Acquiring Items from Overseas

Hi All.....

Thus far, most of my acquistions from the WEB were very small items being Lp's, Cd's cartridges and sorts. Arrived without any hitches.

Now exploring the possibility of getting bigger items from the WEB. What would one need to expect from the seller, local authorities and safety net required ? As this involves substantial amount of $$$$ !

Views are appreciated.

cheers

Wingman (or 'new' Bimmerman?? .. red colur ehh ),

First of course reputable and cooperative web dealer and the delivery service. Most online vendors/sellers from Euro and USA are okay. Try to get 'cooperative' ones, especially with regards to declared price which in turn:

i) affects the taxes/import duties (if kena tahan) by the Customs. Import duties or sales tax varies based on the interpretation of the officer yang you kena. I recently bought a Phyton (NOS) which the seller from Audiogon declared quite low and tak kena tax. My 'friendly chat' with officer who informed me that item will be inspected if above RM500 (and of course legal stuff) and the tax % will also include the 'delivery cost', i.e if u buy USD300, transport charge USD50, tax will be for USD350!! However most online sellers/vendor will declare the actual amount. Some suprisingly will help, even from Von Schweikert, a bloke up north importing a pair did get his help.

The % of tax varies from 15% onwards, depending the 'type'/category of product. If you google for 'tax custom duties Malaysia' you may land a useful thread from lowyat forum from listing the % tax.

ii) On the other hand, if you declare low, the amount insured may not cover you if the item decided to go AWOL. That's the risk.

iii) On the transporter side you have to be careful too because they may also kena you which I experienced when i kena about 30% import duty for the OPPO 83 I brought in. That's why I decided to pick up other items when held up by the Customs dept, at least you can figure out first hand why you kena the duties/taxes (if any).

iv) Lastly, I suppose try to be 'nice' to the officers handling your item, i.e general courtesy, not the 'under the counter stuff'. While waiting at one time, this guy who bought in a used tt was whining and whingeing (Oz talk for banyak cakap) his proverbial arse off that I was even getting annoyed instead of pity and of course he kena high duty/tax lorr !!!

Anyway, I hope these will help and good luck mate

Cheers,

zb

Zee Bee.....

Bimmerman..... is in a different league all together......respect and hats of to the person ..... Should i say a "reference point" to greenhorns like me. But the "bouncy Red bemmer " sure looks good... ha ha...

Thanks for the hindsight from your experience.

Adding the % of tax & insurance to the buying price of an item from the WEB would provide a comparison against buying the similar item locally.

cheers

wingman,

to date, I hv bought 2 tube amp & a cdp online from Hong Kong/China on different occasion. All heavy stuffs & shipping is by courier like DHL/Fedex (and it is still much cheaper than getting locally) And on all the 3 purchases, item arrived straight at my doorstep. No problem & no tax at all!! And I hv also bought a heavy camera lens from ebay (US) which is duty free, sent by normal registered mail & some how it get stucked at custom. Although I was not taxed in the end but I hv to appoint an agent (pos malaysia) to get it clear out from custom & pos malaysia charged me RM80 for that services. Can saved the RM80 if you are willing to travel to KLIA to settle it personally lor....

So, my point is, if you decided to buy from oversea:

1) shipping method should be by fedex/dhl & not normal mail services, less headache & chances of kena taxed lower
2) under declared item to about USD150. Yes, your insured value will be lower, hence the risk but shipping by reputable courier services, the risk is minimal, IMO
3) make sure your sellers is reputable
4) pay by paypal. If item did not arrived, can claim back ma
5) marked parcel as " sample with no resale value " "gift" etc....although I dont think this will help, haha

yyleong2u wrote:5) marked parcel as " sample with no resale value " "gift" etc....although I dont think this will help, haha

There exist sellers that do not like the idea of under declaring nor marking the goods as gift. Depends on who you're dealing with and this is like requesting for malpractice in their country of origin. Its up to you on your comms with the supplier on this and terms agreed thereon. Entirely your call to do your own mathematics, the logistics and how much trouble you involve yourself. Nothing can be cocksure on personal imports in this country save for you try and bank your luck it reaches you safely and surely.
Its of course courier companies (depending on who again) can make life easier for you but it comes with a price tag, no free lunches. Again, do your mathematics if you're primarily concerned on the overall cost of a personal import.

