ZWO

[Figgis]

Dear All.

               I'm looking at a few items from ZWO to add to the pile.  Has anyone bought directly from their own site?  I'm not in a huge rush to get them so 30 Days wait wont kill me.  The prices are attractive, but I understand there will be duties and taxes.  I see their own site encourages purchasing from a Local Dealer, which is a concern.  Any Horror Stories or Compliments & Comments? 

[PeterCPC]

Not sure it would be worth it once you add on 20% import taxes.

[Figgis]

Thanks Peter.

                      

[Adam J]

3 hours ago, Figgis said:

Dear All.

               I'm looking at a few items from ZWO to add to the pile.  Has anyone bought directly from their own site?  I'm not in a huge rush to get them so 30 Days wait wont kill me.  The prices are attractive, but I understand there will be duties and taxes.  I see their own site encourages purchasing from a Local Dealer, which is a concern.  Any Horror Stories or Compliments & Comments? 

I see no advantage to doing that and some potentially huge issues if you have a problem with the camera. If you want to go down that line then Rising Cam is sufficiently cheaper than ZWO to make the cost difference worth the risk. 

Adam

[Gfamily]

An advantage of buying directly from local dealers is that it keeps local dealers in business. They have a  wider stock range than just from ZWO, and they have a wealth of experience that we as users and consumers can call upon when we're not sure what we need. 

Not only that, they often have a back room full of assorted connectors, gadgets and whatchamacallits that we don't have, but we find we need. 

As far as ZWO are concerned, I'm sure they find it a lot more economical to deal with dealers rather than with individuals - but they keep their stock available for customers who don't have local dealers available to them. 

[ollypenrice]

Buy from FLO. If you have a problem, they will be 100% honorable. Don't screw up your experience for a saving which will be far less than you think by the time you have the product in your hand.

Olly

[Elp]

Up to you really, I've got a few zwo cameras both used and new and touch wood never had an issue with the cameras but as with anything there's always a risk of something not being quite right, and you'd be glad to have a local distributor whom can assist. On the flip side you can save quite a lot (not so much on the cameras though) so it depends on what you value more.

[Simon Pepper]

I actually asked this question not so long ago and there were mixed responses thread here: 

Supporting FLO is a good thing as others have said though their team they got there really know their stuff helped me on numerous occasions. 

 

 

[900SL]

17 hours ago, Figgis said:

Dear All.

               I'm looking at a few items from ZWO to add to the pile.  Has anyone bought directly from their own site?  I'm not in a huge rush to get them so 30 Days wait wont kill me.  The prices are attractive, but I understand there will be duties and taxes.  I see their own site encourages purchasing from a Local Dealer, which is a concern.  Any Horror Stories or Compliments & Comments? 

My friend bought direct from China and the issues he had with shipping, customs etc on return due to a fault were enough to convince me to use a local dealer.

I regularly use FLO or Telescope Express or AstroArt. Never had an issue with anything in probably 20 orders across multiple borders from KSA to Finland

[Carbon Brush]

I have in the pasted imported and exported a lot of small but high value items.

When importing, you will be hit by potentially 3 costs.

1/ There may be an import duty. I have found this a minefield. Even without trying to import weapons🤣.
Commodity codes and forms required vary with the season.

2/ The importing carrier may impose a handling fee. Maybe a tenner. Maybe a lot more.
If you don't respond promptly some try to charge storage.
I once had an importer try to bill for a months storage when he hadn't told me the item had arrived! no prozes for guessing the content of my message to him.

3/ On top of the above costs, there will be 20% VAT. That is easy. Compulsory, no negotiation!

Add to this the serious hassle of a return if there is a problem in warranty.
By this I mean keep hold of every scrap of paper, email and everything else relating to the import.
Even then buy a wheelbarrow to handle the paper trail it generates.

Buying from a UK retailer is much easier.
 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Carbon Brush

[Elp]

It's interesting zwo offer some sort of compromise if there's an issue with their am5 mount, I haven't read the same for their cameras.

[scotty38]

It'd most likely have to be free for me to go through the trials and tribulations of buying direct. I know some will say no issues and that's fine but we've read about plenty that do have trouble.

Also some will say "It's easy to say that if you can afford the full amount" but I'd probably argue your money is more safely spent with a local dealer like FLO especially if the hassle of returns etc make that £x00 cheaper item a £x00 paperweight.