How to get the DR800SG from the US to Europe

[catharsis]

Now that the DR800SG is available in the US, can someone make a calculation about how much will it cost to be shipped to Europe (eg. Finland) with a service like http://www.usunlocked.com/ ? Actually what service would you recommend?

399$ is roughly 295€. The price for Europe is 500€ (roughly 170%) higher.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by catharsis

Now that the DR800SG is available in the US, can someone make a calculation about how much will it cost to be shipped to Europe (eg. Finland) with a service like http://www.usunlocked.com/ ? Actually what service would you recommend?

399$ is roughly 295€. The price for Europe is 500€ (roughly 170%) higher.

After commission, tax, VAT, customs, ... the price in Dollar will add up to about the same amount in Euro.
399 Dollar will end up being between 380 Euro and 440 Euro (sometimes you're lucky = no customs).
I never buy in the US to save money. This only makes sense if you purchase yorself, for example on a business trip. Then you don't have to pay commission or customs.
And don't forget: Difficulties with warranty. And you most likely won't be able to use 3G and the shops on the iRex.
I only purchase in the US, if the respective unit simply isn't available in Europe. If it's available, I usually end up with exactly the same amount. I've ordered Sony 600 from the US. A few weeks later it was available here for exactly the same price I had paid in total. But here I'd have warranty...

The calculation is simple:
ca. 10% commission.
Sometimes ca. 10% sales tax. Depending which unit and where to buy.
ca. $ 40 for shipment to Europe.
Customs and VAT is different for every country. But you can expect ca. 20% of total value (incl. shipment) in Europe.
---> $ 400 unit price + $ 40 commission + $ 40 shipment = $ 480
$ 480 import + ca. $ 80 VAT/customs = ca. $ 560 = ca. 410 Euro

BTW: I can recommend US Unlocked.

Example:
Sony 900 bought via US Unlocked:
$ 399 list price ---> $ 470.79 from US Unlocked = 350 Euro. With shipment, VAT and customs I ended around 400 Euro.
In about 20% of my purchases I've been lucky: No customs and VAT (they simply didn't check the package), but you can't influence that.

[martienne]

What about buying from eBay and specifically telling the seller to ship in a non-descript home made style package that is likely to escape customs attention.
Here in the UK where I live at the moment, customs is hit and miss ---you just can never tell. Is it available on eBay?

Has anyone checked whether it's on sale in Russia? They are big on ebook readers there and the prices are sometimes a lot cheaper for stuff. And sometimes more expensive... But for you in Finland it's almost worth a trip to St Petersburg.

[catharsis]

I admit I want to buy this device from the US just to save money. The European price (500€) does not justify since there is no PDF zoom and no annotation (with those 2 i think it may worth 500€, maybe also if they threw in the box a hardcover or a better stylus).

I don't undestand why there is this huge price difference. I mean, I'm used to the € = $ parity, but why does it cost 100€ more? Since I don't know anything about how taxes work in the US and in Europe, I suppose there is a reasonable explenaition. If not, I just want to buy it from the US just to stick it in the face to iRex.

@martienne: yeah, Russia could be a great option. I have some friends who go quite often to St. Petersburg.

@mgmueller: about the warranty: let's hope they got a good device that has no hardware problems. about the 3g: don't need it, i'm sure it's not working in Europe even though they have a slot for sim card. about the shops: i'm sure i can use some shops from my computer and then read the books from the device (at least i hope so).

later edit: I'm sorry I'm always complaining on this forum, but that's because I still think the DR800 is very close to being a great device, that I want one paying a fair price and because there are few alternatives on the market (at least for the next few months).

[pauli]

St.Petersburg, Russia?
You'll have a bigger chance of finding a DR800SG in a BestBuy store i St.Petersburg, Florida, before that will happen...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by catharsis

I admit I want to buy this device from the US just to save money. The European price (500€) does not justify since there is no PDF zoom and no annotation (with those 2 i think it may worth 500€, maybe also if they threw in the box a hardcover or a better stylus).

I don't undestand why there is this huge price difference. I mean, I'm used to the € = $ parity, but why does it cost 100€ more? Since I don't know anything about how taxes work in the US and in Europe, I suppose there is a reasonable explenaition. If not, I just want to buy it from the US just to stick it in the face to iRex.

@martienne: yeah, Russia could be a great option. I have some friends who go quite often to St. Petersburg.