For example, I may risk taxation or goods withheld at local customs if I order say 5 or more cd albums (with jewel case) from Amazon. Why?, I was once told customs have earmarked this company for reasons known to them.
OTH, I order some 8 CD's from somewhere in Asia and they use some local courier, packaged with unmarked, unbranded bubble wrap envelope with double internal wrapping (in a way quite messy to unwrap for custom inspection and very unsuspecting that it may contain taxable items, 5% sales tax at the very least)
that it reaches me very promptly without a hitch. Perhaps a bit of luck too, I won't know.

OK.. perhaps this topic is about heavier items, let me not derail the issue at hand.

Thank you, YY.

Do agree with you that items related to Hifi ( this case ) in MY is expensive and other factors.

This has driven most of us into the WEB. As for myself ,have purchased many smaller items ( accessories / LP's / Cd's )from the WEB with lots of cost savings.

CM....

Agreed, nothing in life is free, comes with a "cost". But in this case the cost might be very minimal ( example from YY's input was billed RM80.00 by courier service ) Adding that cost into your purchase price from the WEB and it would be still much cheaper.

There's is always the first time for everything. Will take the plunge when the time is right.

cheers

The main thing is to expect and be prepared for the unexpected if you're plunging in the first time (or if its unusual and apart from usual personal imports). Meanwhile pray that all's well after formal transaction.

CM....

Aghhhhh... thats where you go to reliable / establish sellers and after that hope / pray on the MY side the item get's through..... eventually will.

First time plunging to buy the LP's / Cd'd / accessories was an anxious moment until the goodies arrived .Till now all my transactions are good ( touch wood ) and back to the same seller. As i said before building the relationship with the seller.

Most of my items were opened for inspection. Eventually sealed and chopped with the Customs insignia. Latest being the "TT Cartridge".

Payment mode should be through secured channel like paypal with claimable option / Ebay buyer protection.

But this time its a different ball game - bigger in size Let's see the outcome...... until then think positive.

cheers

At least you're likely one of many people gained a reasonable amount of experience of how to's, the precautions, the best way to deal with virtual sellers from abroad and thereon everything falls into place most promptly and efficiently. I cringe when any newbie asks how to buy something from abroad and may expect 99% answers in one paragraph. It takes experience and know how...its actually involves the art of buying from virtual sellers along with many prerequisites (especially the $$ department) to fulfill a deal on your side as a buyer.
Ok.. will rest my case, I know you'd do the right thing in getting what you desire in the near future. Good luck!

CM....

Cheers to you.

Was a newbie once before, got lots of inside info from this forum from people like your goodself.

Cheers

Hahaha.. from THIS forum?.. then its not very long ago that you're a newbie?
My first internet purchase was in 1998 I think...shareware for starters. That was very easy...

cmboy wrote:

yyleong2u wrote:5) marked parcel as " sample with no resale value " "gift" etc....although I dont think this will help, haha

There exist sellers that do not like the idea of under declaring nor marking the goods as gift. Depends on who you're dealing with and this is like requesting for malpractice in their country of origin. Its up to you on your comms with the supplier on this and terms agreed thereon. Entirely your call to do your own mathematics, the logistics and how much trouble you involve yourself. Nothing can be cocksure on personal imports in this country save for you try and bank your luck it reaches you safely and surely.
Its of course courier companies (depending on who again) can make life easier for you but it comes with a price tag, no free lunches. Again, do your mathematics if you're primarily concerned on the overall cost of a personal import.

For example, I may risk taxation or goods withheld at local customs if I order say 5 or more cd albums (with jewel case) from Amazon. Why?, I was once told customs have earmarked this company for reasons known to them.
OTH, I order some 8 CD's from somewhere in Asia and they use some local courier, packaged with unmarked, unbranded bubble wrap envelope with double internal wrapping (in a way quite messy to unwrap for custom inspection and very unsuspecting that it may contain taxable items, 5% sales tax at the very least)
that it reaches me very promptly without a hitch. Perhaps a bit of luck too, I won't know.

