Buy bass oversea....

[garagesale_01]

Hey,
im planning to buy a bass guitar from talkbass.com

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466665

i was wondering whether will be i charged for any taxes of watever CIF u call it...

it's a used bass...

hope to hear from you guys soon...

[yuujin]

i havent bought a bass from overseas before.
but i doubt you have to pay taxes.
just insurance if you declare it over 400 i think.
shipping isnt cheap as well.

[garagesale_01]

shipping is paid USD$130...
so is it worth it?

payment by paypal....
is it safe?

[mrekoj]

if you pay, he never send, you gonner

at least if you buy from ebay usa, you are covered for certain amount (200 for new seller, 2000 for reputable sellers)

think the risk not really worth it

[DarkRed]

hi, you will have to pay 7% GST in addition to shipping for any item over $400sgd. my average shipping (via vpost) is about $200, depending on the size of the bass and how they pack it. charges were generally according to volumetric weight - the larger the package, the more expensive the shipping.

for commercial retailers, they have a standard way of packing that is safe but kind of bulky, but for 2nd hand, maybe you can talk to the seller to pack it in a smaller box.

[azhfar]

hey there... I bought my bass from USA abt 6 months back... Honestly, transaction was smooth... Payment made thru paypal... The guitar cost USD335.. Then shipping was USD100... SO total i spent was USD 435.. Tats all.. NO tax... Not sure why... So u just convert to SGD ah the USD 435... At tat time the rate was like 1.38.. So kind of cheap ah... Hehe..

Also, if u buying from ebay, make sure he can be trusted.. Look thru all his comments and ratings. Better still if he is a powerseller... Then make payment thru paypal.. So quite safe after all...

As for me, my guitar has no insurance. But since he is a powerseller, i trusted him ah... Indeed, it was worth it for me... Shipper tat time was using USPS... Ard 6 days shipment...

[lordie]

i bough a bass from a usa recently ;p and taxes is close to sgd$200 and shipping is sgd$200. got discount from fedex corp acct, usualy price is usd$220

bought it from those mom and pop shops ;p

[frenchtoast]

I think if you pick the bass up from the post office they wont charge you the 7%. I think shinobi spoke about this trick before. Could be wrong.

[vinestreet]

Anything above $400 ( i think), you must pay 7% GST.

My advice is pay the GST because you better insure the guitar. It's not so much the seller not packing properly, it's the shipping agents that mess up your boxes very badly. If you under declare the cost of the bass to save on GST, you'll end up under insuring.

Try boderlinx - they have a tie up with Citibank credit cards. Cheaper shipping than VPOST even though they use DHL AND FREE INSURANCE (saves you at least S$30-40 on insurance alone).

I've not tried them yet, but i've got a bass that is on order in US and it will be shipped to Boderlinx's US warehouse to be DHL'ed over here in Singapore. VPOST with insurance is too expensive, about S$120 more than Boderlinx.

Edit: Holy shit man, I just saw the bass. You BETTER INSURE IT FULLY!

[rottenramone]

wow, that bass is nice.

if u can, ask him to unbolt the neck from body. that way u can ship in a smaller and cheaper box. think that's abt usd70.