Shipping From The States

Hi there

I recently made enquiries about purchasing second hand eyepieces from the States, it appears that the government over there have changed the rules regarding shipping items overseas. A form now has to be filled in by the seller and some of the replies that I got stated that they were not preparing to go through the tedious process of filling out these forms, gives an idea what they must be like.

Looking at sites such as Astromart and Cloudynights I noticed that many of the sellers are only selling within the US, I think a large and valuable market is being squeezed from us by the bureaucrats.

Paul

Paul - that's interesting... Here's my ongoing story.

I purchased a digital focuser from Finger Lakes a few years back. It broke. I shipped it back under warranty and had it repaired. They shipped it back. It remained in customs here in Dublin for about a week whilst I had to get all kinds of documentation proving that I wasn't trying to ship in new equipment under false pretences.

Fast forward to now.

The focuser broke again (my fault) and it was out of warranty. So I shipped it over to New York, no problem. I paid extra cash (three times the US Postal Services fee) to have Finger Lakes ship it back by courier (for safety reasons). So, sure enough, it ended back here in customs in Dublin. So far, I've had to provide Customs with a SAD document, a Waybill and a receipt of repair. 10 days after arriving on this island, it is *still* in customs awaiting release.

To add insult to injury, I've been informed I will pay 13.5% VAT on the repair job. Now the money's not a major pain in the butt but the principle leaves me annoyed. If I had it repaired in the EU or in Ireland, there's be no VAT to pay (I think). This shipping lark is a sure-fire way of the government taking their cut - I've no problem paying tax but this is ridiculous and I think its unfair.

I guess the moral of this and Paul's story is to take care when ordering from outside the EU or sending stuff out for repair. There's all kinds of gotchas to consider when pricing up whether or not you're gonna save money or time.

Seems the 2nd hand US sellers are being discouraged simply by having to fill in paperwork. and that's a sorry loss....

So much for stimulating the world economy :huh:

Well that's a kick in the crotch Dave if ever there was one.

I guess there's also the other bit of advise that if you have friends or relatives on the other side of the Pond, give them the money to buy your purchases and send it over here as a gift. I don't know how it works for the larger things like Telescopes, I'll await for someone else to give that feedback and see if the item was still caught at customs here.

Seanie.

Dave,

Your experience does not surprise me at all since I have gone through exactly the same process and VAT payments with both my ST-2000XM and 10XME.

More specifically, I had sent my ST-2000XM back to SBIG for service about three years ago. It was returned with a repair bill of around $100 and the local customs folks added VAT on the repair charge ($100) plus the shipping cost (also $100 for UPS). When I had sent the camera stateside, I has the postal clerk write down the serial number on the receipt and which I used to prove it was the same camera that came back from service (she had to trust me on the serial number since the package was all wrapped up).

A few months ago I sent my ST-10XME to Baader Planetarium in Germany for service. Well, they also added 15% VAT for their service work.

Anthony.

Hi Paul,
Many astromart sellers wont ship big or heavy items across the atlantic as the cost is exorbitant and they wouldnt have the right box, imagine the packing needed for a big SCT, thats the main reason. I havent heard of this form you mention, maybe it for big expensive purchases?
Once when I asked a person why he is selling to CONUS only, he replied that he had a bad experience with a non US sale recently.
As for customs here, thats our problem, not a US sellers.

I'm only enquiring about eyepieces Dave, perhaps this is part of the paranoia that is gripping the US government for the past couple of years.

I've even noted some adds where the seller won't ship outside the lower 48 states.

Paul