Is Big Apple Buddy Trustworthy

H

HashiraMadara

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Big Apple Buddy, a company formed by group of "Lawyers and Tech Enthusiasts" offers buying Apple Products and latest tech for non Americans who can't wait for it to reach their shores or shipped prices are too expensive.

Since Core Group has been ripping us, Macbook Pro 15" base model is around R45k yet in dollars converted it's around R32k.

What BAB does is get you the product at the cost of $50 documents free(no need for import taxes, etc).

OR SO I HEARD... Is there anyone here who's used this company before?
www.bigapplebuddy.com
 
NOT always the fact

I have imported a lot of items from over seas. It depends on how thoroughly Customs do there job. You can get smacked import duties for a t-shirt if they feel to do there job correctly.
 
Even if they can get it for you at the US rates, you will be taxed to death upon arrival in SA:

Will I be charged customs duties or import taxes?

This depends on which country you are shipping to and what items you are buying.

If you would like an estimate of the potential customs duties/import taxes for your particular order, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Your local customs office will also be able to provide you with a quote for these charges.
Click to expand...
 
Tman* said:
Even if they can get it for you at the US rates, you will be taxed to death upon arrival in SA:

Will I be charged customs duties or import taxes?
Click to expand...
On a laptop you'll pay VAT.
 
I offer the same services as BAB but obviously based in South Africa.

The $50 they charge DOES NOT and will NEVER include Customs / Duty / VAT. Like us, that's just an admin fee.

You pay VAT on anything you bring in. Regardless.

For example... I just brought in a Kindle Voyage as a use case. With the original Origami Amazon case.

After item, shipping, insurance and customs costs, the final price was R3500 to the client. Buying it here would have cost between R5000 - R7000 (if you opt for the original case).

So in short, I would rather deal with a local person who I can speak to on the phone, instead of BAB (which is a good company, no doubt).

So I might be able to help if anyone is interested.
 
A late reply, but may help others.

I just ordered some items from Big Apple Buddy after eBay refused to ship the item to SA. eBay refunded the cost and postage, but I still lost out on the original Black Friday special and on the exchange rate. :-(

Poor show eBay, the items were not dangerous or restricted.

The Big Apple Buddy website was simple and easy to place the order. They do, however, really know how to add on the handling charges (in true New York style!), but they're transparent with how they charge.

Delivery is via Fedex and it took a month to arrive in Cape Town. This includes two weeks for the order to go from Best Buy in New York to Big Apple Buddy in New York, then another two weeks to be shipped by Fedex to Cape Town. To be fair, Covid played a part in the delivery delay, but the admin of Fedex is crap and I had to phone them multiple times to to confirm that I'd paid the customs/VAT to them within 2 hours of their initial request for payment.

The two items were packed securely in one parcel and the inclusion of a hand-written note to thank me for using Big Apple Buddy and wishing me well over the festive season was a nice touch.

I'd certainly use them again, but just be aware of their additional charges when comparing costs.
 
p51mustang said:
A late reply, but may help others.

I just ordered some items from Big Apple Buddy after eBay refused to ship the item to SA. eBay refunded the cost and postage, but I still lost out on the original Black Friday special and on the exchange rate. :-(

Poor show eBay, the items were not dangerous or restricted.

The Big Apple Buddy website was simple and easy to place the order. They do, however, really know how to add on the handling charges (in true New York style!), but they're transparent with how they charge.

Delivery is via Fedex and it took a month to arrive in Cape Town. This includes two weeks for the order to go from Best Buy in New York to Big Apple Buddy in New York, then another two weeks to be shipped by Fedex to Cape Town. To be fair, Covid played a part in the delivery delay, but the admin of Fedex is crap and I had to phone them multiple times to to confirm that I'd paid the customs/VAT to them within 2 hours of their initial request for payment.

The two items were packed securely in one parcel and the inclusion of a hand-written note to thank me for using Big Apple Buddy and wishing me well over the festive season was a nice touch.

I'd certainly use them again, but just be aware of their additional charges when comparing costs.
Click to expand...
What did you end up buying and and what was the cost breakdown?
 
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