OK.. perhaps this topic is about heavier items, let me not derail the issue at hand.

very true, some sellers were very reluctant to under declared item they are selling. Is it really illegal to do that?? There was once i bot a speaker cable from ebay/US. After winning the bid, sellers says that he cant under declared item. Things is, I hv never ask seller about that issue before bidding as I never hv problem sellers denying my request of under declaring, so, just took thing for granted. Luckily, after much discussion, sellers willing to ship it to my friend in US (normally they dont ship to address which is different from your paypal acc) From there, I asked my friend to help shipped it to me by declaring a fraction of the total cost.

You're expected to get all your answers from comms with the seller BEFORE the transaction. If it happens you do not think of some questions and don't ask before hand, thats too bad and add it to your experience later on. One main key is BE SURE and ON TOP of issues in this very competitive virtual buying game. If you're ill prepared for any consequences, add that to your experience too and don't make the same mistake.
As to under declaring, I think its more of ethics issue than illegal, but it can be both and can be prosecuted if the case is blatant. Hate to say it but I think this side of the world could be more sleazy in business. Ces't La'vie!

CM....

Late starter into the Audio World ..... no denying ......now ...

cheers

I had my first bulky shipment via online purchase from US. The item just snugged in nicely into the back of a Proton after few attempts. It weights in at about 45kg.

The second purchase is a multi-channels pwr amp; Emotiva XPA-5 from US. That also about 30kg+.

They will not under declare the invoice. Before the purchases, I had prepared myself for the 15% import duty + 10% sales tax.

First item is self-collection from KLIA Cargo. Learned a few things. Second item, was doorstep delivery. Just pay the taxes incurred.

My personal opinion : if there is no representative or official dealer locallly, then it is worthwhile to consider an item importing yourself. But if there is an official dealer here, then it is wiser to try to get from that dealer instead. Bear in mind that for most reputable and good manufacturers, they do not like selling direct to consumers. Tney prefer to go through a dealer, For reasons of aftersales support, repair, and warantty issues. It is not funny to have a complex item fail and you can't get it reparied.

This is -my- personal opinion of course and my personal approach. If I feel an item is too expensive for me to buy locally, then I prefer NOT to buy it. Or I try to find used/2nd-hand. I prefer not consider importing it directly from overseas just so it is cheaper and I can afford it. To me, resorting to buying direct from SG or overseas, an item I would normally not be able to afford locally, is not much different from trying to live a luxury life beyond my means. If I am not at that level, there is no point trying to drive a Porsche or NSX or Skyline for e.g. I am simply not at that level.

But of course this is -my- own approach lar. Just thought I would share. Ultimately everyone is right in their own approach lar.

HT....

Its a matter of learning the in /outs and preparing for the Taxes...

Wong.....

Thanks, no opinion is immaterial. Every ounce matters for one to make the right or wrong decision.

Just for a healthy discussion ....

Circumstances are such thats its forcing most, if not all to look at every penny spent. It's made even worse when the price difference is more then 40%. Worst case its even cheaper after paying the taxes. As you have mentioned, the only downside would be for buyer's from the WEB will loose out on maintenance.

But its a matter of time before that area evolves as well, similar to the recon car distributors, appointing a specific repair centre.

The initial phase every buyer was shying away from buying recon cars, the reason being maintenance/ availability of parts. Its the opposite at present, flourishing.

To an extent of forcing a well known marque ( distributor ) to bring in the popular recon model into their stable but its new or locally assembled.

Another good example would be "Dell" and that sure got lots of other manufacturers going back to the drawing board on how to market their products at a lesser price.

The WEB has opened up lots of avenue to go borderless to market their products without having a physical impression and in turn cost of product is down. After effects of that is people who can afford and not afford are able to acquire something they desire without forking out too much cash value.

An example, would be an accessories i just purchased recently;

Cartridge A on the WEB is RM1**.00 with shipping, where else the similar Cartridge is sold locally at RM2**.00, after discount RM2**.00. Best thing is I could afford to buy two units of the same make or a different make for the price of a single make cartridge selling in MY.

The local seller has factored in his operating cost / profit margin. And we get the end pricing as such. That is the downside against the pricing on the WEB.

I do empathize or sympathize the predicatment the dealers are in but thats the Glaring reality of going borderless.

Don't deny or agree but everyone has to make a decision / take a calculated risk and move on.

My personal observation of the positives and negatives of the introduction of the WEB.

Cheers

To add on....

I am not at that level either, as most of my gear are USED, except for my TT and speakers bought locally. Both the items were a bargain in my context.

