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Buying a guitar is one of the most fun things you can do and forums are
littered with questions about the topic. This guide assumes you know
what guitar or type of guitar you are looking for. The next step is
how to find it. There are two broad options to buying a guitar:
1.
Face to face - eg a specialist music shop, second hand store or a private
sale
2.
Remotely - eg. an online music store, eBay, a forum buy and sell.
This guide deals with the second scenario only. Buying a guitar
without meeting the seller or touching the guitar requires a significant
leap of faith on the part of the purchaser. Guitars are often
emotional purchases and the stress associated with an on-line transaction
can be significant. I have experienced this first hand having
bought 7 guitars remotely. 4 on ebay and 3 from shops. Five have been imported from USA to Australia,
one from Japan and one from another Australian State. In each case the transaction
went smoothly and the guitars
were better than I anticipated except for one which had more dents
than I expected and a non genuine tone pot on a Strat. This may not
seem important but the non-genuine tone pot was not the same length as the
origianl so a Fender strat knob will not actually fit.. Oh well it still
sounds good. Buyer beware.
Jedistar view on guitar valuations
Trust
The number one issue is whether the seller is real and going to complete
their end of the deal. The first time I bid for a guitar on ebay I did
not win the auction but received a second chance offer from someone in
France. This was a little suspicious as the guitar was located in
Sydney, Australia. eBay has done much to reduce this sort of risk by
hiding the names of bidders from fraudsters. Look elsewhere for eBay buying
tips but as a simple rule - never buy from anyone with feedback of zero.
To be frank I would be very reluctant to buy a guitar from someone with
feedback less than 30, has been a member for a few years and has a good
record as a seller, not just as a buyer. Beware. The only exception to a
zero or low rank ebayer is for a COD item.
Jedistar learnt a valuable lesson about eBay recently
with a near shilling experience. For those of you who have not been
shilled you may be interested in this.
Don't forget the exchange rate
It seems obvious but if you are buying a guitar from another country you
need to consider currency exchange. The Australian dollar can move wildly
against the US Dollar, UK pound and the Euro so you must watch it closely. There are a number of potential sources
of currency exchange values eg xe.com.
I have no affiliation with that site or any other referred to here. Note as
the
rates change constantly, the actual rate you pay is most likely to be the one on
the day of the payment - not necessarily the day you agree to buy the
guitar. There may be delays between agreeing to buy the guitar and
then agreeing on shipping charges. A lot can happen on the foreign
exchange market in a week.
Payment and margins
Expect to be disappointed with exchange rates. You have no choice but
to use an intermediate financial institution to process the payment and each
will bite you. Some will bite more than others. They will
give you a worse rate than that published and they may also charge a
percentage for the pleasure of using the service. 1.5% is a common fee
over and above the built in margin on exchange rate. Choose your
credit cards wisely. I
prefer to pay via credit card over the phone if dealing with a store in the
USA. I have a Mastercard with NO fees for international transactions
which I got specifically for this purpose. It saves
me 1.5%. PayPal is a very flexible and secure way of paying but the
fees for the seller on eBay are terrible so sometimes you may be asked to
pay extra for a PayPal transaction.
Shipping charges from USA to Australia
The key message is to shop around. There are a number of options and
many sellers will use Fedex or UPS as a first preference as they give good
local USA deals. They are not the cheapest way of getting a guitar to
Australia. In my experience the best value shipper from USA to
Australia is
United State Postal Service or USPS. NOT UPS! I cannot say this
loudly enough!. My history of importing guitars to
Brisbane with USPS is as follows:
PRS Singlecut (27.5 pounds) October 2006 from Cleveland, Tennessee - $163.25
USD
Fender Stratocaster from California November 2006 - $175 USD
Fender Stratocaster from Louisiana July 2009 - $171 USD per below picture
and my most recent shipment July 2010 was a Strobel Rambler travel guitar
from Florida. Russ Strobel got some quotes from UPS for me but they
were absolutely ridiculous - as in $300.
