Importing Scopes

peter-pantslez

god i found a scope on the net on optic planet and trying to buy it.

first of all they cancelled the order because they are not allowed by law to ship anything that could be used on a fire arm outside the US.
so to over come that i reordered with my sisters address now they want a photocopy of the credeit card to prove its in my possesion and want a load of forms signed.

is there an easier way to get scopes form the states?

CJhaughey

Yes! Deal with another seller.

Vegeta

Your sis (I assume she lives in america) could just go to a bricks an mortar shop to get it

alternatively you could try flea-bay. bullets who posts on here (sure he wouldn't mind you sending him a PM for the name of the ebay store) bought a very nice scope at a cracking price of an e-bay store

Veg

durandal01

I ordered a laser bore-sighter from Optics Planet last month and got bumped as well.
I guess that by refusing sale of these sort of things gives them some
kind of self-important buzz that they are playing there part in
the 'WAR ON TERROR' (reg.trademark).
I then tried cabelas.com with great success. the price and postage was cheaper
and it took only 10 days from ordering to delivery.
Durandal.

CJhaughey

I Have ordered from Cabelas with some success before, the prices are quite good , but the problem lies with the UPS delivery.
I was charged €35 on a $30 order by the irish broker, €15 was for vat and duty and the rest was for their fees.
I felt that this was a little steep and will not be ordering anything through UPS again.

Clare gunner

CJ, sounds like you got Gipped by the Irish UPS!!
When you buy anything from the US,make sure that the US company adds in Shipping and Handling[S&H] in on their side.It is usually cheaper for a start,and also that they send you on the package the invoice/recipt to prove that this is already paid for.

I have had this three times with UPS.First time I paid,second time I read my sales bill,third time I told UPS to FK off as they were already paid from the US,they billed me again with a snitty letter stating they would refuse to deliver further to my address,etc.I sent them back a nastier letter,threatning legal action for attempted fraud by obtaining double payments for s&H.
After that no problem...UPS delivers and checks the invoices properly.:)

It is not UPS Intl at fault per se.It is the Irish&UK branches that dont know arses from elbows when it comes to finding out who is to be paid for what.

CJhaughey

I had paid shipping and handling on the original invoice, what I was charged for was the Duty+ Vat levied on the entire cost of the goods+Postage.
Then the cheeky buggers charged me the brokerage fees etc.
I have a simpler solution , just don't deal with UPS, USPS is my preferred carrier now.

bullets

I bought a Leupold from DnR sports UK. Which is actually
a USA store. The priceing is in UKP but
the Item locations ships from the USA.

The communication was a bit rocky on the overall transaction
but it got there in the end.

I did not get charged any customs fees at all.
Postage was 30USD and got a Tracking number etc.
Prices were very good compared to here in Ireland or the UK.
Heres the link:

http://stores.ebay.ie/D-R-Sports-Center-United-Kingdom

The bloke in DnR was good enough to put less than the real value
of the scope on the packaging which was good of him.
Many places will do that but if the package gets lost or damaged
in transit you can only claim for the declared value.

Optics warehouse in the UK can have good
prices too and I have bought from them in the past
and they were frendly and helpful when I did
get through to them:
http://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/

I have never yet been charged anything by Customs on anything
I have ever bought on the web. (I do nearly all my purchasing online)
I even got an FN-FAL replica-ish/airsoft rifle last week to have as
a display piece/wallhanger type thing that came from Hong Kong
and I was full sure it would be stopped by Customs. There was
even a check box on the packaging to indicate someone had
flagged it to be stopped but somehow it was not.!

~B

Our man in Havana

The key to sucess is to never use courriers like UPS, DHL, FedEX etc, they will always add charges on regardless of the contents of the package. I always use USPS which is delivered by AnPost and there are never any charges.

packas

peter-pantslez wrote:

god i found a scope on the net on optic planet and trying to buy it.

first of all they cancelled the order because they are not allowed by law to ship anything that could be used on a fire arm outside the US.
so to over come that i reordered with my sisters address now they want a photocopy of the credeit card to prove its in my possesion and want a load of forms signed.

is there an easier way to get scopes form the states?

Did you try www.binoculars.com

Clare gunner

CJhaughey wrote:

I had paid shipping and handling on the original invoice, what I was charged for was the Duty+ Vat levied on the entire cost of the goods+Postage.
Then the cheeky buggers charged me the brokerage fees etc.

Ok so it was intercepted by Irish customs,Nothing to do with UPS.They cant release it until the duty is paid on it.Brokerage fees well,not surprising who does anything for free here in Ireland???
I wont use USPS here while the Irish branch of GLS has the contract to deliver.They are nothing but a bunch of common crooks and incompetant rippoff merchants!!!:mad: They took two months to get a package from Dublin to Limerick.Second time,I had to go to their depot to collect in Limerick as they couldnt find my address,and then wanted delivery fees!!
Then they couldnt/wouldnt accept credit card payments,despite having the symbols on their letterhead and adverts.And it is not just me,Irish GLS have featured in the media and Joe Duffy for their crookedly and incompetant ways.Just shows that two people can have two different experiances with the same company.

Our man in Havana

GLS lost that contract years ago.

CJhaughey

I have no problem paying the Vat + duty (if I have to)
What I object to is having to pay the brokerage a big fee to write on a bit of paper.
As Bond-007 says GlS no longer have anything to do with USPS all they have now is Parcelfarce.
USPS is all dealt with in my area with An Post.
I just bought a Bushnell Elite 4200 3x9-40 scope from the States via USPS I will report back on my experience.

