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Thread: Recent importing a TiVo

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    573

    Recent importing a TiVo

    Hi All,

    I'm considering another TiVo to play with (so I don't stuff up my main one)
    I'm a geek!

    Has anyone in NZ recently imported a TiVo from George at Eklectik Systems without worries (From Customs etc)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    477
    Quote Originally Posted by zollymonsta
    Has anyone in NZ recently imported a TiVo from George at Eklectik Systems without worries (From Customs etc)
    Four "acquaintances" of mine have recently (in the last month) imported units from George without any issues at Customs. All up, the unit, TurboNet and shipping comes to around NZ$390.

  3. #3
    My first Tivo at the end of July arrived in 3 days from George, no customs, straight to my door - and it was very easy using a free paypal account etc which has a limit of $750US before you have to pay $1.95 and stuff around with account upgrades.
    Last week I ordered 4 for friends, family and a spare, and this time I decided to double them up for shipping as per his email - to pay $137 for 2 instead of $85 each shipment. He does state that this could affect customs duties - and it did. He tapes two of the tivo DVR boxes together and packs them in with proper foam boxing stuff. However the larger box must have attracted attention at customs and they pinged me for GST even though they aren't new. I had to pay 62.50NZD on each box (30 bucks each tivo) which is still cheaper than the separate shipping, however it took customs 5 days to post a letter telling me what I had to pay and how to do it. I had been watching the USPS track and trace eagerly for a week, and I eventually called NZ post to find out what was up (then the letter arrived!) I got one box of 2 on Friday and the other one got separated.... it _should_ arrive today... bahhh.
    Of course shipping just 1 doesn't guarantee no-customs worries either.... 1 unit only is still applicable to GST - it's just if they notice it or not!!
    So George's service is great, and hopefully the customs info helps too.
    If you're paying by creditcard, you'll find a tivo+turbonet equates to about $400NZ as they CC companys screw you on the exch rate...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Wellington
    Posts
    54

    ditto

    FWIW, ditto the comments above - easiest international transaction I've ever made, George is excellent to deal with, fast on the email, fast on dispatch and the box arrived in 3 days from date of order, no customs. Am musing over getting another while the getting is good ...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    573
    Quote Originally Posted by fixxer37
    My first Tivo at the end of July arrived in 3 days from George, no customs, straight to my door - and it was very easy using a free paypal account etc which has a limit of $750US before you have to pay $1.95 and stuff around with account upgrades.
    Last week I ordered 4 for friends, family and a spare, and this time I decided to double them up for shipping as per his email - to pay $137 for 2 instead of $85 each shipment. He does state that this could affect customs duties - and it did. He tapes two of the tivo DVR boxes together and packs them in with proper foam boxing stuff. However the larger box must have attracted attention at customs and they pinged me for GST even though they aren't new. I had to pay 62.50NZD on each box (30 bucks each tivo) which is still cheaper than the separate shipping, however it took customs 5 days to post a letter telling me what I had to pay and how to do it. I had been watching the USPS track and trace eagerly for a week, and I eventually called NZ post to find out what was up (then the letter arrived!) I got one box of 2 on Friday and the other one got separated.... it _should_ arrive today... bahhh.
    Of course shipping just 1 doesn't guarantee no-customs worries either.... 1 unit only is still applicable to GST - it's just if they notice it or not!!
    So George's service is great, and hopefully the customs info helps too.
    If you're paying by creditcard, you'll find a tivo+turbonet equates to about $400NZ as they CC companys screw you on the exch rate...
    Ahh sounds about right. Wonder if the rate is about the same.
    I got mine around the beginning of the year (from memory) and it was indeed about $400 on my Visa Card. Was just wondering if since then customs had cracked down. Looks like they haven't really.

    *contemplates* Hehehehe.. How many TiVos is too many?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    573

    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by clive
    FWIW, ditto the comments above - easiest international transaction I've ever made, George is excellent to deal with, fast on the email, fast on dispatch and the box arrived in 3 days from date of order, no customs. Am musing over getting another while the getting is good ...
    Yep, George was excellent I found too with my first TiVo.
    If I DO get another one I'll be getting it from him.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Wellington
    Posts
    163
    Quote Originally Posted by thomson
    Four "acquaintances" of mine have recently (in the last month) imported units from George without any issues at Customs. All up, the unit, TurboNet and shipping comes to around NZ$390.
    Being one of the "acquaintances" (bah!) of my FRIEND Thomson, I feel I could comment. If you keep the transaction (including frieght) under $400 then customs can't touch you for G.S.T. Mine came in at around NZ$1 = US$0.63 on the credit card (NZ$387).

    But aside from that a wee hint...
    Sometimes some people forget to put all the value on the customs forms when they send goods.
    Meat, beer, ... what more could a kid ask for? Of course... a TiVo! What were my parents thinking?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Hamiltron, NZ
    Posts
    35

    Thumbs up Don't send to a business address

    another thing to note, don't get them sent to a business address. For some reason this alerted customs. We imported two, had them delivered to the office, as we could gaurantee their would be someone in during the day.

    Customs thought we had brought them to on sell.

    That aside, George was great, items arrived in the time specified and with out any problems.

    One other thing, don't rely on customs sending out a letter if the package is held up, ring them and chase them up, I'll post the phone numbers if anyone is interested for customs and courierpost ( New Zealand agent for USPS )

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    573
    My first one was sent to my work address, no hassles.
    Perhaps there's been quite a few coming in lately too, which is why they're taking more notice?

  10. #10
    I second that about the amount of Tivos coming in are attracting attention...

    Also, here's an excerpt from the letter from Customs:
    "All goods mailed into New Zealand are subject to GST and may also be subject to Import Duty. Import Entries for goods that have a value of $NZ100 or more are also subjec to an Import Transaction Fee of $18 (inc. GST)...."

    Nothing there about 2nd hand goods being exempt, or the $400 thing either... although the shipping lable showed a value of $320US (for the 2 Tivos) compared to $245 for my first one.... so indeed the $400 limit could come into play. I think it's all a gamble depending on who's working that day! And the GST was cheaper than extra shipping (if getting 2!). But you can tell on the track and trace, if it says it's entered customs in NZ, then you should call straight away to get it cleared - cos the time delay is worse than the GST payment! Call NZ post on 0800 478 379, quote your USPS tracking code, to get your NZ Post "Entry Code". Then call customs on 0800 388 437 and quote the Entry Code (with your Creditcard handy) to have them released. They should arrive the next day...

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