@mgmueller: about the warranty: let's hope they got a good device that has no hardware problems. about the 3g: don't need it, i'm sure it's not working in Europe even though they have a slot for sim card. about the shops: i'm sure i can use some shops from my computer and then read the books from the device (at least i hope so).

later edit: I'm sorry I'm always complaining on this forum, but that's because I still think the DR800 is very close to being a great device, that I want one paying a fair price and because there are few alternatives on the market (at least for the next few months).

You can shop on your computer, no problem.
But most likely you won't be able to do so directly on the reader. Unless we find a way for VPN on the reader (or you have an advanced router).

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by martienne

What about buying from eBay and specifically telling the seller to ship in a non-descript home made style package that is likely to escape customs attention.
Here in the UK where I live at the moment, customs is hit and miss ---you just can never tell. Is it available on eBay?

Has anyone checked whether it's on sale in Russia? They are big on ebook readers there and the prices are sometimes a lot cheaper for stuff. And sometimes more expensive... But for you in Finland it's almost worth a trip to St Petersburg.

Same here with customs. But I haven't found any "algorithm" (certain day of the week, size or look of package, ...) behind it. Seems to be pure coincidence/luck.

[akey]

My experience with Euro customs:

UPS and Fedex are 90% sure to get customs charges.

Best bet is USPS and marked as gift. If you do not insure the item for its true value (running a risk of course) then it will not raise any flags. No forwarder will likely be willing to do this however... Best bet is to make friends with an American and get him to ship it to you. (I will be in the US from March 14th to April 5th and would have no problem at all helping out).

Using this method I have had over 20-30 packages sent from the US to Spain without a single customs charge.

Now, that might just be Spanish laziness, or my good luck.

[Iñigo]

Originally Posted by akey

My experience with Euro customs:

UPS and Fedex are 90% sure to get customs charges.

Best bet is USPS and marked as gift. If you do not insure the item for its true value (running a risk of course) then it will not raise any flags. No forwarder will likely be willing to do this however... Best bet is to make friends with an American and get him to ship it to you. (I will be in the US from March 14th to April 5th and would have no problem at all helping out).

Using this method I have had over 20-30 packages sent from the US to Spain without a single customs charge.

Now, that might just be Spanish laziness, or my good luck.

Spain? uhmmmm... which town?
Do you offer home service? ;-)

[akey]

Granada.

Entrega a domicilio en persona.... eso te va a costar xD

Kidding aside, I really wouldn't have a problem with helping out.

[Iñigo]

Originally Posted by akey

Granada.

Entrega a domicilio en persona.... eso te va a costar xD

Kidding aside, I really wouldn't have a problem with helping out.

Casualmente estoy en Granada del 28 de abril al 2 de mayo!!!
ejem... hablamos ;_)

[martienne]

Well I don't really understand this.

The reader is about USD 150-200 or more cheaper in the States, at "Best Buy" compared with the British price.

Surely that's got to make it cheaper to order from the US instead of from the UK Irex shop? Shipping couldn't possibly cost that much!
What am I missing here?

There are no cheap ones on eBay, just someone in France, selling them for £450 which is the full price.

According to Best Buys policies they do not ship outside the USA, or to "known mail forwarding companies" (what for!!!!???? we don't treat the yanks that way, why should we be discriminated against by their shops????)

So if I want to buy one from Best Buy and I don't know any American that I want to ask about forwarding it to me, then what do I do, short of buying a plane ticket?

[catharsis]

If you read the thread carefully, there was a site mentioned: www.usunlocked.com

There are also some other site who do that, but this one is recommended by some users here.

[penartur]

There are no cheap ones on eBay, just someone in France, selling them for £450 which is the full price.

shopintheusa ebay seller sells these for $459 plus shipping (e.g. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-iRex-Digital...item3a58660cce )
Also, CAR TOYS store at amazon doesn't have this policy about shipping to known forwarders.

However, you still should pay all the taxes and fees; i believe these are pretty high in EU...

[HansTWN]

I bought mine at the Car Toys store at Amazon and had it sent to www.shipito.com (I can highly recommend them, have used them for several items). The total, including overseas shipment, was only 447.50. Even though I missed the $40 off window (because I was waiting for Irex's confirmation on the feature upgrade) I am not complaining,

Shipito charges no commission, they make a little on the shipping. But I find it very reasonable and service has been very good.