Explore Scientific eyepieces - get them while you can in the UK

[OneEyedSam]

Could be both, or either if I'm honest.

[trev27]

Just received the 20mm ES 100 from HOO + the Antares 1.6x barlow. I've seen plenty of pictures of the thing but I was still shocked by the size and weight of it. It's huge! Also picked up one of those older 8.8mm Meade UWAs - very sharp in the Megrez. Yet to try these out in the dob. Hopefully I haven't caused the clouds to roll in for everyone!

[John]

Just received the 20mm ES 100 from HOO + the Antares 1.6x barlow. I've seen plenty of pictures of the thing but I was still shocked by the size and weight of it. It's huge! Also picked up one of those older 8.8mm Meade UWAs - very sharp in the Megrez. Yet to try these out in the dob. Hopefully I haven't caused the clouds to roll in for everyone!

Congratulations on your new hyper-wide

The ES 20 / 100 is a very large eyepiece but it's not as fat as I thought it would be, compared to my Nagler 31mm anyway !

The box it comes in is really massive too, isn't it ?

I tried my ES 20 / 100 out with my 2" 2x Powermate the other night. You get a superb 10mm 100 degrees but the length and weight is getting rather alarming - someone else used the phrase that it looks "like a baseball bat stuck out of the focuser"

[trev27]

Cheers John. Yeah, I thought there was some mistake when I saw the size of the box. Good to see how much care they put into packing. There's no way one would get damaged in transit.

I thought the dob would need a counterbalance system when using this EP, but now I realise the only way to go is to build an eyepiece rack at the back of the mirror box fill it with 100 degree ES eyepieces :grin: Who needs weights when you can have these...

[rory]

had a rummage about with u.s retailers . i earmarked a 14mm es 82* . with delivery it came out at $139 or £90 in real money .

so if i was unlucky and got stung by every duty and handling charge on that , i wonder what the final figure would be ?

i susspect the duty on £90 would be small , but i dont know.

this was with "telescopes. net " by the way .

[OneEyedSam]

I think 24% for duty etc is about right

[rory]

right ,ta.

[Stargazer_00]

i always paid less than I thought I would buying from telescopes.net. I got to thinking maybe some of what you were paying them counted as tax so you paid less VAT or something. Certainly seemed a good deal less than dollar rate converted to pounds, +20% on product total, say 5% for duty and £8 for the parcelforce handling fee. I was expecting a £75 bill on my last import from them and paid £38.something.

[OneEyedSam]

Check out handsonoptics, they were really good when I made my purchases...

[rory]

Check out handsonoptics, they were really good when I made my purchases...

seems quite a few over the pond are out of stock of many of the 82's at the moment. just getting some ideas and comparing to the eu price ect, see if gambling on the import tax is worth it price wise.

dont even know if im buying any to be fair, just another cloudy night on the internet !

[Dunkster]

Charges are...

4% duty based on the specified item value plus shipping cost

20% vat on the sum of duty, value and shipping

£8 charge "for our convenience"

[russ.will]

Spot on. My 14mm was $99, plus $15 shipping. That was about £76 inc Paypal's currency conversion charge. The exchange rate is slightly better now, but lets run with £75. £75 plus 4% import duty, plus 20% VAT, plus £8 PO handling charge makes £101.60 in your hand at worst. I did have one ES EP slip through customs unnoticed, so £75 is possible at best.

Russell

[rory]

Spot on. My 14mm was $99, plus $15 shipping. That was about £76 inc Paypal's currency conversion charge. The exchange rate is slightly better now, but lets run with £75. £75 plus 4% import duty, plus 20% VAT, plus £8 PO handling charge makes £101.60 in your hand at worst. I did have one ES EP slip through customs unnoticed, so £75 is possible at best.

Russell

interesting , thanks.

