Help! Synth purchase and import fees (Europe to US)

[johnchop]

Hey folks… figured there’s a smart person here who knows the deal:

 

I found what I think is a good synth deal from a well known European music retailer. If you’re familiar with the works of Thomas Mann, then you can probably guess who.

 

The shipper is UPS. 
 

The retailer does not deal with customs and import duties, and I assume I will have to pay these separately to UPS before the package can be delivered.

 

The item is around $1500. Should I expect to get soaked here?

 

Put another way, are US retailers already absorbing the import cost with their markup, and therefore it’s a wash if I just buy from the usual suspects here?

 

Appreciate your insights.

-John

 

[johnchop]

Welp… saw some guidance on another forum …seems like the main issue is waiting on your order from customs… but still interested to hear the collective KC wisdom on this 

[Doerfler]

1 hour ago, johnchop said:

The item is around $1500. Should I expect to get soaked here?

 

Short answer is yes.

 

I have made purchases from aforementioned dealer.

 

IIRC, the dealer will inform you of impending fees on their website during checkout. Keep any purchases under US $800.00 and you should be OK. 

 

[Shamanzarek]

From various reports I've seen over the years you are more likely to get soaked for customs/duties if UPS handles the shipping. Many people have said DHL is much better at getting merchandise through customs often with no additional charges.

[Nathanael_I]

Here in CA, I get a bill for state sales tax from the revenue service about 3-5 months after the item arrives. Customs duties, if any, must be paid before the item arrives to you.  Synths from Europe have duty. I don’t remember the percentage, but it can be looked up in via HTS code (harmonized tariff system).  All these tariffs are a matter of law and customs treaties. For simple stuff UPS or FedEx will sort it all for you and bill you for the customs fees. If you are buying a custom instrument, shipped DHL or other commercial type carrier, you may need to hire a customs broker to get your shipment through. I’ve done it both ways. If you need to wire money overseas, I recommend Wise instead of your bank. You will save significantly. 

[johnchop]

After action report:

 

I ended up saving over $400 buying from EU in this instance (Virus TI2 desktop).

 

UPS tacked on a $12 brokerage fee, and the customs fee was as expected (~5%).

 

State tax bill may indeed be on the way eventually.

 

All in all a smooth transaction. I did need to snag a US-compatible power cord for the adapter. Hardly a problem.

I probably wouldn’t buy a keyboard from overseas, but this relatively small, solid rectangular box of circuits was just fine. 
 

 

[RABid]

Interesting. I have bought from them several times and never had to pay anything extra, but my purchases have always been less than $400. Always either Eurorack modules or guitar pedals. The one complaint I do often hear is they usually ship with the EU specific power supply and chords. That is why I stick to modules and pedals. But sometimes you can find some really good deals. The last batch of modules I bought from them was from a German company and much cheaper than the US prices.

[Stokely]

My first Thomann purchase (from the states) was on a Kurzweil PC4, the price was insanely good.  Thomann was kind enough to contact me before making the purchase final to let me know about the possible issues:

iirc, anything over 800 dollars was going to be subject to an import fee.  Unfortunately they couldn't tell me how much that was going to be, but they said it could be 25% or more.

Secondly, and I think they mentioned made in China gear in particular, that the keyboard could be hung up in customs.  My wife is from China and has done a ton of international importing for her businesses and I wanted no part of that.   Customs has made life hell for her at times.

As noted, keep in mind you probably will need a different power supply if it's a wall wart.

I still have bought some stuff from them, my criteria is:
- under 800 bucks
- something I'm reasonably sure won't break/need to be returned  (for gear where that is more possible I favor Sweetwater or Guitar Center)
- obviously the price + shipping has to be a fair bit lower than a deal I can get from Sweetwater or GC, I have gotten some decent ones by asking.

I've picked up a K&M stand and accessories, a Lester K pedal and I think a few odds and ends.  Saved a lot.

If you are going to buy several things, buy them in one order because overall shipping doesn't really change (I've even had it go down when I added an item to the order, which is....?)

---

Tacking on to say that I might well exceed 800 if I knew for sure the fee was only 5% like johnchop's was...very interesting.   Too bad Nord won't ship from there because when I first checked, the prices on those were WAY lower than anywhere else.  Not sure about now.

[Shamanzarek]

I tried to order the Nord triple pedal and gig bag from Thomann because the price was much lower and nothing electronic to worry about but they wouldn't ship those items to the States let alone a Stage 3.

[JohnH]

You should also check the warranty policy. Most products if you didn't buy it in the USA there won't be any warranty. The warranty is only for each country it's sold in. And as you have already found out distributors in each country can't sell outside their borders either.

[johnchop]

FYI the adapter allows for 100-240v input and still outputs 2A / 12V so no issues other than a compatible lead from the brick to the wall. I ordered another one from Kemper US as a backup. I have a cat and the wire from the brick to the unit is pretty thin… and potentially delicious.

 

Weird about Nord. Must be a distributor arrangement.

I was expecting the customs fee and was prepared to argue it down if they misclassified the shipment. But all went ok.

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, JohnH said:

You should also check the warranty policy. Most products if you didn't buy it in the USA there won't be any warranty. The warranty is only for each country it's sold in. And as you have already found out distributors in each country can't sell outside their borders either.

Ah good point. Will do. 

[Doerfler]

On 9/23/2022 at 4:36 PM, johnchop said:

Weird about Nord. Must be a distributor arrangement.

Yes