New supplier of US sourced equipment ?

[John]

The name "Sha" rings a bell from the past :

American Astroptics

Didn't he used to be Boston based ?.

Presumably the buyer is responsible for sorting out the import taxes etc ?.

[lardy]

I have spoke to Sha ... and seemed a decent chap, he was going to sort out sourcing me a CGE Pro .. infact he found a used one for me, then the Tax man stepped in with a tax demand :lipsrsealed: .... That Idea was shelved until I sort out Tax but he did say that he would sort out imports,tax etc and If the item turned up with monies outstanding he picked up the bill.

Now since you cannot buy Celestron direct from companies in the USA ( they had a sale on with the CGE Pro for $4000 but all the companies I spoke to will not ship to UK....D Hinds is the importer and has the monopoly and sets the price :lipsrsealed: ) but Sha would buy, ship to his house (companies provide free shipping within the US) then ship onwards to uk ... while making himself some profit but its still going to be cheaper than UK prices by about £1000 for new.

Once my Tax is sorted that's the road I will go down.....

As for my tax bill ... in this day and age it would be 3 tax inspectors turn up at the manger not wise men as they are wise and would have kept a low profile.... many thanks Tax office for totally screwing up my tax (they think I have been in receipt of my pension for the last 3 years ..even the pensions department have told them NO) Heyho another week wasted on the phone and filling out returns :lipsrsealed: :lipsrsealed:

[SteveNickolls]

Thanks for this John. I feel your pain and anguish as I had the same problem years ago trying to import a large SCT from the good 'ol US of A. Must say contact with officialdom in the UK while slow was polite and helpful but the refusal of any US retailer to sell to the UK (because of dealership arrangements) eventually meant I couldn't go ahead. Since then of course many tax workers have been sacked and tax law hasn't got any simpler-no wonder they make errors.

As for your contact you need to be sure of things before parting with any money!!

Cheers,

Steve

[bottletopburly]

If you have a us service friend in the uk they could buy from the us direct to their base no uk tax to pay

[pete_l]

Lots of outfits will do reshipping. The trick is being able to tell the scammers from the genuine article.

[earth titan]

If you have a us service friend in the uk they could buy from the us direct to their base no uk tax to pay

Ah yes, but if they get caught, passing it on to others they can get done by both UK and US authorities.

[x6gas]

There is a major US Celestron retailer who lists on eBay and will ship to the UK. You obviously havevto cover tax and import duty and you hav to return warranty repairs to the US but if you ar willing to pu up with all that then major savings still to be had....

[lardy]

If that is Handsonoptics ... nope spoke to them they did have the Pro shown on Ebay so mailed them , will not ship to UK

[x6gas]

If that is Handsonoptics ... nope spoke to them they did have the Pro shown on Ebay so mailed them , will not ship to UK

That's odd, they happily supplied my HD11 and CGEM DX... Perhaps they got their wrists slapped...

[Tim]

Well the last time somebody was "sourcing" astro kit for people, even though he was viewed as a decent sort, it all went horribly wrong.

[lardy]

IM me please Tim I would be interested to hear about it .... It's only down to reports that I picked up on somebody who was trying to scam me once, always interested in keeping up with the latest scams!