Importing computing equipment from the US: Will you save money?

On my way right now to pick up my iPad in the US :-) no tax, no shipping and definitely not planning on declaring it for import duty and VAT.

In general, the US state tax thing is avoidable if you purchase your item from a business based in one state and ship it to another. This doesn't always work though, as some states (NY for instance) have started to levy state tax on internet purchases where the business has a presence in the state (such as a warehouse in the case of Amazon, or the Apple Stores for Apple).
 
Jola said:
Yes, the US tax is incorrect, you don't pay that for exports.

The SA taxes also look too high, you only pay VAT on computers.

And I agree that the courier fees are way too high.

I have recently imported a notebook, and a netbook, the costs were way lower than indicated in these examples.
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For import duties work on 17% ... SARS has its moods and they charge between 14.7% and 17%. I import from the UK with some other guys and we've learn't to budget on 17% (but its always a bonus when the do it at 14.7%)

2nd, do not forget your clearing agent fees of R300 unless your registered as an importer. SARS has been hitting importers hard the last few months.

But I do agree on courier fees ... it too excessive.
 
As mentioned in the article, these are not estimates, but rather real-life examples. You may well be able to do it cheaper, but then please tell us how and give exact figures (not estimates or theoretical examples please).

This is what the article is about: Real world costs.
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Impossible to compare - for one, what the heck is a custom Lenovo blah blah? Specs will help us.

As for the no warranty comments of some forumites... don't buy unless it comes with international warranty... I know I don't.
 
Importing from USA is worth it!

I am re posting the reply I made to another thread here. The other thread involved uncertainty about importing a camera from the USA, warranty status of grey market goods and sought advice about the online retailer, 'Newegg'.................

I have ordered 2 complete PC’s in component form from Newegg, the first in 2007, the second in 2009 and brought these back to Durban with me from California. I had excellent service from Newegg, prompt delivery to my California address, no mistakes made in component selection or in the billing of my Visa card. The Visa card I use does have the California billing address to which the delivery from Newegg was made, so if this is an issue for you, make sure they will deliver to the USA address you want them to.
The selection of product at Newegg is really good, the prices are some of the best in the USA and they only stock the latest kit, so no obsolete stuff to be found there. I always over research anything I buy, so I am familiar with the online ordering game in the USA. In addition, by ordering ‘out of state’, you will avoid paying the any State Sales Tax that may be applicable if you shop at a local brick-and-mortar store. (You mention your friend being in NY and Newegg is based in California, so you should make a tax saving).
Regarding ‘grey imports’ and warranties. There is such a huge saving to be made buying in the USA compared to the rip-off pricing in South Africa that I felt the risk was worth taking in my case. Most warranties will not be honoured in SA because while it is the actual manufacturer that is distributing/supplying the goods in the USA, here in SA it is usually some greedy local ‘entrepreneur’ agent who will use his exclusive supply agreement to gouge as much out of you as he can. There is also the fact that SA is a country of ‘middlemen’ and each wants his profit. Remember, these ‘box movers’ have to finance their comfortable lifestyles out of as high a mark-up as the market will bear.
Should your item fail under warranty, you can always send it by courier to the USA for repair after registering it, (via the serial number), with customs in South Africa. No import duty will be payable upon its return. Despite the costs involved in using a courier service, the huge savings you originally made will more than cover this. In fact, the savings you made can be so large that you could just order another item in the USA, (perhaps a later model by then), and throw away the faulty one. Who says the product will fail anyway!
 
Same here....I imported numerous car audio items from the US and it cost far cheaper than purchasing locally. )

The US guys just marked the package as "gift" , "sample" or "prototype" and no taxes incurred and no duties paid on my side. Used the US Postal Service + insurance , very reasonable.

Most items worked out to more than a 40% difference to what you would have piad in SA.
Also some of the products are not carried by the local agents.

Same goes for books ( Exculsive books wanted R1100 for the "Skinny B!tch" series.
I imported it from the US for R350 incl DVD and courier)
 
Here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160395239272&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1123
Brand *NEW* Apple MacBook 2.26GHz 4GB DDR3 RAM 500GB HD ZAR 8432-00
Condition: New, Sealed in Box Processor Type: Intel Core 2 Duo
Product Family: MacBook Processor Speed (per Core): 2.26 GHz
Screen Size: 13 inch Processor Configuration: Dual Core
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard Memory (RAM): 4 GB
Primary Drive: Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Hard Drive Capacity: 500 GB

USPS Express Mail International $70.25 ZAR 512-00

Add R300 clearing agent fees, 17% import duties... total ZAR 10815.48


Let me find a local price...

Best I could find was:
http://www.zastore.co.za/macbook.php
MacBook White R11 000. (Includes shipping).
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz
White polycarbonate unibody enclosure
2GB DDR3 Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Glass Multi-Touch trackpad

Considerably lower spec machine. Half the RAM and half the HDD and nowhere can I find a place to up the specs and get what I want... oh, and it's out of stock :/
 
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rpm said:
I see a few guys may misunderstand the article: We are not estimating costs – this is actually what it cost to import the item. We mentioned that there are cheaper ways to do it, but this is at least two real-life examples.
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:confused:

Did the actual cost included US TAX?
 
rpm...

you gotta be joking...

stop supporting the local retailers (CORE) by misleading people!
 