A very good example in this forum would be "The Brand "X" Interconnects" being sold by a dealer or forummer. Its a real bargain at that price compared to whats being sold in a major retail outlet or the minimal pricing difference if buying it from the WEB .

Correct me if i am wrong, the dealer / forummer is definetly making a profit but he is also making it affordable.

I trust that the buyers and potential buyers are aware of the above but are willing to part with the cash, as its affordable and not extreme in pricing.

If the costings are in that affordable / minimal range compared to the WEB, most if not all would buy from local dealers.

Will add this again, personal observation of the positives and negatives of intrduction of the "WEB".

cheers

Well, let me relate something that has pushed me further from buying gears with local dealer.

Being in Sabah, it is difficult to buy gears here. Thus, when I was offered to attend a meeting in KL last week, i grabbed it as an opportunity to audition and buy a pair of monoblocks that I had my eyes on for quite a while.

I called the dealer as soon as I reached KLIA ( a good 2 hours before reaching his shop), telling them what amp I want to audition and my ETA, so that they can get ready and warm the amp up.

To my surprise, on reaching the shop 10 minutes after the appointed time, the salesman looked blur and told me the said amp was not available, not even on the pricelist!!! (I called his boss 1 mth back and confirmed that the amp was in stock).

Not only he did not get my amp, he did not even warm up the other tube monblock that is in the showroom as an alternative.

Not wanting to waste my time, I asked to audition the 'Hurricane'. Since it was already 730pm, I asked the salesman how long will it take to get ready. To my surprise, he said : "Ho fai cher", and in a jiffy he started putting cd in the cd player and pressed 'play'.

Needless to say, the first 4 songs sounded worse than my RM5k tube integrated. Things started to get alive at the fifth song but I already lost interest for being taken as a fool.

I left the shop with a bad taste in my mouth.

chee lun....

Sorry to hear of the predicatment.

There could be a remote chance that the dealer assumed you were one of those "enquiry customers", as its was a month after that that you did come down.

Did you ever get the AMP you were eyeing

cheers

Well, there ARE dealers who are not worth supporting. This is a TRUE fact of the market sadly. I myself being not tolerant of bullshit by businesses to us common people, always avoids such dealers and I would applaud those who do it as well. So if the product one is eyeing is indeed carried by a 'shitty' dealer, then if there is a cheaper option, I myself would probably go for it. Though I would admit I would look at other options first, hopefully carried by better dealers. I would be one of the first to support or even suggest boycotting bad dealers, regardless of my position as moderator or normal here in this forum.

So reading such bad experience stories from forumers, I would say if you can work out the logistics of buying from the internet and also the issue of support, repair, warantty, etc, then I would not blame you at all for going that option. Only thing is whether you might also consider buying from a GOOD dealer first or not.

But from my understanding, courier is the best option for buying equipment and insurance is a must. I think you also need to make it clear that the item is 'for personal use' and 'not for sale in a business'. In that case, you get taxed for the item as a consumer and don't incur other problems, like SIRIM approval, or sales tax, etc. But one of the problems with shipping is that the cost is based on weight or volume whichever is higher. Try shipping in a big Krell or Mark Levinson monobloc and I think that's when the idea of buying locally starts to become more reasonable....

The attitude does not help either, as what a few of the forummers have encountered.

Concur with your views, as you go up the chain of an audio gear it makes sense and logical to get it locally. Not forgetting that the person is at that "Level" in terms of earning capacity.

cheers

Dealers in M'sia always 'pride' themselves in their service. Well, at least that is what they say when they are queried about their high prices.

Well, if they 'DO' give good service, I dun mind paying extra 10-20% for that peace of mind. By having a showroom, you have to expect people to drop in and audition your gears, if you just want to 'layan' guest who will definitely buy and not care about those who sits on the fence, then, i suggest them to just run an online company.

Anyways, I will not buy from that dealer again..... he has just lost a customer for life ....

On another note, they are some good dealers that I have encountered. Some of it are not even high-end dealers, but they always welcome their customers and let them audition, ask silly question and some even offer tea to their customers.

