Importing a Celestron CGEM DX 1400 HD fom US

[KE400]

Hi Folks

I've just been looking at the price of a Celestron CGEM DX 1400 HD from the UK which for example priced by one UK supplier at £8300.

I've noticed that if this telescope was bought from a supplier in the states who are pricing this same scope at roughly £4000 + £300 p&p to the UK. If you take the customs charges as 17.5% VAT (£700), it works out around all in, a total price of roughly £5000.

Is this a correct assumption or am I completely off target with this?

Has anyone imported from the states or know about this type of thing? I would appreciate any info or views please.

Thanks

[Kai]

Isnt Vat 20% ?

You will also need to find out the import duty as well and apply it before Vat , i also think Vat is applied to the postage (but i stand to be corrected)

The biggest issue is that most retailers will not supply you as you are outside the States. Factor in as well that if you should have any problems then you would need to ship it back to the states as the warranty will not be covered by the Uk importers.

I know that you might end up saving some £££ but if i was spending thousands i know what i would be doing.

[KE400]

I've just used an Import Tax calculator online and got the following results:

Product description:CELESTRON LCD DELUXE DIGITAL M

Product category:Telescopes

Product value:US$6299.00

Country of manufacture:United States

3

The cost of shipping and insurance of importing

Shipping costs:US$490.00

Total customs value: £4270.99

- Duty: £179.38

- VAT: £890.08

Total import duty & taxes due: £1069.46

Total landed cost: £5340.45

at USD/GBP exchange rate of 0.6291

The seller quotes:

will ship anywhere. For orders outside the USA and Canada. Foreign buyers are responsible for their customs tax & brokerage fees. For Foreign Bidders. NOTE - ********* does ship to other countries under these terms. We insure the item for the Purchase value + Shipping value. We declare the actual purchase value of the item when shipping.

If this is correct, it's a saving of around £3000 on the UK prices!

[beamish]

looks about right !

[KE400]

Surely it can't be, a saving of 3G !!!

For anyone considering purchasing such an item it's a no brainer then really compared to the UK pricing.

I find the difference in pricing astonishing !!!!!

[Plantins]

I think the total import costs are 24% of the total amount including shipping.

I also think the $490 shipping quote is way off.

A friend of mine got a shipping quote from a US retailer last month just for a refractor and was quoted $400. He agreed to this and purchased the refractor. It turned out the $400 quote was shipping to a UK airport. The cost to ship to his home was a further $300 making a total of $700. I think the shipping costs from the US to the UK are at an all-time high.

I still think there is money to be saved but I reckon the shipping charge will be more like $1400 and total cost around £7000.

Forgot to mention the courier company here in the UK also add a charge for them releasing/picking up the package from customs.

[johninderby]

Celestron won't allow US or Canadian dealers to ship new scopes to the UK or they lose their dealership. You'll probably find that the statement that the dealer will ship anywhere doesn't apply to all products. I've come across where you can place an order on-line and then the US dealer won't go through with it when they realise it's a Celestron product being shipped to the UK.

Ask them if they will and see what they say.

John

[KE400]

Thanks, I've just emailed them regarding the total cost to ship to the UK as mentioned above.

If there is a problem to send to the UK I'm sure they will let me know!

[E621Keith]

Option 1

UK CGEM EdgeHD 14 £8300

Option 2

CGEM EdgeHD 14 £4000 (free shipping within USA), Fedex shipping 85kg from USA £1200, Tax and import duty (say 25%) £1300. Flight to New York + 2 nights hotel FOR TWO PEOPLE £1600. Total £8100.

Option 1 pros

Full UK warranty and support

Option 2 pros

£200 saving

Keep the other half happy when the scope arrives

[fireballxl5]

Hi

I imported a GEM mount from the good old USA and paid the following charges...

(cost of mount + shipping charge) x 1.04 [import duty] x 1.175 [was VAT @17.5%]

HTH

Andy

[pete_l]

Celestron won't allow US or Canadian dealers to ship new scopes to the UK or they lose their dealership

Easily circumvented, have a look at companies like MyUS.com Just so long as your credit card company / vendor will allow delivery to a third-party address.

[johninderby]

But there will be no warranty in the UK so if anything goes wrong you either ship it back to the US or pay for the repairs yourself.

John

[KE400]

I've just got word from the supplier, the p&p on this item would be an extra charge and would have to be DHL rather than the USPS stated, therefore resulting in a higher fee.

There is also the issue of the warranty being void on the scope with it being outside the US which as mentioned by folk on here on a scope like that is daunting to say the least if anything untoward happened to it including the mount.

I'm pleased I brought the topic up though as I'm sure I won't be the 1st to have calculated the differences in price. The warranty issue would be the thing that puts me off however, I've had issues with astro equipment in the near past which was solved by our good friends at FLO via the warranty so won't be importing I'm afraid!

[James4]

Being originally from Scotland, I feel very lucky now living in Canada when I see the UK Scope prices in `The Sky At Night`magazine for instance. In many cases the prices are almost pounds for dollars. Although the US to Canada import has also been a real thorn in Canadian Astronomer`s sides. Shipping and Customs and Brokerage fees have at times in the past almost doubled the US Dollar price.

Recently a store near Vancouver (Canadian Telescopes) has offered a full range (from various manufacturers) products with Free Shipping. At first I thought there must be a catch - but no, I purchased first a C9.25 and later a CGEM with no shipping charges. Those would have cost over $300 just on shipping without brokerage fees.

When Celestron in The US put The CGEM and other mounts on sale (reduced from $1499 to $1199) for April - the sale is still on btw - I couldn`t say no anymore.

Free shipping and $300 off! Finally we Canadian Astronomers caught a break!

With regard to the question at the top of the thread, I would book a return flight to `Ocean Side Photo and Telescope` in California and take the whole rig home. Most US carriers will accept one item of either sporting goods (can be surf boards, golf clubs, a bike, etc) or a musical instrument at no charge. I wouldn`t be surprised if at least the scope could be transported under one of the headings. I think the weight of the mount would rule it out.

[ollypenrice]

Your other option would be to look at the Orion Optics UK ODK range. I don't know your intended use but for DS imaging the ODK is well ahead.

Olly

[Cjg]

I enquired about purchasing a Televe from Scope City in New York - they replied that the manufacturer had placed restrictions on them to not sell outside of the USA - am not very good on long haul.....but at those prices.

Chris

[Robbie688]

Just ordered one from the uk... Hope its worth it .

[John]

Just ordered one from the uk... Hope its worth it .

Hello and welcome to the forum

Thats an impressive scope you have ordered - I helped unpack a 14" SCT once and could hardly believe how large it was and the boxes it came in !