If you have a chance to go Astro shopping in USA...

[ismangil]

What would you buy?

Eyepieces like TV or ES seems nice. Orion stuff is cheap.

A few more gadgets seems to be available, equatorial platforms for example.

A suitcase Dob maybe?

Hmmm....

Anything else?

On mobile (excuse the strange predictive words...)

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I think EP's. Something you could slip in your bag and not have to declare at the other end, cant do that with a telescope lol. Not to mention extra baggage costs.

[JB80]

Well that's something I have looked into recently and I would say a telescope. Especially one of the makes you are forbidden from ordering from the US.

Lets look at a Edge HD 11", it's the best part of 4 grand. Same scope in the US is £2,100. Extra baggage costs are a lot cheaper than I was expecting as well and even if you do end up paying your 20ish percent on tax your still well over a grand up.

So it's a no brainer for me. A large SCT would be on my list.

[Beulah]

Explore Scientific eyepieces! I had the opportunity to acquire some this year at a discount but didn't have the money at the time. Very good eyepieces.

[ismangil]

Good suggestions all...

On mobile (excuse the strange predictive words...)

[John]

Well that's something I have looked into recently and I would say a telescope. Especially one of the makes you are forbidden from ordering from the US.

Lets look at a Edge HD 11", it's the best part of 4 grand. Same scope in the US is £2,100. Extra baggage costs are a lot cheaper than I was expecting as well and even if you do end up paying your 20ish percent on tax your still well over a grand up.

So it's a no brainer for me. A large SCT would be on my list.

Good idea but I have a feeling that they would still not honor the warranty though, if anything went wrong with it.

[JB80]

This is a calculated risk, the warranty would only be of any use if you returned it to the US which is probably not worth the hassle.

But how much value would you put on a warranty compared to how much you can save? £1500?

Basically for the same money here(EU) you are looking at secondhand gear which wouldn't be covered either, and may be a number of years old. Not that that should impact the quality of the equipment but the appeal of a new product is quite strong.

However if you chose to buy secondhand from North America you could save even more.

[Capricorn]

I would probably get anything that didn't get out of my reach immediatly.

Few eyepiece sets, couple of scopes, TMB's probably.

Worst would be NEAF, often a lot of bargains there, so even more goodies.

How much is it to charter a FedEx cargo plane?

[Dunkster]

Depends how much you want to save... the ES eyepieces are a bargain at the moment (especially the larger ones), and the TV are discounted 10% on either side of the pond at the moment...

Would love a C14 myself but a small frac might be easier to carry/pack away

[sologuitarist61]

I think you may all be forgetting import duty and VAT to be added - unless you want to smuggle them into the country - surely not?

[Dunkster]

Not at all... on astro kit it works out at about 25% added. When the kit is half price or less than here, still works out a decent saving

[sologuitarist61]

Not at all... on astro kit it works out at about 25% added. When the kit is half price or less than here, still works out a decent saving

Really? That's not bad - I was looking at the ADM site the other day and was surprised at how much cheaper it was, but the thought of what I might have to pay to get it into the country put me off buying - I must do my sums again.

[E621Keith]

I think you may all be forgetting import duty and VAT to be added - unless you want to smuggle them into the country - surely not?

There is a duty free allowance on how much you can bring back tax free. I think it's around £400 per person which is more than the price of an Ethos 13 in the US.

If you go there with your wife and kids then you can really bring back quite a few goodies legally

[Dunkster]

1350593002[/url'>' post='1674803']

Really? That's not bad - I was looking at the ADM site the other day and was surprised at how much cheaper it was, but the thought of what I might have to pay to get it into the country put me off buying - I must do my sums again.

As Keith says, it helps just happening to be there with others otherwise watch the shipping costs as they ramp up pretty quickly.

[Naemeth]

No-one is advocating tax evasion here. Look at customs charges, expect the worst and if it still works out at a saving, then it's worth getting.

On a similar but different note, a few years ago I worked out for the amount you would save by getting the entire Adobe suite in the USA, you could pay for your flight there and back, a hotel and you'd still have some more spending money. .

[x6gas]

Imported my Edge 11" HD and CGEM DX from the US and even with international shipping, import duty and VAT saved well over a grand.... Until FLO put them on special offer a couple of weeks later

I do understand that the retailer is not supposed to do this, and yet they are one of the biggest Celestron retailers in the USA and were "Top 10 Celestron retailer 2010". In any case they were happy to take my custom and gave excellent service.

I must admit that having the mount without a warranty was a bit of a worry - and shipping the mount head alone back to the US would be expensive, but it's a chance I took and I've been fortunate not to have any problems. To be honest, a big part of my decision was anger at the importer perpertuating rip off Britain - I don't blame the UK retailers at all, but what possible justification is there for such a price differential between Europe and the US when all of this kit comes from China? Course my anger might be misdirected and perhaps I should be miffed at the manufacturer...

[Cjg]

A Televue TV 85 was in the summer on sale at Adorama (and others) for $1999.95 with exactly the same kit (Plossl, diagonal, case) as in the UK, where it currently is priced at around £2030, £2049.