I seriously wonder why I come here if this is what there is to read....

* sighs *
 
Wow - the courier fee - its almost the same price as sending a 75kg subwoofer from the states :eek:
 
midkemia said:
rpm...you gotta be joking...stop supporting the local retailers (CORE) by misleading people!
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Can you please give the exact figues to import stuff? Easy to say the article is inaccurate - but then surely you have more accurate figures than us? Please share.
 
If you want the article to improve your local sales then you need to at least include your website address in the article, I can't see any other purpose for the ammount of misinfomration in this article
 
rpm said:
Can you please give the exact figues to import stuff? Easy to say the article is inaccurate - but then surely you have more accurate figures than us? Please share.
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BradBowlLlama said:
Here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160395239272&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1123
Brand *NEW* Apple MacBook 2.26GHz 4GB DDR3 RAM 500GB HD ZAR 8432-00
Condition: New, Sealed in Box Processor Type: Intel Core 2 Duo
Product Family: MacBook Processor Speed (per Core): 2.26 GHz
Screen Size: 13 inch Processor Configuration: Dual Core
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard Memory (RAM): 4 GB
Primary Drive: Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Hard Drive Capacity: 500 GB

USPS Express Mail International $70.25 ZAR 512-00

Add R300 clearing agent fees, 17% import duties... total ZAR 10815.48


Let me find a local price...

Best I could find was:
http://www.zastore.co.za/macbook.php
MacBook White R11 000. (Includes shipping).
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz
White polycarbonate unibody enclosure
2GB DDR3 Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Glass Multi-Touch trackpad

Considerably lower spec machine. Half the RAM and half the HDD and nowhere can I find a place to up the specs and get what I want... oh, and it's out of stock :/
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THe availability issue is why places like wantitall can make money. However, in the case of Core, I blame Apple themselves for our market hashup.
 
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When I bought my Asus JH73 I did the same exercise and came to the same conclusion..

I can understand why so many people are getting upset, RPM, youre bursting their bubbles! :D

Honestly , buying my machine locally only cost me about R300 more and I could go and collect it instead of waiting for the damn thing.
I must admit tho, in some cases, especially apple products, it is cheaper to buy it over there..

I am currently looking at buying an iPad for my wife. Since the apple store won't ship to SA directly I have to get it shipped to a friend. So I will be paying the local tax. The 32 gig Wifi comes to $671.96 At the exchange rate (buying) of about R8 to the dollar that comes to R5375.68. For them to ship it to me will cost about R600 insured. So that's a lot more than the R4300 everyone seems to think, but its still a crapload less than wantitall at R7600 and R8839 at Igear.

I think the point of the article is to show that the price you see on the web is not the price you pay.
 
Firstly, one doesn't go to the official overseas online retailers - one will normally use an eBay seller (with high rating, obviously) or other who will typically charge below the RRP.

Also, courier charges are silly. One can save hundreds if not thousands by using an insured USPS option and waiting 1 - 2 months instead.
 
Hi Madman88

Thanks for the support here – not easy :)

I think many people miss the facts about the article: These are not estimations, but real figures. The argument should therefore not be ‘the article is inaccurate’, but rather ‘there are better ways to import stuff to save money’.

It is easy to say a product costs $499, convert to Rands using xe.com, add courier fees and you have the total. This is simply not accurate, which is what the article points out. You lose money on the currency conversion, you have to pay SA VAT (and in some cases import taxes) and the like.

This is why I ask for real world examples of actual total costs of importing equipment, NOT estimations by using US and local prices – which is exactly why the article was done in the first place!
 
Well - I personally import just about everything these days, car parts, toys, IT stuff, sound equipment, and it almost always ends up more than 30% cheaper than buying locally.

I might not have a 'local' warranty - but considering my experiences with South African service, I'm not really sacrificing much.

I guess its each to their own - but I won't support SA suppliers with their excessive mark-ups - and terrible after-sales service.

There are very few SA suppliers I support these days.

EDIT: e.g. Honda want R600 for a rubber window seal - it costs $20 in the US... $10 shipping, 20% customs + 14% VAT = R300 - half price from half way across the world. AND - it'll take one/two weeks to get here, as opposed to Honda's 21 WORKING day time to get stock locally.
 
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xrapidx said:
I guess its each to their own - but I won't support SA suppliers with their excessive mark-ups - and terrible after-sales service.

There are very few SA suppliers I support these days.
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That is a sad truth. I can count the suppliers I can rely on on one hand.
 
I imported a Lenovo laptop from the US, bought on eBay, a couple of months ago. Total cost after shipping and VAT (Which was the only tax, I might add): R6800.
Local price: R11 000.

Another example is that I bought a fairly decent set of headphones. Local price would be around R1800. I paid R~780 after taxes and it had free international shipping.

Yeah, it's kinda cheaper to import, I reckon :p
 
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