USPS provides excellent value provided the package dimensions are within the
following:
Total Length and Girth combined may not exceed 108 inches (274.3 cm)
Individual dimensions must not exceed:
Length - 46 inches (116.8 cm)
Width - 35 inches (88.9)
Height - 46 inches (116.8)
Weight may not exceed 70 pounds (31.75 Kg)
Here is my most recent example of Track and Confirm email delivery timeline
with USPS - I collected from the post office the afternoon after
delivery was attempted at an empty house.
Service Type: Express Mail
Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered Abroad AUSTRALIA 07/20/09
4:27pm
Attempted Delivery AUSTRALIA 07/20/09
3:23pm
Abroad
At Foreign Delivery AUSTRALIA 07/20/09
6:28am
Unit
Out of Foreign Customs AUSTRALIA 07/19/09
2:18pm
Into Foreign Customs AUSTRALIA 07/19/09
10:43am
Arrived Abroad
AUSTRALIA 07/19/09
10:43am
International Dispatch UNITED STATES 07/16/09
8:16pm
Arrival UNITED STATES 07/16/09
8:16pm
Processed through Sort SHREVEPORT LA 71102 07/15/09
7:02pm
Facility
Acceptance NATCHITOCHES LA 71457 07/15/09
8:29am
Reminder: Track & Confirm by email
==============================================================================
Apart from cost there are other advantages of using the
post. For
goods under $1,000: Imported
goods arriving by post will be released duty and tax free by
Customs for delivery direct to the addressee.
Imported goods arriving otherwise than by post
will require the completion of a Self Assessed Clearance (SAC) declaration
before clearance from Customs control.
For goods over $1,000 SAC declaration is required in
all cases.
Insurance
This is optional. Shippers may have a basic level of insurance - check to
see and upgrade if you feel it is worthwhile.
Customs charges and import duties Australia
Questions on this topic are often asked on Australian Guitar forums.
The Customs
information is available here for you to review.
From the customs web site:
All goods (except for tobacco products and alcoholic beverages) may
be imported duty and tax free if their value is $1,000 or less.
Note NOT including the shipping cost.
So, import duties and fees are payable if the item cost is greater than $1,000 AUD.
Then there are 3 potential types of charges:
Customs Duty
Goods and Services Tax
Processing fee - around $50
|
Value of goods |
Value of shipping and insurance |
Customs Duty |
GST |
Processing fee |
|
$1,000 or less |
not applicable |
nil |
nil |
nil |
|
$1,001 or more = X |
Y |
5% of X for most countries.
Not payable for goods Made
in USA due to the free trade agreement. |
10% of (X +Y)
Payable on all items |
Yes. ? $35-$50 |
So in summary, in addition to the cost of the guitar you may need to
budget for:
Foreign exchange margin
International credit card charge
Shipping cost
Insurance
Customs duty (from some countries)
Goods and Services Tax
A processing fee.
Good luck.
Remember the cheapest way of shipping a guitar from USA to Australia is
United States Postal Service. Do not use Fedex or UPS if you have a
choice. Update as of 1 Janary 2010 both USPS and UPS have increased their shipping rates.
Footnote courtesy of Kim Porter,
Just Guitars Australia
25/1/2010
1. Not all US post offices enforce the size restrictions, so it can be
possible to have a guitar in a hard case shipped USPS. I've had a dealer in
the US knocked back at their usual post office, only to try at another one
nearby, where the "oversize" box was happily accepted. Apparently, if an
item is accepted across the counter, USPS is obliged to deliver it!
2. This won't apply to everyone, but shipping two or more guitars in the one
box dramatically reduces the shipping cost, regardless of carrier.
3. Basses do not incur a customs charge, (GST, but no 5% customs).
4. Most of the bigger dealers, (Elderly, Sam Ash Custom, Gruhn, etc), get
massive volume discounts from FedEx and UPS, making them just as affordable
as USPS. I think the top discount is 60%, which means I can have a Strat or
Ric, in a hard shell case, delivered here in about four days from New York,
for US$150! (This compares with smaller dealers receiving FedEx/UPS quotes
to Australia of US$500 - $700!!!!!)
5. The neck-off option. If a guitar has no case, or just a gig bag, get the
seller to unbolt the neck and send it that way. The box only needs to have
the flat dimensions of the body, with the (diagonal) length of the neck. A
gig bag doubles as packing material. A guitar sent neck-off generally maxes
out at about US$65.
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