It's price now is $2280 http://www.adorama.com/TV85RI.html Using www.XE.com that equates to £1421.02 The £600 difference would at the right time cover the cost of a weekend trip to NY.

How tempting is it?

Chris

[x6gas]

Also brought back a US made Fender guitar as checked luggage. Declared it at customs at Heathrow and the nice customs man told me not to worry about it; he obviously had bigger fish to fry .

[ismangil]

There is a duty free allowance on how much you can bring back tax free. I think it's around £400 per person which is more than the price of an Ethos 13 in the US.

If you go there with your wife and kids then you can really bring back quite a few goodies legally

Correct, £390 to be exact: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm

As long as you don't allow your family to buy anything else, each can bring an Ethos...

On mobile (excuse the strange predictive words...)

[L8-Nite]

At my age, I think I have everything necessary for my level of interest in this hobby, however, if I were to shop overseas, I would buy items which are very unlikely to be upgraded, or available here.

Like many things in life, it's what you "don't know", that costs you. Knowing the "technicalities" in regards to shipping can make the difference on how much you pay; kind of like going direct, and not through a middle man.

Shipping a large item internationally is going to be expensive. the way to ship with the least amount of financial grief is to ship by UPS; here's how. . .

1.) Once you buy an item, look through it or try it, it becomes a used item.

1.) Send the Item from yourself, to yourself; Its already personal property.

2.) Fill out the value as, say one dollar on the form; now you have "no claim" if lost or damaged.

3.) Fill out a "separate" insurance form with UPS insurance for the full value which you can substantiate.

Getting the paperwork right, will get your items direct to your door and bypass a lot of undesired red tape; all above board and legal.

[x6gas]

At my age, I think I have everything necessary for my level interest in this hobby, howeever, if I were to buy shop overseas, I would buy items which are very unlikely to be upgraded, or available here.

Like many things in life, it's what you "don't know", that costs you. Knowing the "technicalities" in regards to shipping can make the difference on how much you pay; kind of like going direct, and not through a middle man.

Shipping a large item internationally is going to be expensive. the way to ship with the least amount of financial grief is to ship by UPS; heres how. . .

1.) Once you buy an item, look through it or try it, it becomes a used item.

1.) Send the Item from yourself, to yourself; Its already personal property.

2.) Fill out the value as, say one dollar on the form; now you have "no claim" if lost or damaged.

3.) Fill out a "separate" insurance form with UPS insurance for the full value which you can substantiate.

Getting the paperwork right, will get your items direct to your door and bypass a lot of undesired red tape.

Fair enough, but it's not honest to fill out the value as a dollar is it. Wouldn't that invalidate the UPS insurance? If your argument about from yourself to yourself stands up (and I guess it makes sense as that would be the case if you were e.g. moving house) I guess you are saying that this means you are not liable for import duty. That being so then why do you need to declare the value as a dollar? Why not just list the (true) second hand value?

[E621Keith]

Correct, £390 to be exact: http://www.hmrc.gov....rivingnoneu.htm

As long as you don't allow your family to buy anything else, each can bring an Ethos...

On mobile (excuse the strange predictive words...)

There's no need to be draconian, £390 is a lot of souvenirs and not everyone will use up that limit. A few months ago I was in Japan with several colleagues and their excess allowance allowed me to bring back a NAV-HW under the limit.

[L8-Nite]

......why do you need to declare the value as a dollar? Why not just list the (true) second hand value?

Because then you would have to pay insurance on the first form. The separate UPS personal insurance is cheaper.

EDIT: It's all in the technicalities. Filling in the box with $1.oo satisfies the computer program, so it can determine what the next step is to process the shipment; certin boxes have to be filled in weather they apply or not.

[x6gas]

Because then you would have to pay insurance on the first form. The separate UPS personal insurance is cheaper.

EDIT: It's all in the technicalities. Filling in the box with $1.oo satisfies the computer program, so it can determine what the next step is to process the shipment; certin boxes have to be filled in weather they apply or not.

Interesting stuff...

[pete_l]

1.) Once you buy an item, look through it or try it, it becomes a used item.

1.) Send the Item from yourself, to yourself; Its already personal property.

2.) Fill out the value as, say one dollar on the form; now you have "no claim" if lost or damaged.

3.) Fill out a "separate" insurance form with UPS insurance for the full value which you can substantiate.

Getting the paperwork right, will get your items direct to your door and bypass a lot of undesired red tape; all above board and legal.

I'd be very, very careful about what declarations you make here.

To start with C&E rules state that if you are importing personal items from outside the EC, they must be more than 6 months old in order to qualify for VAT and duty exemption - presumably to stop exactly the circumstances in your (1.)

Also, providing different valuations for shipping and insurance purposes will stick out a mile and open you up to accusations of insurance fraud. Plus, the insurance company may then be entitled to only pay up for the $1 declared value. I wouldn't like to get stuck in the middle of a dispute like that.