Unfortunately, it is those high-end dealers that have turned snobbish and turn up their noses on those who are below 40 and dun wear a Rolex on their wrists

so far my internet purchases are "defect-less"
bought so many things online incl my speakers, amp, oppo, cables etc, apart from the speakers (which is heavy floorstander + center) and the amp, none have been taxed...maybe I am lucky.

If possible, stick with paypal even though the exchange rate are a little high, but for the sake of buyer protection, it's worth it.

Good to know that some of the forummers have had "defect-less", escapades when purchasing bigger items from the WEB.

This gives a confidence jab to most of us to explore purchasing items from the WEB.

cheers

Hi Mpyw,

Which online store did you buy from?

Am eyeing a economical dvd player. My Pioneer DV400 died on me last month. Could not find any replacement in Sabah, they dun sell the latest DV420. Bought the DV420 little brother, the DV 220 but am disappointed with it. I need a DVD player that can decipher DTS signal direct and send to the tv via hdmi. I dun own an AVR. Any suggestion? How is the Oppo?

cheelun wrote:Hi Mpyw,

Which online store did you buy from?

Am eyeing a economical dvd player. My Pioneer DV400 died on me last month. Could not find any replacement in Sabah, they dun sell the latest DV420. Bought the DV420 little brother, the DV 220 but am disappointed with it. I need a DVD player that can decipher DTS signal direct and send to the tv via hdmi. I dun own an AVR. Any suggestion? How is the Oppo?

The Oppo is a very good player, play all optical disc format except HD-DVD, you should just get the Oppo and forget about another DVD player although the price would be much higher.

is the courier charges charged by the seller is a door to door charge or untill port only? has anyone here had experience dealing with futureshops and hificables?.

cheers

Aiks.. My CDs should be here by now but delayed due to the volcano.

Eventually it would arrive. The wait is going to be difficult... but thats mother nature....

cheers

mpyw wrote:so far my internet purchases are "defect-less"
bought so many things online incl my speakers, amp, oppo, cables etc, apart from the speakers (which is heavy floorstander + center) and the amp, none have been taxed...maybe I am lucky.

If possible, stick with paypal even though the exchange rate are a little high, but for the sake of buyer protection, it's worth it.

Me too as all being intact with no defect since more than half of it via you . My purchase from UK might be delayed just like yours.

[quote="mpyw"]

cheelun wrote:Hi Mpyw,

Which online store did you buy from?

.

You could try this online shop:

http://www.220-electronics.com/

The OPPO and a number of other players (SONY, JVC etc) sold here plays Blu-Ray/DVD 'multi/all region' at an additional cost. Delivery is assured using FEDEX but also charged additional by this webshop excluding the customs charges. I wasn't lucky enough as our friend, as I had custom's duty imposed as I left it to the shipper to arrange pick up/claim at the Pusat Mel and Kurier near LCTT.

If you happen to ship in, I suggest you see the officers if the goods is being held there. Chances are, you might get away with the duties/taxes, so far have been for me since.

Good luck.

zb

hakim wrote:is the courier charges charged by the seller is a door to door charge or untill port only? has anyone here had experience dealing with futureshops and hificables?.

cheers

Bro,

Normally the shipment charged would be door to door unless held by the Customs. You can ask the courier/shipper to arrange pick up there or go there by yourself (better option, see my earlier thread).

Usually cables don't get the attention except when you bring in those thick garden hose variety (like the Shunyata's sound the officer ask 'itu bunyi apa ahhh, ada barang dalam itu cable hose ka, boleh bukak ka?)

Anyway, good luck buddy.

Cheers

zb

dont they have some sort of scanners to go through all imports? at least updated guidelines on imports at least. once they have stumble upon one item & then come another similar item, they should be able to identify whats it & what its all about.

I think they scan the containers via a purpose-built scanners but individual items not sure. I believe in Bolehland as opposed to Downunder, 'manila file folder' still holds the roost. I remembered one case the officer went to the steel file drawers and pulls off a file folder to check whether 'mini air spray gun' falls under which category, instead of the clicking the mouse to retrieve a file/reference from the computer.

Anyway he's friendly enough while doing it and when you explained to him the intricacies of models and air spraying, he let off the hook with an OK... . And fair enough, he did take an effort to check it properly before dispensing his decision.

There is a useful thread in lowyat forum about the types/rates/acts related to importation of goods you can refer to..

my 2sen + 10% import duty worth..

