Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

OK.
Oven now arrived and installed.

Total costs:

$940 for the oven $664 for the delivery. There were no more costs to pay although there nearly were. A long story.

It is now installed and working (see photo attached). There were installation costs but they would have been incurred whether or not I imported from the UK.
Still not managed to find a similar oven for less than $3500 here.

So less than half price.

Rather than me ramble on and no one be interested, I'll answer queries if they are posted.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

I had a British made Belling upright freestanding oven in the UK and loved it, and they just started stocking them in Australia, yay, I needed a new oven so I ordered one and had to wait 2 months for it to arrive in Aus, but its here and I love it. I must be one of the first to get one in Tas :) Im kicking myself for not shipping my old one over tho, we sold it for £150... the new one cost $1,500! But so worth it.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

nice one mate well done!

we have freestanding Delognhi range oven, cost £700 here and what looks like same model in Oz has RRP of $5000!!!!

Want to stick it on container but wonder if connection for gas is same in Oz?

It has gas hob but electric ovens!

:confused:

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

Thanks

I would have thought that the gas connection would be universal - sure someone will say on here.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

We've thought about doing the whole kitchen import thing. So anyone who's done it how do you get round the problem of bringing wood (kitchen units and carcass) through customs??

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

would be ok I think, modern kitchens all MDF/chipboard so no risk. It's only untreated raw wood (with bark etc) that AQIS are against and things like wicker.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

Not the same for us, we are on LPG cylinders.

Charlie

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

There should be a connection converter available for that. Check with your local plumber suppliers.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

Good for you NK. I have to admit I was a bit sceptical about whay ou were doing but it's worked out well. Why were there nearly extra costs? What were the pitfalls/issues?

I'm planning a home theatre installation and whilst the TV I want is cheaper here (by a big margin), the AV amp and speakers are much cheaper in Europe and I'm looking into importing them. Your experience has shown me it's possible to do this.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

we bought a full suite of Siemens top of the range appliances for our new kitchen.. in fact exactly the same ones we bought four our kitchen 18mths ago in UK...they are bosch group so easily supportable and parts .. price here for 2 cookers, hob, d/wash,warming drawer & extract.. $17kau .. cost in uk £3600 (after vat reclaimed)...so $6300.... plus shipping/handling $700... total ...$8260au... less than half the price ....


also got 200 sqm of solid black walnut flooring for less than half.

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

More and more I look back to the UK for goods now, instead of the overpriced local retailers. I used to think the UK was expensive, but if you can negotiate the VAT free price, it starts to look much more attractive.

The other thing that I have noticed is that the models and stock available in the UK - particularly with technology goods - is often 6-8 months ahead of what is available here. If you want cutting edge, I think you have to look overseas.

It's just a shame that so few UK traders decline to ship here. I assume that our money is just not good enough...


S

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

I find it's swings and roundabouts with the prices of technology and electrical stuff. For instance stuff that I have looked at recently:
Samsung 55' 8 series LCD - cheaper here
Denon AV receiver - cheaper UK
Focal Dome speaker system - cheaper Europe
Fisher & Paykel double door fridge - cheaper here
iPad - cheaper here
TomTom GPS - about the same

Re: Buying from the UK - customs charges
 

Thanks.
The biggest single issue seems to revolve around the grey areas of importing coupled with mis-communication.
For freight we were quoted about 400 GBP with one company and about 650 with UPS. Both were for door-to-door service.

The company we used have a disclaimer that says they charge $155 for quarantine inspection. Now I was pretty certain that a new oven would not be subject to inspection (I'd spoken to AQIS prior to going ahead) so I wrote to the company in the UK and asked if there was anything else to pay. They said "No".
When it arrived I was informed by the Australian branch that I would have to pay $155 fee for quarantine inspection.

I was most unhappy about this not only because I'd checked that I would not have to pay with the UK office but also because AQIS charges $45 per 15 minute block of time for inspection. So the company was making a massive profit - and excused it with "labour and admin costs" - on one small oven.

What made me more annoyed was that the UK branch had classified it as "used personal effects" which was wrong - and led to an inspection. The Australian branch said that the UK branch has incorrectly classified it but if had been correctly classified then I would have had to pay much higher freight charges (no idea why).
Anyhow to cut a long story, and a frank exchange of e-mails short, we eventually settled on $85. I was still unhappy.

Then, when the oven arrived...guess what? All original UK packaging with the UK destination address and my Australian address on it. Everything intact, no breaks or rips. Absolutely perfect. It had not been inspected at all.

So I contacted the company and they refunded the $85.

So, would I do it again? Probably but with more caution. Even with the $155 I would still have saved money but it was an unfair charge. I did feel that they were trying to rip me off and use AQIS as a vehicle for profiteering. And if I had not put up such a fight they would have taken my money.

Ultimately it depends how much money you have. For us, we wanted a decent oven. We could have got an Electrolux for $2500 (which was still a rip-off) but I really wanted a Bosch or a Neff. Neither can be had for less than $3500 (double oven) here. If I had cash floating out of my ears I would have paid $3500 to save the stress (although to be honest it wasn't really stressful but there is a bit of work involved). But seeing Bosch ovens going for 560 GBP made me want to cry when the Australians are charging 4 times that here. And as we seem to be poorer than Bob Cratchit the chance of getting a Bosch oven for less than half price (after transport costs) was too good an opportunity to miss.