Importing to Spain
 

I want to buy an AV amplifier and as prices seem significantly lower in the UK for the model I was thinking of buying I was thinking of buying online and having it shipped to spain.The UK online stores that I have looked at say they cannot ship outside of the UK so I will need to arrange this myself.
Does anyone know if I will have to make any special declarations for it and also will I have to pay extra duty on it?

Alternately does anyone know of any suppliers that will deliver to Spain or even better well priced spanish suppliers. The cheapest I found was Mundoelectro, Mediamarkt (around here anyway) seem to have old models and unboxed stock. Did get a very good deal on some speakers though, just need the amplifier now.

Yvonne

Re: Importing to Spain
 

no duty to pay on goods bought in the EU and shipped inside the EU

dhl it most easly way off doing it that pick up and ship to you

Re: Importing to Spain
 

No Duty or taxes on movement of goods around the EU (VAT is payable in the UK though but no extra charges).  I agree with jurdyr DHL are probably the most efficient way of shipping items, but they probably won't deliver to a PO Box.  Depending on which part of Spain you live in you will probably find they offer next day delivery, although this is not guarangeed. Check out the other courier services like Fed Ex and UPS but DHL do have a better infurstructure in Europe.Â

Re: Importing to Spain
 

No problems importing it but check what warranty support you will get for it in Spain if it goes wrong.

Re: Importing to Spain
 

I have a PO box albeit I live 4 minutes from town. I have used DHL several times, They sometimes sub- Contract I have met them outside the police station with my Residencia and passport and had no problem. ;)

Re: Importing to Spain
 

www.interparcel.com ,they are agents for DHL and many other couriers ,you get a choice of service and the longest is upto 5 days, you may have a problem with large items though, I use them regulary and they work out the cheapest around, but dont get stuff deliverd to a P.O box as they only take regular mail not items from couriers,

Rgds

Re: Importing to Spain
 

Hi
Thanks for your replies, I only have a mail box address but it is a registered company as opposed to just a box in a venta so most suppliers will deliver.
I did have problems with a parcel from the UK that the courier refused to deliver to the mail box, it ended up going back to the UK via about three other countries eventually turning up about two months later back at the supplier. They resent it using Royal Mail and it eventually arrived a bit tatty around the edges!

I have more concerns about the guarantee, I assumed it would be valid in europe, I have emailed the supplier to ask. Another issue is what do I do if it needs repairing during the guarantee period if I have to return it to the UK it could end up being an expensive mistake. The item weighs 29KG!

I may be better off paying more here:frown:

Re: Importing to Spain
 

Check out the maximum weight that the courier company will take and also the dimensions as they have a limit. But I think 29 kgs should be well within the limit. Courier companies very rarely deliver to a PO Box but you can speak to them and arrange a convenient place to meet them. You will have to quote your phone number so they should have a contact number for you.
You could also, however, collect direct from the local depot.

Also you will need to consider insurance should the item be damaged/lost in transit. If the item is mega bucks then I would recommend it. DHL will insure it but the premium will be high so it may be worth while taking out your own insurance.

If you check out their web site, you can get a quote, alteast it will give you an idea on their charges http://www.dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/s...ator.high.html. But if you ring them they will give you all the information you need.

You have a lot to think about. I seem to recall UPS offer a land service which will be cheaper but will take longer.

Do you know anyone driving over? it may be another option.

Prettypolly

Re: Importing to Spain
 

Hi YMF. The Post House have a delivery service whereby the goods are sent to a UK address and then brought over here by courier. I believe that you don´t have to have a mailbox with them to access this service. I´ve got no idea how much this costs. You may know this already so sorry if I´m telling you what you already know.

Happy New Year.

JJxx

Re: Importing to Spain
 

Hi
Yes I am aware of this and did register but I have since discovered that the couriers do not offer any insurance if the items are lost or damaged. You cannot purchase it from them either. I know many people use this Offex service without any problems but as this would be a high value item I am not prepared to take the risk.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Yvonne

Re: Importing to Spain
 

Maybe, maybe not. My current AV amp in here in the UK weighs in at 35Kgs. Won't be bringing it to Spain with us though as the boss won't let me run enough cables for a 7.1 system :-( Looking to buy a 2.1 system to replace it with.

Since we are moving soon I have been disposing of unaanted stuff on ebay in preparation for quitting the UK. I have sent a couple of items to europe and used parcel2go.co.uk. They are also an agent for DHL, Fedex and the like. Worked well for the parcels that I have sent so far.

Re: Importing to Spain
 

I wrote to the manufacturer (Onkyo)of the AV amplifier I was intending to buy, they have told me that if I buy in the UK I would have to return it to the UK dealer for any repairs under the terms of the guarantee. They do not have a Europe wide guarantee it is country specific. It looks like I will be paying more and buying here. At least the pound was slightly stronger today:)

Re: Importing to Spain
 

I presume you mean a sub amp do you for a surround system?
If thats so, I recommend you buy in Spain with a warranty as well .... many are notoriously unreliable, especially if left in standby mode for long periods.

If you are talking about something else, then ignore me! Just that I had a bad experience with a KEF sub and learned a lot about them afterwards

Re: Importing to Spain
 

Yes that is what I want to buy, I had read on a couple of forums about unreliability which is why I wanted to make sure any guarantee would be valid here.
Buying locally narrows the choice down, I have looked into buying online in spain, a lot of the sites seem to have poor customer ratings though. Redcoon has very good prices for some models, they seem almost too good to be true so probably are!
Do you have any recommendations or makes to avoid? We bought some Kef speakers last year and now need an amplifier with an active subwoofer output.

Yvonne

Re: Importing to Spain
 

That's exactly what I came up against, an item that was much cheaper to buy in the UK than here but would have to go back to the UK for repairs.
Mind you it was so cheap I could actually have bought 2 & always had a spare handy :blink:.
I ended up buying it here at great expense & it's never gone wrong :unsure: so far.

BTW another transport alternative is TNT they do a 5 day & 10 day service.
I recently had a package which was 60kgs & 1.4m long & it cost 60 quid.

DHL & UPS have size limits rather than weight (cubic), sorry don't know what they are offhand.