Hi one and all.
Does anyone have any advice about shipping banjos to Australia. I'm currently talking to Arthur Hatfield about one of his great banjos but the shipping seems insane ($700 UPS).
I'm sure it cant be that much. I know Janet Davis and Elderly dont charge anything near that.
12 Comments |
 | Sutty70 says:
2/14/2011 9:33:16 PM
Ayal, try one of the bigger couriers i.e. DHL, I just got some stuff sent from stewmac and that was very reasonable. Just remember that anything you bring in over $1000 will incur GST.
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 | Banjobrothers says:
2/14/2011 10:09:47 PM
Ayal, I have been down this road.As sutty said anything over $1000 will incur heavy import tax ( you can check with customs for the price scale),the postage price you quoted is accurate + you will need insurance.Even though the oz dollar is strong at the moment,be prepaired to add about $1000+ to the price your banjo
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 | pluckyfingers says:
2/15/2011 12:51:53 AM
Funny, I have purchased two banjos from the states in the last two years from ebay sellers and the postage price for one ( Deering Goodtime) was $60 UPS and the other ( Bart Reiter Standard) was $120 FEDEX. Both banjos arrived within five days of purchase with complete insurance and tracking, in excellent packages and were still in tune when taken out of their packing. The US postal system seems very complex and prices seem to vary from day to day, just like the stock market. Maybe I got lucky. Mind you both banjos were open backs and shipped "naked", not in hard cases thus reducing the weight.
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| Banjobrothers says:
2/15/2011 2:17:10 AM
Bill, the weight & size makes a big difference,also what part of the u.s it is coming from is also a factor in cost.Were your banjos priced over $1000 aus?? if not,that is why you got a good deal.Customs add 10% on the purchase price and I think 5% on postage cost, its a rip off.
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 | bAJNo says:
2/15/2011 2:30:55 AM
Pete that is why your banjos are such a good deal. Great banjos with a huber tone ring but made up the road. Its just that I have had a hankering for a Hatfield after playing a mate's Celebrity when I was recently in the UK. Arthur is a top bloke and doing his best but the whole thing is a pain in the arse.
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| Banjobrothers says:
2/15/2011 2:58:14 AM
Yes aurthur is a fine person, we have had necks made by him in our early days of building, you will not go wrong with one of his banjos,I hope you dont get screwed at this end by customs. Just a thought, you could get him to send you the banjo in individual pieces,each under the tax limit and put it together here.Even though the postage might be the same you wont get hammered with tax. Leon and I would be happy to do this for you free of charge.
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| Banjobrothers says:
2/15/2011 3:12:47 AM
Put It together and set it up,that is..
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| bAJNo says:
2/15/2011 4:28:29 AM
Thanks Pete, that is very generous.
Im actually going to be in the US in about six months time. Im thinking I might hold off until then and drive down from to KY from NY.
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 | Lone says:
2/15/2011 5:44:41 AM
It will be more fun picking it up, Bajno. It will take up a chunk of your aeroplane luggage allowance, so you might have to travel light.
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| pluckyfingers says:
2/15/2011 4:39:57 PM
Yes Peter is correct about the magic $1000, doesn't matter what our dollar is worth, just try to keep everything including postage under $1000. There are good buys to had on second hand Bart Reiter standards on ebay or the hangout from time to time. I costed a hard case once from Elderly instruments and the postage was twice the cost of the case due to weight and dimensions. Yes both banjios were well under $1000 by several hundreds of dollars.
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 | robmac07 says:
2/16/2011 3:14:00 AM
$700 seems steep. We've imported banjos via UPS or Fedex from the US and the cost inc ins is around the AU$250-300 mark. The import duty is around 5% and then 10% GST on the whole amount. I don't know what the Hatfield would cost but the banjos we've brought in are much cheaper than if you could purchase them here from a retailer if they had them.
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 | Alan Hill says:
2/19/2011 9:43:30 PM
I have had no such problems in the 2 banjos ive had made and sent from the states, in London we used to call it ducking and diving in other words it all depends whats on the label when it arrives here as to its value etc and if the sender is happy to bend the truth a bit, most people dont like customs and excise and red tape or tax its worth a try
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