SmoothStepper sealed pack

[Smiler]

Looks like I joined this forum about 24 hours too late! I've just ordered a Smoothstepper direct from Stephanie at Warp9 TD.

BTW, the new price is currently $155, plus $33 USPS priority mail international shipping (plus VAT and duty if it gets caught for it), so at the current exchange rate a new one (without any extras, like cables etc) should cost around £116 delivered, if it doesn't get caught for duty, VAT etc. If mine does get caught for import duty and VAT (a seemingly random process!) then I'd guess it will cost me around £145 - £150 or so, without any cables or extras.

Warp9 are currently out of stock, mine's on back order, so this looks like a reasonable bet for someone who wants one quickly.

Jeremy

It gets sent via US Postal service and I've not heard of anyone getting it through customs yet, added another £24 to mine :(. It gets cleared through customs and then gets held at your local post office hub from whence comes a ransom note :) You get 14 days to pay up or they send it back. Total cost for me if I remember correctly was £132 including all taxes but of course the exchange rate has changed a lot since then. Still a bargain tho'

Can't you cancel the order since they are out of stock?

[Jeremy]

I could cancel, but it's via PayPal, so it would take at least 6 weeks to get the money back from PayPal, maybe much longer, from what I've heard.

My experience of buying from the US is that I seem to get hit with duty, handling charges and VAT on about one in five packages. I've even had a few really big packages come through from places like China without getting caught, so it does seem to be a bit random as to whether or not things get picked up.

One thing I have noticed is that packages that come via UPS, DHL or another big company always seem to get caught for extra charges, but stuff that comes via EMS or USPS seems to be less likely to attract the extra charges, goodness knows why.

Jeremy

[irving2008]

Ask the supplier for a definitive date of shipping and if its more than 7 days away ask them to cancel and refund by paypal - a reputable organisation should do so with no charge. The reverse paypal transaction should be just as quick as the original. The 6 weeks applies if its a paypal investigation into non-delivery etc.

[bruce_miranda]

Get the guys at Warp9 to cancel your order and refund your Paypal payment. It gets cancelled and refunded immediately. They have been very understanding whenever I've dealt with them and I'm sure they'll accomodate your request.

[Jeremy]

FedEx are probably the worst for high charges, in my experience. There is a cut-off value (€10 for import duty, €22 for VAT), below which imports shouldn't attract a charge, but I know that the like of FedEx etc rarely take note of this.

It's not so much the duty or VAT that I find irksome, but the hefty "handling fee" that these companies charge for making the duty/VAT payment on your behalf.

I've had cause to question the level of this with one company, TNT, who, like you, wanted to charge me more than the value of the goods in fees. After writing to them a couple of times to try and get the (incorrect) bill adjusted, they just seem to have dropped the matter.

You can avoid duty for some imports by getting yourself an End Use Authorisation number. I have one, it's free from HM Revenue and Customs and allows the import of certain items from outside the EU without attracting import duty (although VAT is still payable). In my case the parts have to be for aircraft construction, but that covers pretty much anything with a connection to engineering in my experience. The saving isn't great, but it does mean that you can sometimes by-pass the handling fee from the freight companies, by declaring that you will pay the VAT directly to HM R&C.

Jeremy

[bruce_miranda]

SOLD via eBay.