Purchasing a telescope in the US

I got some back money from work and I am thinking of purchasing a telescope around the 11" range. Prices seem to be much more reasonable in the US and I am going to New York and Vegas at the end of the month. Is purchasing it over there and then posting it to myself a viable option? Or am I better off ordering one online and accepting customs charges.

I ordered a Nexstar 5 from outpost.com a few years back but it got caught in customs and had to pay a few hundred extra, although it was still cheaper than anywhere here.

Also, what is the best portable option for a 11" telescope? Will I have to upgrade my Nissan Micra if I get one?!

Thanks,
Ronan.

Ronan --

Even if you post it to yourself, you still might have to pay 21% VAT and around 4% duty. There's also the issue of service if you get a lemon (it happened to me on a big Meade I imported from the States).

With VAT, duty and shipping I only saved a few percent. Then I lost a bunch when I had to replace part of it (shipping it back to Meade would have been even more expensive).

So you can certainly save some money (quite a bit if Customs declines to get involved). But you can also lose quite a bit. As Clint Eastwood would say: "You just gotta ask yourself: do you feel lucky?"

-- Jeff.

PS: I hear good things about the Celestron CPCs. You could transport it in your front seat with the seatbelt around it.

Hi Ronan,
You'll save money if you can get it from the US,

first problem is tax, if you get cought you'll have to pay a quarter more.

Shipping is also going to cost quite a bit from so far away, also the damage risk is no zero when shipping fragile like an 11" SCT like that, make sure you have good shipping insurance.

Third problem is trying to return it if the electronics go wrong or anything else for that matter, Meade for instance will not honour a US warrenty if the scope leaves the country, you need a third party (friend in the US and use his addrss) and never tell meade it left the country.

Like Jey says, its a game of chance .