Shipping in Speakers from the UK

[brendonwp]

Hi all

I'm 'refreshing' my hifi setup and want to get some decent speakers. Looking at reviews on the net and my budget I'm keen to get the Tannoy Mercury V4s (269GBP on Amazon.co.uk). Unfortunately Amazon in the UK doesn't want to ship to SA, and mybroadband has a couple of threads on how they stopped sending electronics here in January. A quick google hasn't turned up any other sites selling the Tannoys that will do international shipping.

I've heard of various services where you can have your good delivered in the US, and they organise the shipping here. Does anyone know of a similar service in the UK?

The local distributor is selling the speakers for R6500, and there has to be a way of importing them for less than that.

Thanks! B

[brendonwp]

I have found the "Request a quote" feature on Takealot.co.za. It just returns "Out of stock" for this URL:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tannoy-Mercury-Floorstanding-Speakers-SPEAKER/dp/B006LLLU8S/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1338417555&sr=1-2

:wtf:

[ichigo]

I have found the "Request a quote" feature on Takealot.co.za. It just returns "Out of stock" for this URL:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tannoy-Mercury-Floorstanding-Speakers-SPEAKER/dp/B006LLLU8S/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1338417555&sr=1-2

:wtf:

Apparently it means they can't source it from the seller cause they dont deliver to South Africa.

[brendonwp]

OK, so back to my original question - is there a service in the UK that will handle the "last mile" to SA?

[chrisc4290]

Have you factored in the shipping cost, duty and VAT? R 6500 is very cheap for speakers. Imho you need to spend R20k to get anything worthwhile. Have you looked at the classifieds on AVSA and Audio Visual Forum South Afruca?

[brendonwp]

@chris thanks, I will take a look at the AVSA forum and classifieds. I think you can claim back UK VAT if you are taking an item out of the country (17.5%). Shipping cost - I wish I could get a quote. Duty - no idea yet.

That aside, I've browsed a couple of overseas audiophile sites and most of the makes I have never heard of. I think I would rather watch more live concerts than spend much more time researching the quality of my home music system. At the end of the day I want decent sound quality in multiple rooms rather than great sound in one room. I work mostly from home, and end up listening to music over cheap and nasty computer speakers far too often..

[ponder]

You do realise that the cost of shipping those speakers would probably outstrip their value and end up costing you more than buying locally?

Edit: I just checked another UK site that ships internationally and the cheapest option to SA is £235.73. Speakers are big and heavy!

[brendonwp]

You do realise that the cost of shipping those speakers would probably outstrip their value and end up costing you more than buying locally?

Edit: I just checked another UK site that ships internationally and the cheapest option to SA is £235.73. Speakers are big and heavy!

Ouch! Ok, so that is out. What was the name of the site, for interest?

I will probably be travelling to Europe some time next year for work. If I was to buy them there, could I just put them in the hold on the way back? I would have to check excess baggage fees..

[ponder]

Ouch! Ok, so that is out. What was the name of the site, for interest?

I will probably be travelling to Europe some time next year for work. If I was to buy them there, could I just put them in the hold on the way back? I would have to check excess baggage fees..

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/

Yeah sure, put them in the hold if they allow you and you are willing to pay for 15-20kg's of extra weight at some ridiculous rate.

[MR.C]

Can't you arrange with DHL or another international courier company for quotes ?
And more importantly, have you listened to the speakers ?

[chrisc4290]

Excess baggage is just under R300 a kg. You could call Toll Global Forwarding on 021-5309800 and inquire about a part load shipment from the UK. Then your stuff will be part of a container and unpacked at their warehouse in Thornton.

[brendonwp]

Thanks all for suggestions. I'm following up finding a place where I can listen to the Tannoys first. That will also mean finding reference tracks and listening to them carefully on my existing system first. Part of the problem is that I have a garage full of boxes after moving and my amp is packed away still.

I wanted to move on this decision, but things look more complicated than I thought!

@chris - I'll follow up with Global Toll Forwarding if I go with the Tannoys.

Cheers, B