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It seems that if you price sonus faber speakers on foreign websites that they are quite a bit cheaper
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I bought my Extremas years ago directly from a dealer in Turin. But I had a friend who worked for a company headquartered there who also had a brother in the States that could act as an importer.I doubt I could or would have done it on my own. At the time I saved about 50% off the recommended list price.
Buying speakers overseas is definitely cheaper and makes sense for a savvy shopper to do it.I bought the B&W 602 s3 for about $200 less AFTER the s&h of about $100 from England.
The only problem you'll encounter with some dealers is that they won't sell if you're not from the region. What you can do is napalm several emails all over Europe and see who bites. You WILL ALWAYS find someone who will bite! I've done this twice with no problems. B&W is at the forefront of these terse rules, but I got around it. ;)
Since I travel to Europe frequently, I take a big hard outer-shell suitcase or camping backpack to put monitors in. You just ask the airline to label and treat with care. They will usually travel with other sensitive stuff. If the monitors are over-heavy, you just pay a reasonable minimal fee.
May I also suggest to find dealers in Mexico and Central America. They have the BEST discounts and are much friendlier and more apt to to go the extra mile for you regarding flexing those strict sales rules certain speaker companies have. Plus shipping is generally cheaper too!
Right now, take into account that a:) the Euro is stronger against the dollar. This means you'll pay more now than you did a year ago; b.) you'll pay a 1-3% foreign surcharge with your mastercard/visa. The best card in the land for this is MBNA Bank....they charge only 1%. AMEX is 2% but FX makes them 3%.; c.) If the speaker goes bust, it's a hassle to go through the mfgr. The good thing is that speakers are so well made nowadays that this is really a non-issue. If you're in Europe you can test the speakers out before leaving the land--which is a positive.
Assuming for a moment that I did buy some Grand Pianos via an overseas dealer, now I have to pay freight and insurance to get the speakers to a point of entry into the U.S.. Once they arrive here, I have to pay duty, and then additional freight to get them to my doorstep. Since my shipment is not being consolidated with that of a high-volume importer, I will more than likely pay full tariff freight charges all the way through. Adding to all of this, I would have to devote at least a little bit of my time to coordinate this activity. While the value of my time is an implied one, it has value nonetheless. So by the time all is said and done, I would have probably been better off to have just picked up the telephone and called Sumiko in San Francisco.All of the above has never stopped me from fantasizing about buying Sonus Faber or a number of other overseas speakers in such a fashion.
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if you bought them while travelling overseas, you still have to handle the freight charges to bring them back and you still have to pay customs and duty charges. The only benefits you derive by purchasing them yourself while on the other side of the pond is (1) you can see what you are buying; (2) payment to the dealer is resolved a bit more quickly; and (3) you take possession of the speakers more quickly (albeit in a foreign country).
And the airplane restrictions, you can just send them through as luggage (usually paying the airline a fee, sometimes $100 or more), and declare them upon arrival. I know guys who have done this with motorcycle exhausts and such. You will have to pay an import duty, which can get expensive. But you usually come out ahead.I also know people who have marked the items as "used gifts" and thus avoided paying most all of the duties. But I feel this is unethical and would not take this route to save a buck.
In the end, I don't think it would be worth my hassle/time unless I just fell for a pair of Cremona Auditors or something smaller and got them for like 30% of the US cost... Remember you won't have warranty or dealer support, either, and who knows if Sumiko would even help get them serviced in the event of a driver failure...
that can backfire. These customs guys might be dumb sometimes, but they aren't stupid.
Customs people are very lax. Don't give them too much credit.I bring stuff home all the time.
As long as you can stuff it in your suitcase, no problem.
I had a wedding in Europe. All the stuff was left at my European mother-in-laws. Every Euro trip, we bring some of the new wedding gifts back home. Never, ever, ever have we paid a dime in customs. AND, to top it off, some of this stuff is BIGGER than monitors I've brought home with me.
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