Buy Broken/Secondhand Kobo

[mercuree]

I see quite a few posts here, and elsewhere, with people who have upgraded their Kobo devices due to age or due to a failing component.

I am in the market for a "new" Kobo (My Glo got really badly smashed - beyond repair.).

Due to a lack of resellers and really high import duties here - prices are prohibitively expensive even on second hand ones. A second hand Aura goes for around the price of an entry level laptop here!

That said, does anyone have old/unwanted Kobos lying around (Glo or newer) that they would like to sell?

For instance I saw a post with someone whose power button had stopped working, so they upgraded. This is something I could easily fix myself. Even cracked screens are not too difficult to repair, depending on the availability of spares.

[JohhnyMix]

I would just check ebay or aliexpress because they sell em pretty cheap and if you ask the seller to ship it to you with a lower value you have almost zero chance of getting caught.

[mercuree]

I have been checking ebay. But shipping here literally doubles the price on anything. Even if I did the shipping myself I would only save a bit.

After (17% import tax +15% value added tax) + 35% Ad-Hoc tax (we get forced to provide proof of payment and original invoice at customs) never mind the horrendous exchange rate - I may as well just go buy a second hand Apple Macbook to replace my aging one.

Whereas if I buy something that is broken, there are 0% import fees. Likewise components, when imported raise 0% fees.

So basically getting a slightly damaged kobo second hand, and buying the screen/component (if I can't replace it from my own stuff) will mean I end up paying around what one goes for in a First World country.

It works the same with those cheapo motorcycles here. Importers buy them in parts and assemble them here to save on the massive import duties.

[mercuree]

For instance, the Kobo Aura 2, if I purchase it new, locally, is 65% more expensive than if I purchased it from Kobo directly.

Not even the Glo HD is much cheaper. They all start at around the same price. People don't understand the concept of devaluation here.

[mercuree]

FYI someone pointed me to http://chapters.ca quite a fair amount to be saved after currency conversion there. I still sit with the import duties issue.