Importing espresso machines

[Dragunov21]

Every time I think this thread is gonna die of old age a crop of new Coffee Snobs arrives, has a light bulb moment, and off we go again.

You should see the stuff that comes up on shooting forums...

[simonko]

Every time I think this thread is gonna die of old age a crop of new Coffee Snobs arrives, has a light bulb moment, and off we go again.

I think it's a good thing though. Refreshed topics are a bit like blogs, one reads them because they're an interesting topic, current and in your face, even if not relevant at the time. From reading this thread, I now know there's no way I'd consider self-importing unless it was something very unique and not available here, and I'd pass such reasons as outlined here on to friends considering such.

[MrJack]

Re: Importing espresso machines

Thinking in another direction, do the aussie importers get a raw deal from the manufacturers?

Looking back at this thread, it boggles the mind to think that in 2010 you could buy the machine in the US for less than in italy...

[mcm991]

Every time I think this thread is gonna die of old age a crop of new Coffee Snobs arrives, has a light bulb moment, and off we go again.

Well you can certainly understand why some here want this thread to die.

Enjoy your R58 Andi.

As you experienced when you imported your machine, you did not pay duty.... which was my point a few days ago when I made my post...... and was roundly jumped on.

The R58 is a really nice machine. I recently had an opportunity to chat to Andrew Meo from Rocket about this machine. While he would be the first person to reccommend that you buy it from the authorized agent in your area, I did raise some of the issues with him that have been mentioned on this forum about this model.

The R58 has been hugely successful for Rocket since its launch and they have sold well over 1000 units. Aside from some initial problems with packaging which resulted in some damaged deliveries, it has been very well received. The technical issues which have been mentioned here on the forums, if indeed they did occur, would indicate a unit clearly not functioning as intended and not a design parameter. But if you want to save $1200 when you buy this machine, then you accept that you have no warranty and that is the risk you take.

I personally know a few people with this unit and all of them are happy as Larry and can't say enough good things about it. All were personal imports.

My advice is not to drink too much of the Kool-aid offered here by people talking their book. It is unlikey that you and your family will meet a horrible and painful end if you import a machine - as so often described by one of the more prolific posters.

There is lots of good info on this thread for those considering bringing in a machine from offshore, including the benefits and risks involved. If this forum is to be useful for everyone, I see no reason to want it to die.

[TC]

mcm I can only advise of what we have observed in every single import we have seen.

Your suggestion that we are embellishing the truth is an absolute insult.

There are plenty of blissfully ignorant "happy as larry" owners who have no idea of what their machine should do nor how their PID should operate. In what we saw, thermostability does not exist.

I'll leave it at that- because ultimately, it's their machine, not my problem.

[Jonathon]

Importing espresso machines

Thinking in another direction, do the aussie importers get a raw deal from the manufacturers?

Looking back at this thread, it boggles the mind to think that in 2010 you could buy the machine in the US for less than in italy...

There's no doubt that many (most) manufacturers price differentiate, and why wouldn't they? Aussies are far richer than almost anybody else on the planet, so we can afford to pay much more than anyone else.

How many cars do you think BMW or Porsche would sell in the US if they charged the prices they charge here? I'd estimate they'd sell 10%-15% of their current volume.

There's no reason for coffee machine companies to act any differently. Unfortunately it's the poor aussie retailer who gets squeezed when punters give them a hard time by comparing Internet prices which are based off different input prices.

The fact that for some products they can come very close to matching European or US prices is remarkable, given their much higher costs, both running costs and stock costs.

[Hildy]

Australians are not far richer than most of the rest of the OECD, and we definitely pay higher prices for many things (but not everything).

At historically typical exchange rates Australian-US GDP per capita has remained at rough parity (ie before the current quite distorted exchange rate). It's just that our retailers are not very quick to lower prices when the exchange rate favours us, but quite quick to raise them when it doesn't.

[Dragunov21]

As you experienced when you imported your machine, you did not pay duty.... which was my point a few days ago when I made my post...... and was roundly jumped on.

I think that perhaps there are misunderstandings around use of the term "duty".

All imports over $1k attract GST of 10% on the total of cost + shipping + duty. Some private imports attract duty depending on category and country of origin. Many imports from the US enjoy a duty-free classification (a lot of firearm-related items, for instance) that would have 5-10% duty levied on them if they came from various other countries.

[Jonathon]

Importing espresso machines

At historically typical exchange rates Australian-US GDP per capita has remained at rough parity (ie before the current quite distorted exchange rate).

I don't believe the current exchange rates are distorted. Obviously they're very different from historical rates of 10-30 years ago, but 10-30 years ago the global economy was very different.

As an aside, in my day job I work with long term currency forecasts from all of the big banks and companies in Australia and overseas. 5-6 years ago, when the AUD started strongly appreciating against the major currencies, most client forecasts showed the AUD retreating to 80c after 3-4 years. Now, I don't see a single forecast that shows such a retreat.

Now a forecast is of course just a guess, but it also reflects a change in mindset that the economic axis has moved east.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

As you experienced when you imported your machine, you did not pay duty.... which was my point a few days ago when I made my post...... and was roundly jumped on.

Completely, and utterly, wrong. The 'Customs and Duty' paid by Andi is clearly in excess of the GST chargeable on the landed cost ($375 is more than 10% of $3355), and thus he has paid duty on the price of the goods at the point of export (ie excluding international freight), and then paid GST on the value of taxable importation (price of goods, freight and duty included). If your point is to inform, it's best to get it right.

[Vinitasse]

Completely, and utterly, wrong. The 'Customs and Duty' paid by Andi is clearly in excess of the GST chargeable on the landed cost ($375 is more than 10% of $3355), and thus he has paid duty on the price of the goods at the point of export (ie excluding international freight), and then paid GST on the value of taxable importation (price of goods, freight and duty included). If your point is to inform, it's best to get it right.

Actually... I believe that andigops stated the following: "GST & Customs Fee: $375"

The "Customs fee" may in fact be the fee charged by a customs broker for their services and have nothing to do with duty whatsoever, so until we know exactly what the customs fee was in this particular case I would suggest that you mellow out a wee bit as you may well be the one not getting it right.

[mcm991]

Completely, and utterly, wrong. The 'Customs and Duty' paid by Andi is clearly in excess of the GST chargeable on the landed cost ($375 is more than 10% of $3355), and thus he has paid duty on the price of the goods at the point of export (ie excluding international freight), and then paid GST on the value of taxable importation (price of goods, freight and duty included). If your point is to inform, it's best to get it right.

Customs generally charge a $55.20 fee to clear personal imports over $1000.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Good point. My apologies if incorrect.,

[robusto]

For many consumer goods made overseas and sold here, we pay such ridiculously high prices compared to Americans buying the same appliance.

A Japanese Yamaha 2000 generator, Amazon USA $US 990ish. Here, double that.

I cannot believe that market size disparity or shipping is the reason--shouldn't cost any more to ship off a container load from Japan to here than Japan to USA.

I've bought from Amazon and it is still cheaper to have the item shipped from America than buy here.

We are getting soundly ripped off for whatever the reasons.

[simonko]

If we were getting ripped off, it would be a no-brainer to self-import.

The marketplace regulates prices.