Experiences with shipping to Europe?

[leinad]

Hi all,
I am looking into building a Warmoth guitar as my next guitar instead of buying a guitar and at the moment I am weighing up the pros and cons. The one thing that is really holding me back is shipping $1000 worth of equipment to the Netherlands, Europe. Certainly after reading the thread about UPS on this forum.

I will contact Warmoth to ask specific questions about terms and conditions regarding shipping etc.

In the meantime, has anybody had any experiences with wrong/damaged goods arriving overseas? If so, how was it handled and did you have to send anything back to the US (at around 50 to 80 dollars a shipment that doesn't sound like something I would want to make a habit of).

 

[Kostas]

I have made two orders, a body & neck separately, with UPS from USA to Greece. Both came in 5 days, good packing and safe. UPS asked for extra money to clear the goods through the customs despite what Warmoth mentions in their site. I did it myself both times and saved money.

 

[Soloshchenko]

It was a while ago since I ordered mine to UK but I had 2 shipments. The VAT and charges were expensive but I can't find anyone over here who makes stuff as good as Warmoth and its still cost me less than a custom shop USA model (which, quality wise is the level were talking here).

 

[rahimiiii]

I bought several Warmoth products from Taiwan, I generally ask for postal shipment because they don't get taxed somehow, UPS items always get taxed and depending on the custom's mood it could be low (7% or less) to extortion (30% or more).

The only downside is post office takes longer to ship and alot of times the boxes arrive somewhat beat up (but the goods were undamaged)

 

[whitebison66]

I've never had a problem with shipping to Hong Kong.

 

[leinad]

Cheers,
It is comforting to hear everybody is receiving there shipments in good condition. Shame they don't ship DHL, heard some good stuff about them personally, they are fast, and they only add VAT at customs, no other hidden costs.

Kostas, do you know how much extra UPS wanted to charge you?

thanks,
Daniel

 

[llama]

I have had 2 bodies and necks shipped to the UK. The shipping charges & tax do make the parts expensive but nobody in the UK can make anything near this quality. I have always had a good service from Warmoth with good communication by email. UPS can be a pain as they always want extra cash to clear customs even though those charges are supposed to be already paid by Warmoth in the shipping costs. The parts have always been packed well and UPS deliver in about 5 days or less - UPS ships into an airport close to my home. They will phone up to get payment for customs clearance and to arrange delivery.

The quality of the Warmoth products has to be seen to be believed. The first one I made was a Black Korina Strat which I sold because I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. I have since made a mahogany telecaster with a tangerine sparkle finish and maple neck with Pau Ferro fretboard. I have fitted Fender noiseless pickups. It plays and sounds fantastic - easily as good as my Fender 52 re-issue. I won't be selling this one. My next project will be a walnut telecaster with humbuckers.

 

[Kostas]

Kostas, do you know how much extra UPS wanted to charge you?

thanks,
Daniel

More or less it was 100 euros, a fee for their broker. I have changed UPS, all orders now are coming with USPS. It takes two weeks to get here, but the greek post office is doing all the work in the customs without asking to get paid. Also, one body arrived in my front door directly without getting through the customs!!! No UPS for me again.

 

[spauldingrules]

My order got to Missouri just fine. 

 

[Ted]

No problems with UPS.

You always hear about the problems never the safe deliveries. Just look in the JUST OUT OF THE BOX forum. Its all good.

 

[vegababy]

I have had 2 bodies and necks shipped to the UK. The shipping charges & tax do make the parts expensive but nobody in the UK can make anything near this quality.

Do you remember by any chance how much in percent came on top ? I'm just about to put my first order together. It'll probably be around 1200 dollars and it would just be nice to know how much I can expect on top of that...

 

[mscmkr]

My order got to Missouri just fine. 

Missouri, Czech Republic? 

 

[artnaz]

Leinad, extra costs in the Netherlands are 19% VAT + 3.2% "invoerrechten" (don't know the English name :toothy11. And that's including the shipping costs. Furthermore, UPS is faster than USPS, and I had some minor problems with USPS at times...

 

[woj74]

I ordered a custom neck and hardware for around $460 including USPS shipping to Poland, once Warmoth shipped the things it took about 5 weeks since i found in my mailbox a nice piece of paper saying that i have to pay around $120 customs+VAT. The stuff was ok, no damage but customs opened the carton to examine the content.I really hurts to know that our american friends pay $20 for shipping within several days and we european poor boys need to pay twice for shipping,wait at least twice as long for delivery and than suffer paying to national treasure around 30% of the goods&shipping value. I'm just planning another project and my "foxy plan" is to order Warmoth to ship things to my friend in US, than he'll repack it, remove the invoice and make it be private, second-hand goods and ship to to me. That way i expect to avoid feeding greedy customs. I heard some of my friends make it this way and it works.