nazis.

EDIT: On second thoughts, I think it might've been more like £12 or £13 actually. Was definitely over a tenner. A bit much for a £33 pedal I think.

Edited by redzombie
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in case anybody is interested, an update!!!

paid the charges today, totalled about £27. Considering this covers import VAT and handling charges etc, not too bad (as works out at £13.50 per pedal) - still annoying, but could have been more if the seller didn't mark down the value a bit.

I have a tip that some of you may not know... if you order through USPS, your pedals will be sent by parcelforce. As soon as the USPS tracking updates with 'attempted delivery' - it means the pedal is through customs and with the local parcelforce depot. instead of waiting a day or two for the letter from parcelforce telling you about the charges, you can use the USPS tracker number on the parcelforce site, find the depot and pay for the changes there and then.

So my pedals are being delivered tomorrow, as i called the depot about 20 mins after they got the pedals from customs. if i waited for the letter i wouldn't be able to get them until early next week. only saves a day or two, but i ordered these weeks ago, so 2 days less waiting = good!!!

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