Anyone bought keyboard or other from Thomman DE to US?

[obxa]

Looking at purchasing Crumar organ. I'd also consider Andertons UK. Thomman (Germany) CS says they regularly ship to the States, but didn't have a lot of information other than shipping charges and letting me know there would be no VAT.

 

Price is great Have been on the phone with UPS and US Customs, trying to get an idea of the typical Customs fees or holds, to see if those fees would bring the cost up too much,. UPS said I have to contact Germany office (wife speaks fluently, so will get her to help...)

 

Wondering how Customs deals with Musical instruments. I bought a Harmonium from India years ago on Ebay, and got held up for months, hoping things are smoother now.

 

Appreciate sharing your experiences/advice. Thanks so much in advance!

Cheers,

C

[Baldwin Funster]

I bought a waldorf Streichfett from andertons. There was no customs fees. Shipping was faster from uk to norcal than from NY to norcal and probably cheaper. I was looking for the catch and it never happened. I bought something else a couple weeks later and it was the same thing. I can't say about Germany or thomanns. I dont know about that.

[Docbop]

I bought guitars from Thomann a couple times and real easy. What I found out later it all depends on the price of what you are buying and having shipped to the US and possible your state may want a piece of the action too. I think the breaking point is around $800 USD they pretty much ignore it and alls good. Over $800 then then customs starts charging. Then some states kick in, I forget the term its not called a tax but when buy good from another state or overseas they charge a fee. In California in the past they use to ignore it most the time but I hear in the last decade they started charging the fee which by coincidence is the same rate as state sales tax. Then there is the conversion of USD to Euro's?

 

So do your homework to find all the gotchas.

[FatFingers]

I've had good experiences with Thomann, shipping from Germany to the US. They were using UPS express saver. I haven't ordered a keyboard but have placed three orders from them for keyboard stands and other stuff. They keep a great selection of K&M in inventory. Each time, UPS received the package from Thomas the day after I placed the order and two days later it was at my door in Nevada. At that speed, it couldn't have received any attention from customs although none of the orders were near $800.

[Doerfler]

I have had excellent service from Thomann

[Coker]

Great service from Thomann. In fact, they once sent me the wrong $180 keyboard bag, told me to keep it and sent me the right one.

[CEB]

I often buy K&M stuff from Thomann. If US dealers do not have it in stock it takes them Forever to get it from the US distributor (Connelly). It"s quicker and cheaper to just get stuff from Thomann.

[Mighty Motif Max]

I buy a lot of my stuff from Thomann, but never anything electronic due to warranty concerns and the fact that most electronic items I would buy from them would be over the $800 mark. I looked into all the customs details and whatnot, which took a good amount of time, when I was considering buying a Viscount Physis K4EX from them earlier this year, and decided that there was a good likelihood I could end up paying $600+ in fees and customs duty if I did it (for a $1450 item). So I decided against it.

 

German brands are always a lot cheaper from them naturally (i.e. K&M, and Jaspers isn't sold in the US).

[ChrisDespo]

Jumping in on the Thommann bandwagon, I got my Spyder Pro stand from them and several other things and had no issues and saved a good bit of $ overall if I would"ve gotten the same things here in the states. I was reluctant at first buying overseas direct but was pleasantly surprised.

[Marzzz]

I purchased a Black Panther Systems keyboard stand earlier this year from Thomann USA, it arrived very quickly without any problems. Definitely a place to purchase items not necessarily available in the US, but I would hesitate to get anything that might need warranty repair (such as the Behringer 2600, which I got from Sweetwater).

[obxa]

Thank you all so much, this was very very helpful. I really appreciate it!!!!

 

Trying to grab a Mojo Classic, which is nowhere to be found in the US right now. Based on what you guys have said, I have a feeling since it's over that $800 threshold there would be fees. I wish Customs made it easier to determine. .

Was thinking even if said fees were in the 6-8% range, it'd still come out lower than the US prices, or perhaps close. But it sounds like international orders might be safer for utility items.

 

Marzzz: Glad you got your 2600! I've had a Blue 2600 on early order from Sweetwater since December 20 --it's now expected August LOL. . It's not "gig-critical", so I'll keep my loyalty to Sweetwater and wait. The organ is something I actually need now for some upcoming shows, though I can put together something else to get by.

 

Thank you all again!

C

[Marzzz]

Marzzz: Glad you got your 2600! I've had a Blue 2600 on early order from Sweetwater since December 20 --it's now expected August LOL. . It's not "gig-critical", so I'll keep my loyalty to Sweetwater and wait.

I placed my order for both the Black/Orange and the Grey Meanie with Sweetwater in early January, and got the B/O in April. It is huge fun (I have never dabbled in modular before) and sounds great. The Grey Meanie came up a couple of weeks ago, but I passed on it and made someone else happy because I didn't see/hear a real difference and don't particularly care about having a spring reverb.

[elif]

I bought a Behringer X32 Rack shipped to the US and saved a ton. However, I needed a plug-in accessory card looked at under warranty but Behringer would not honor it because it was not purchased in the US. The policy probably varies by manufacturer but it is something to consider.

[JohnH]

Most companies, if you purchase outside of the country you are in there will be no warranty. So check with the manufacturer first. The warranty policies are always on their website also.

[KeyboardEric]

I ordered a Deep Mind 6 in the early part of the year from Thomann when they were hard to find here in the states. It came quickly, packaged well and even saved $. Would recommend.

[Sam CA]

Not a keyboard but bought a 2 tiers Jasper keyboard stand from them 6 years ago. I think the local post office charged me an additional $15 or $20 import fee or something. It was packaged pretty well.

[RABid]

Bought a few Doepfter modules from them years ago when they were hard to get in the US. Well, not hard to get, but limited to dealers who sold at full price. Never had a problem with delivery and never had to deal with customs or import taxes. My only issue is when my credit cards decided that buying from an overseas store was an indication of fraud. Made three orders and they all went well.

[pjd]

Bought a wheeled gig bag that couldn't be found in the States and a Behringer B205D. No problems.

 

As to the Behringer, it was waaaay cheaper than USA retailers, even taking shipping cost into account. Maybe because both are German companies? The B205D was cheap enough that I didn't worry about warranty. That would be a concern if buying a synth or other instrument, tho'.

 

-- pj

[Dave Bryce]

I bought a K&M (also a German company) stand from Thomann a few month back. Same experience as pjd - way cheaper than I could get in in the US, including the delivery. Warranty not an issue.

 

dB