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  • Importing a Jackson?

    Well, I was having a look at the deals at a few sites(like OnlineStageGear, very good!) and was wondering if anyone knew the likely shipping costs anyone would make me pay for a guitar? I don't really care how long it may take, cos if it saves me cash, thats very good. As I fear, Customs Import Duty and VAT would be required, which would definately not be good.. Anyone else have any ideas about the pros and cons of importing a guitar from the States to England, and most importantly, would it be cheaper, or would shipping and tax make it about the same price as over here?

    Cheers,

    Luke.

  • #2
    Re: Importing a Jackson?

    In general - yes, it's cheaper than buying from a local store (this applies to every country in Europe AFAIK). When buying a guitar like the RR3 you might not save as much as for an US-made guitar, though, so you'll have to decide whether it's worth the effort or not...
    Here's my favorite example:
    A WR1 would cost me 2700€ (about 2700 US$) if I bought it from the cheapest local retailer. The same guitar costs 1250 US$ at onlinestagegear... plus 100$ shipping, plus 16% tax (I think...), and I've saved something between 33 and 50 per cent if I'm not mistaken...

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    • #3
      Re: Importing a Jackson?

      Hi Luke,

      Shipping to England from a dealer like OnlineStageGear/GuitarXpress is no problem, Matt and Lloyd have very good reputations ( I bought mine from GXP ). In terms of cost you can expect to pay £200-£250 tax plus shipping ( say £40-£50 ), roughly £1300 in all....Soloists seem to be in the region of £1800 when they get to a dealer over here so it's well worth doing if you want a US Jackson,

      Steve

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      • #4
        Re: Importing a Jackson?

        Thanks you two! I don't think that a US in currently in my Price range, but I could save up a bit longer and get a better axe.

        But depending on the axe I'm looking at, whether its gonna be worth it or not really depends on the cost (as you both told me). What I need to do now is look at the kinda prices I'd hafta pay here and bust out the ol' windows calculator and see if it would me enough money to make it worthwhile.

        Thanks again.

        EDIT: I've done an example now, on the DKMGT, as it was the only sub-£1000 Jackson axe on the UK shop I went to (machinehead. And I did it with GuitarXpress

        Value of Product: $369.00
        Import Tax thingy: 369*1.035 (3.5%) = 381.915
        VAT @17.5%: 369*1.175 = 433.575

        So Tax values
        Import: 381.915-369 = 12.915
        VAT: 433.575-369 = 64.575

        Total Tax = $77.49
        Shipping Cost = $65~ (I think thats what UPS Air Economy is, I dunno. I think UPS Express is like $80, but this is for info, so I'm not being 100% accurate [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

        Total Cost in $ = 369+77.49+65 = $511.49

        Woah. Not bad at all. Especially considering the UK RRP is £779 and MachineHead have them for £599!

        So, the price in pounds would be...

        511.49 USD = 318.924 GBP

        Very impressive! And very worthwhile, even on a sub $1000/£1000 guitar!

        And for another example, the RRP on a Blue Bengal US Soloist is a whopping £2599! ($4,168.28) [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

        [ December 28, 2002, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Luke ]

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        • #5
          Re: Importing a Jackson?

          Remmember, you will pay VAT on the total cost of the deal. So you have to add shipping & import duty before you add the VAT. If enough of you do it the UK stores might have to stop their age old pricing policy of taking the US MRSP and changing the $ to a £!

          - Steve K
          Model 3
          Model 5A
          Model 3B
          Journeyman
          Custom Shop San Dimas s/n 8511

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Importing a Jackson?

            Yeah shipping costs suck ! when the crimson swirl dk2's 1st came out they got stuck by that port strike in califoria so I asked Kevin how much it way to send it air from japan for me , it was only 500 bucks US or something ! LOL I said ok I'll just wait ! LOL //Steve

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            • #7
              Re: Importing a Jackson?

              Originally posted by SteveK:
              Remmember, you will pay VAT on the total cost of the deal. So you have to add shipping & import duty before you add the VAT. If enough of you do it the UK stores might have to stop their age old pricing policy of taking the US MRSP and changing the $ to a £!

              - Steve K
              <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Cheers for that, I'm gonna do some more net research and find what is really done. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

              I think that is mainly because the Distributers that bring 'em over here take so much money. I not sure but, aren't the prices set by the Distributers? Anyways, unless they're selling them in a sale, most shops sell Jacksons, Ibanezes, ESPs and PRSs to name a few at the RRP price. Only if its a 'last few of these' reduction or a sale, will they actually reduce them to a good price. But then, you haven't got a choice or much time to decide.

              Yeah I agree, shipping costs can be very high. But, you're a long way away, then its gonna cost a lot. Makes a case with the purchase a lot more sensible too...

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              • #8
                Re: Importing a Jackson?

                I orderd a Trans Red KE3 from music123.com. Got it for $439 with free case. Shipping (to Ireland) was $87. Thats $527 total or €527 for me. It came in perfect condition and was well set up. Strangly I didn't get charged VAT or customs or tax of any kind which was pretty nice. I got it in 3 days, which was pretty quick. Overall I'm much happier buying from America, I checked in a local store a few weeks later a saw the same guitar on sale for €1239, and that was in black as well.

                hope that helped......

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                • #9
                  Re: Importing a Jackson?

                  Thanks! Seems like you a got a really good deal there!

                  About the customs thing, maybe they forgot. I ordered The LOTR Fellowship of The Ring Extended Version from a website that claimed to be British, and it was delivered from Hong Kong. I was meant to pay shipping on it, but they forgot. Maybe Ireland has different rules to Great Britain, but I'm sure that some tax would apply. Congrats then [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

                  I think I'll find somewhere to try out the guitar I want, then buy it for the cheapest price, whereever thats from.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Importing a Jackson?

                    Wow, a non-pirated copy of a movie on a CD from Hong Kong. That makes a change [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I live in the World leader in movie piracy: Malaysia. We usually get pirated DVD & VCD copies of movies before they are opn general release. Yes, the triads are very efficient! Actually, it used to be a running joke in Hong Kong[1] that the only places where they stood behind theirproduct were the pirate VCD stalls [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

                    Cheers - Steve K

                    1) I'm talking pre-'97 Asian economic bubble-burst. The Hong Kong economy has been in teh ****ter for so long now that shop assistants are actually being courteous to customers. Unheard of!

                    [ December 30, 2002, 01:33 AM: Message edited by: SteveK ]
                    Model 3
                    Model 5A
                    Model 3B
                    Journeyman
                    Custom Shop San Dimas s/n 8511

                    Comment

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