guitar USA to EU import

[userchanged1]

So i've been wanting to buy the KM-7, which is listed for just under 1300 euros in most EU stores. When I search in the US, I can find the exact same guitar for under 700 euros (converted) easily.

WTF... That is like half the price...

So I was thinking of taking the risk and just ordering it overseas. Does anyone have experience with this. I realize with shipping and customs the final price will probably be closer to 1K but still that's way cheaper.

So would this be worth it or not? I don't have good experiences with customs and a guitar will surely get noticed which means some serious customs fee...

 

[Skadsson]

I honestly wouldn't do it. You're pretty much stuck with it if you don't like it or you just happen to receive a dud. I was tempted for a very long time to get an Agile 7 string, but because of the aforementioned reasons I didn't. Way too big a risk in my opinion... I'd rather save the money or wait 'til they pop up used... or just fetch another guitar and customize it to personal liking.

 

[crillemannen]

with both the added VAT and custom fee you will probably end up with the same price give or take 100euros with all the hazzle that comes with importing.

 

[exoslime]

Hi

i have orderd alot of stuff in the usa already, also like 5-6 guitars.. usually with customs etc the aprox price you pay in eur is the price that shows up in $ originally
so if the price was like 1300$ i ended up paying 1300€ a little bit more or less, depends on the daily translation course.

shipping can cost a fortune though, especially if you want to have it insured.

but please be aware, if you order in the us you most likely dont have any warranty, like you going to have if you buy from a shop in the eu.. and also not some fancy stuff like thomanns 30-day return period.

i only buy guitars or stuff in the us if i cannot get them here in europe, like rare or special kind of guitars.

i also wonder why for example elixir strings are much cheaper in the us instead of EU, i bought some of them in the us, and at the end, after paying taxes and shipping it was not significant cheaper as if i have bought them from thomaann, the only difference was i had to wait 4weeks, from thomann i would have gotten it a few days later.

well, not always, in 2009 i ordered a guitar from james trussart in los angeles, and the guitar was shipped on tuesday morning in LA and on friday morning ups brought it to me, knocking me out of bed at 09.00 in the morning, also i had to pay the custom fees directly to the UPS guy.. that was very fast.. but i guess thats not standard.

today i think, i would not buy something in the US that i also could get here in EU easily , if, then it must be a really significant price difference..
in your case, 700€ + shipping + taxes would not make it on my list, as thats at the end a little bit cheaper as buying here in europe, but without any warranties and full service that eu-shops offers you here.

if you could get it for 700€ shipping and custom included, it would be no-brainer

 

[Line666]

I've done this a few times, it's only worth it financially if you buy a cheaper second hand guitar with a good discount or have someone willing to severely underestimate the value of the guitar on the customs form - this of course carries more risk tho as the item could arrive broken and then you can only claim back less than its value.

 

[userchanged1]

yeah and even then the customs aren't retards... I've done it before and if they suspect anything fishy going on they ask for some official document which states the price so if they then find out you've tried to hustle them you're double f***ed.

I guess its clear, not worth the risk.
Still tempting though

But i keep wondering stores like thomann or musicstore.de, they must import stuff by the container, why the hell do they need to charge that kind of markup?

 

[Skadsson]

It's often the distributors who mark up imported gear to begin with. I suspect (but I have no evidence) that that is also the case for Mesa Boogie here in Germany. So incredibly overpriced, it's just hilarious. Then when you look at the street prices in the US, it's just a joke.

 

[guy in latvia]

In Latvia we have to pay customs on the full price, including shipping cost. So ordering anything overseas only makes sense if its something super rare. I ordered custom bass strings for about $100 and it cost me about 50 euro in tax, so its totally not worth it.