[Stargazer_00]

If that is truly the case then they marked my package up with alot less value than I paid

[Astrobits]

Just got the latest Sky & Telescope mag and the ExSc ad has the sale of their 20mm 100 eyepiece extended for the summer at $299 ( winter sale discontinued/summer sale started? ). Doesn't mention the other focal lengths though.

Nigel

[alan potts]

This seems like a long sale. Extended until the Summer but they don't say in which hemisphere.

I have no intention of getting one from the US I don't agree with it, but if others want to do this that's there right and as we have seen ExSc are not making it very easy for people that want them .

I would like to know why and how the Post Office can charge you for delivering mail that has already had postage paid, albeit in a different country? It strikes me as robbery

Alan.

[Dunkster]

I would like to know why and how the Post Office can charge you for delivering mail that has already had postage paid, albeit in a different country? It strikes me as robbery

If we don't stand (for it), they don't deliver

[alan potts]

Dunk,

But why, the post is paid in the states, if you post a letter there they deliver it to you don't they? If I send you an eyepiece it's delivered to you, I know it is part of the EU now but what is the difference.

Are they claiming once it goes to Customs it is the end of it's journey as far as the US payment is concerned. I think it is a con that needs to brought up at the Europian Court for Human Rights, or some other body, but I like causing trouble.

Alan

[russ.will]

It's more of an administration charge for the application of the import duties. Okay £8 seems a bit stiff for a $100 eyepiece, but it would still be £8 even if the item being imported were £2k.

The postage, which is a separate issue, is accounted for by the agreements between non-international carriers to deliver each others items. My Bresser scope was sent on a German carrier from Munich and was delivered by Parcel Force. Had it been sent UPS, it would have been delivered by UPS. Smaller carriers and post offices set up these agreemnts so they can compete with the worldwide boys.

Russell

[Dunkster]

No, they charge us for the "convenience" of calculating duty+vat due and paying it for us on our behalf. And I bet they don't pay customs squat until we've picked it up. In this day of computerised systems at every stage, it's nothing short of a disgrace IMO, and the government even passed legislation to permit them do it.

What grates me is that we are not given the choice. I'm perfectly capable of doing my own basic maths and filing with her majesty's finest...

[russ.will]

But the Post Office has to have people employed to deal with this specific issue. How are they to pay for that? Charge everybody £1 (a random figure) for a first class stamp, or specifically hit the people that actually use the service? I think the latter is fairer.

Anyway, even if you buy from a UK dealer, the import duties and associated charges are still all accounted for within the purchase price, so it's not like we ever actually avoid it and for every you and me capable of filling out forms, there are a significant number who can't. The system has to be a one size fits all solution.

Russell

[Dunkster]

Sorry Russell, we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one

Royal Mail is the sovereign mail carrier for this country, and it is their duty to deliver mail. They employ people to carry out all manner of issues specific to carrying mail. It's what they do. It should be covered by their overall operational charges. It's not like they miss a trick to put up the price of stamps any other time.

I work in a global organisation... my boss doesn't give me the leeway to hire someone over in the US just because there are some duties that require attention over there. He tells me to get on a deal with it. It's part of my job. People are so content keeping themselves to their little cubes and shirking anything outside of it these days, it's a wonder any businesses survive in this country

Now, where does that soap box go now I'm finished with it? Or am I ...

[alan potts]

Just sounds like a money spinner to me that we can't do a thing about. I am sometimes glad I don't live in England any longer. Thanks for outlining what it is for I just didn't know.

Alan

[John]

If ES would let UK dealers sell their products at comparable prices to those in other parts of the world we would not need to go through this rigmarole including the handling charges. I want to be able to order an ES product from a UK dealer at a reasonable price and get it in my hands within a day or two. I'm happy for the UK dealer to make a reasonable margin on the item, as I'm sure the overseas ES dealers do. The UK dealers pay their rates and taxes within the UK so that benefits this country too.

Is this unreasonable ?

[Dunkster]

Obviously is, as it remains today that you can't