Clare gunner

Bond-007 wrote:

GLS lost that contract years ago.

Thank GOD for that!!:D Well lets see how USPS/an Post works out.

fathersymes

looking at a scope myself in the US, I bought a Leupold before from a US ebay store and got charged no VAT/Duty here. Unlike some stuff I bought from Cabelas and got charged VAT/Duty by UPS here.

So it is unlikely I will have to pay VAT/Duty if I get USPS to do the shipping?

Our man in Havana

fathersymes wrote:

looking at a scope myself in the US, I bought a Leupold before from a US ebay store and got charged no VAT/Duty here. Unlike some stuff I bought from Cabelas and got charged VAT/Duty by UPS here.

So it is unlikely I will have to pay VAT/Duty if I get USPS to do the shipping?

Correct. Always use USPS and you will be fine.

Clare gunner

Dont rely 100% on that either.It is not up to UPS,or US mail,etc.It is up to wether your package gets spot checked by Irish customs.Or better/worse UK customs who then inform the Irish customs
Best thing that you can do is have the parcel marked at value under 100/150 USD.Some companies will do this some wont.If they wont ,try at least to get them to word the declaration that it is obscure or ambigious.In other words for a scope ,try and get it as somthing like "optics" or "sample parts" not Hendsolt 3/12x40 tactical rifle scope,or lower trigger group parts.
When you consider the mass of parcels that now travel the Western world,by various courier companiesand mail,it is more than 80/20 odds that yours will not be stopped.Plus even with X raying parcels,unless it is in the actual shape of a gun and you have well trained and changed reguraly X ray machine personel,who know what they are looking for.It will get thru.This has become the nightmare of LE/Customs and the dream of the bad guys worldwide.

freddieot

The reason that stuff sent from outside the EU and eventually delivered here by GLS, FedEx etc. all seem to get hit for Customs charges is very simple. These companies create a manifest for Customs which details all the shipments they have to declare and the declared contents of every shipment. Customs can then easily decide what duties apply etc. They don't even have to physically see the contents unless they want to check something specific.

USPS and others that use An Post do not create a manifest. Instead, Customs officials physically examine the shipments. They then decide what to do as regards either holding stuff or imposing duties. So - you can be lucky or unlucky. (USPS went back to using An Post from Jan 2005).

The real rip-off is as several have already said, the Customs Clearance fee or aka Brokerage. An Post only charge €5 (basically the real cost of collecting the duties - postman has to collect it etc.). However, with other delivery companies the sky is the limit. It is worthwhile paying attention to the delivery method. Even stuff you buy in the UK may not be delivered by An Post as Parcelforce still use GLS here for a lot of their deliveries and I see some people have already enjoyed that experience. I waited 6 weeks for a scope from Deben a few years ago and more recently 2 months for a holster from the Netherlands (that was via some scanger outfit without any contact numbers as well.)

ranger4

I bought through sinclairs a borescope which was sent through us post service, I was away on hol when package arrived there was a note in letterbox saying to collect from sorting office, 90 fecking euro handed in before they would release package, I know of one person who lives in border area, who leaves forwarding address includes eire uk the package is re sent from north to republic no extra charges are levied, something to do with european agreement on postal duty Think i have to try this one for myself.

kerryman12

lads

trying to order a new scope using the american websites above, but cant. :mad: each time i put in my address here in Ireland, they advise it cant be shipped here. Any advise?

The price differiantials between home and online are crazy!!!!

BryanL

i get my brother in the states to buy it on his yankey credit card, get it sent to his US address then he brings it home ............and i don't even pay him!

my brother probably won't bring it in for you,he's been stung too often,but i think there's a few more Irish out there

try www.SWFA.com

Clare gunner

kerryman12 wrote:

lads

trying to order a new scope using the american websites above, but cant. :mad: each time i put in my address here in Ireland, they advise it cant be shipped here. Any advise?

The price differiantials between home and online are crazy!!!!

Keep trying different US sites untill you hit one that will.Failing that pick up the phone and ring them saying you want to order one and their website wont allow it,they might do the order over the phone.This has worked for me as well,as it is somtimes that they have sent stuff and it turns out that the CC is a problem,in that it is nicked,or whatever.
Dont be put off with this Patriot act BS,no international shipping can mean alot of reasons,not just post fear of 9/11

Croppy Boy

Have you tried www.theopticzone.com/. I've bought several scopes from them without any bother. They do delay the transaction for two weeks to get an export cert. If you do deal with them, get them to send it by USPS and not UPS. You'll get it quicker and there's a good chance there'll be no duty or VAT to pay.

Croppy Boy

Sorry about the picture, it seems to have increased in size.

Croppy Boy

That's better:rolleyes:

Paddy Diver

Hi All,

I ordered my Hawke scope Monday form www.opticswarehouse.co.uk and it arrived this morning (wednesday) before I left for work. So now pleased with myself.


Ian

CJhaughey

Update:
I got home after a week away and found a box with my Bushnell Elite scope in it waiting for me.
No extras added on by the Revenue or Robbing brokerages, just the scope
I like An Post and USPS they make a fine combination.

SpringerF

I wonder do the customs lads read these posts at all ?

Clare gunner

And if they do.......????

Our man in Havana

I don't think the Customs/Gardai have anyway of identifying a Clare gunner or a bond-007 simply from reading posts on a message board.