Cheers,

zb

Zeebee...

( in your case )

Adding that 10% tax to the buying price from the WEB, is it still much cheaper compared to buying locally Assuming all the products are are big in size.

cheers

sometimes even after the shipping + tax by customs, till cheaper than buying locally....minus the warranty off course

I buy CDs at discounted prices via online.
No time to drive up to KL to hunt for CDs.

What if i asked a friend who's studying in the UK to bring back say a naim super nait will it be taxed?

I brought back a complete hifi system from the UK after my studies.
Not taxed!

Yep.. I also brought back my hi-fi set up after finished my studies in the UK but that was back in 1994..got affected by hi fi virus while studying..My fren still in UK and coming back for summer holiday thinking of askin him a favor..

side note...

given the strong performance of RM recently, would it make more sense to buy equipments/accessories from overseas (put aside issues like reliability of seller, warranty and defects)??

maybe bro here could share what are the online sites they usually bought from and have had good and reputable services, other than ebay/amazon.

wow. gone. so quick. continue here, in a more subtle manner?

just to share. i recently posted some items for sale on the other forums and to my surprise had a buyer who works at the "big shiny building along ldp, kj area". wah, in uniform summore and got a few flowers on the shoulder. but he was a genuine buyer lah.

6 degrees of separation? sometimes it could be less.

Guys,

The warranty issue never stops me from buying overseas contradicting to what some members say here (probably they are dealers)

Buy it from oversea if the price is really cheap and you think it is worth it. I know where to get help if my component goes into trouble, doesn't matter how branded they are. I really hate it when local dealers use that stupid warranty excuse to hike up the price unrealisitically. I do agree that they must make a profit in business but it gets me mad when they quote me prices higher than the list price after conversion. This is not acceptable.

I import quite a lot of things (non hifi related) from Europe and US on a monthly basis and I just could not stand it when someone tells me childish excuses about freight cost, warranty, import tax (they know a way to go around), after sales service, bla bla bla to hike the price.

well, you guys are right about the snob factor thing. I play my bee gees, michael jackson, anatasica and lady ga ga.....they don't want to "layan" me anymore...who says audiophile music must be tsai chin, holy cole trio and stuff like that? I play music that I enjoy and I enjoy lady ga ga, I enjoy the london symphony as well....it's my molaa....and i spend it the way i see fit...the keyword here is "AKU SHIOK!!!"....

the only reason why i got the c220 is the bass/treble control...hahaha. I might go for the Rane parametric as well...but that's another story with a whole lot of support equipment - more toys

I have been monitoring the used hifi stuff on sales in Singapore forum and found that the prices for most items are really attractive. Leave aside comparing the conditions of the items, i just compared the price of same used items with roughly the same age that were posted in SG forum against what were asked here, and really worthwhile to get it across the causeway.

Having said that, I want to ask if anyone have the experience of bringing in used hifi stuff from SG and when kena spotted by our custom, any problem encountered? Can we print the For Sale posts in the forum to prove to them it's used items and thus, no need to pay tax?

anyone know what's the duties rate for:

- CD player
- amplifier
- speakers?

I would like to know too

any members from KASTAM ???

Chew ....

Speak to the people from the courier company, they might give you an idea of what to expect ?

Swing......

Yes, SG is way much cheaper compared to what's being sold over here. Some of the sellers at AMCorp mall ( weekend ) are bringing in the stuff from SG, especially the used gear and won't be suprised that sellers with permanent shops bring them in via SG as well

Before you venture make sure the gear is in good health

Go there during their year end sale and be amazed with the $$$$.

cheers

wingman wrote:
Swing......

Yes, SG is way much cheaper compared to what's being sold over here. Some of the sellers at AMCorp mall ( weekend ) are bringing in the stuff from SG, especially the used gear and won't be suprised that sellers with permanent shops bring them in via SG as well

Before you venture make sure the gear is in good health

Go there during their year end sale and be amazed with the $$$$.

cheers

I tried searching for the list of duties rate on our dearest Jabatan Kastam website but no success. My friend who works in SG drive back to KL quite frequently, once a month thingy. I am thinking of getting the gears there by making arrangement to go there personally and then transport it back in my fren's car. But i want to know the rate beforehand so that i will not be conned/threatened by the pest at the border if they do found out the "hidden" stuff.