buying an etx-125 from abroard?

Has anybody had any experience with buying scopes in from abroard, I want
the etx 125 with the autostar and the cheapest ive seen it for over here is
995.00 pounds.

Im struggling to find an online dealer in Amarica or Europe who will
export, but im sure it can be done .

Are there any pittfalls? or should i gritt my teeth and buy it here .. and
yes i was going to try and take a chance having it posted ... one idea is a
cheap flight pick one up and fly back it would proberly still work out
cheaper, esp if i could sneak through customs ...

Many thanks in advance

Pete

Pete

I suggest you should do a trawl through the archives - this question gets
asked roughly once every week.

Richard



"pete" wrote in message
news
Has anybody had any experience with buying scopes in from abroard, I want
the etx 125 with the autostar and the cheapest ive seen it for over here
is
995.00 pounds.

Im struggling to find an online dealer in Amarica or Europe who will
export, but im sure it can be done .

Are there any pittfalls? or should i gritt my teeth and buy it here .. and
yes i was going to try and take a chance having it posted ... one idea is
a
cheap flight pick one up and fly back it would proberly still work out
cheaper, esp if i could sneak through customs ...

Many thanks in advance

Pete

Thanks

will have a mooch ...

Pete

Has anybody had any experience with buying scopes in from abroard, I want
the etx 125 with the autostar

actually, thats exactly what I've done. I'm lucky though, I've got
relatives living in america and a friend carried it back as hand luggage
for me. I got an etx125 with a hard case and I'm waitinf for the eyepeice
deal to come through.

comments, only used it once so far (got it on sunday) this evening in fact
and it was pretty good. of course I used it from my car park and I live in
the centre of manchester so I couldn't see that much, but the moon was fun
to look at, mars was a distinct sized disc and I'm sure I could see dark
patches on it. I was amazed at albireo, a very obvious double and very
easy to see the colour difference.

a few cons though. instead of coming with a superplossl 26mm, it came with
the EP kit from the etx 70, ie an MA9mm and MA25mm. not nearly a good ep's
as the upeorplossl's I beleive, not helped by the fact that the 25mm fell
to bits in my hand. this is being chased up in the states. hopefully I
should get a replacement posted to me. also the accessory tray has 8 1.25"
holes drilled in it for holding EP's, except that not a single hole will
take an EP, as they are all either slightly too narrow, or have some flash
or something. a dremel should fix that I reckon. otherwise, so far, so good

and the cheapest ive seen it for over here is 995.00 pounds.

I know, scandalous isn't it. I'll end up paying just over £800 I reckon
and that will include the hardcase and the 7 eyepeice kit.

Im struggling to find an online dealer in Amarica or Europe who will
export, but im sure it can be done .

you need friends or family there

Are there any pittfalls?

yeah, if it breaks or something goes wrong... it could be annoying to fix

yes i was going to try and take a chance having it posted ...

I reckon it'll survive postage if well wrapped, but think "customs".
they'll charge you about 22% (4.2% duty and 17.5% vat) on the cost
including postage. also meade don't have the EP kit in stock right
now, they're hoping for the end of october apparently... thats if
you can get *anyone* to answer the phone to tell you.


dave

I've had a good experience with the following:

http://www.grandeye.com.hk/

I am not associated with the company it is just that I've had good service,
much better than any others from the US and cheaper too.

Freight could be costly but the savings from purchase may make it worth the
while.

Tuckfook


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"pete" wrote in message
news
Has anybody had any experience with buying scopes in from abroard, I want
the etx 125 with the autostar and the cheapest ive seen it for over here
is
995.00 pounds.

Im struggling to find an online dealer in Amarica or Europe who will
export, but im sure it can be done .

Are there any pittfalls? or should i gritt my teeth and buy it here .. and
yes i was going to try and take a chance having it posted ... one idea is
a
cheap flight pick one up and fly back it would proberly still work out
cheaper, esp if i could sneak through customs ...

Many thanks in advance

Pete

"Tuckfook" wrote in message
...
I've had a good experience with the following:

http://www.grandeye.com.hk/



HK$11,990 for a LX90, WOW!.
That's under £1000.

Anyone deal with these people?

--
Gareth Slee

http://www.garethslee.com
http://www.lapie.com

No one in the US will sell to you as Meade does not allow them to ship to
the UK. Therefore you either have to ship it to a US address or go over
there and get it. The problem re pricing is Meade, not the dealersin Europe.

The alternative is to buy a used one. They are often advertised or you can
post a wanted ad at http://www.ukastroads.co.uk/

Lilian

Thanks Lilian
ive sort of got a good idea by the posts ive recieved .

"Lilian" wrote in message
...
No one in the US will sell to you as Meade does not allow them to ship to
the UK. Therefore you either have to ship it to a US address or go over
there and get it. The problem re pricing is Meade, not the dealersin
Europe.

The alternative is to buy a used one. They are often advertised or you can
post a wanted ad at http://www.ukastroads.co.uk/

Lilian

Many here have bought from Grandeye but we are in Malaysia.

I do not think shipping from Hk to UK will be a problem as Hk was part of
UK, not too long ago. Just the shipping charges. Hk companies ship
everywhere worldwide. There are always ways and means of overcoming any
restrictions.

I have purchased from US & Hk and reshipped to friends in UK . Small items
is well worth the effort. eg. less than BP10 for small items like lenses, 3
days, Hk to Malaysia.

Email the owner of Grandeye, Anthony, he's helpful. Quote me if you like ; )

Tuckfook
Malaysia.
where it's next to impossible to Polar align.

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reply to:


"Gareth Slee" wrote in message
...

"Tuckfook" wrote in message
...
I've had a good experience with the following:

http://www.grandeye.com.hk/



HK$11,990 for a LX90, WOW!.
That's under £1000.

Anyone deal with these people?

--
Gareth Slee

http://www.garethslee.com
http://www.lapie.com

I bought a mint condition ETX-125 in a Meade hard case with some Meade 4000
SPs and a few other bits and bobs from a chap in the States through eBay for
the princely sum of £410. The £120 p&p was a shock, but all in all not bad,
especially as there doesn't appear to be VAT or import tax on second hand
goods (or maybe I just got lucky).

Obviously normal eBay common sense applies, but I'd do it again. I keep
seeing LX200s on the US eBay, but don't want to imagine the p&p on one of
those...

Chris

--

1.2!#@ 10.75 yrs

"pete" wrote in message
news
Has anybody had any experience with buying scopes in from abroard, I want
the etx 125 with the autostar and the cheapest ive seen it for over here
is
995.00 pounds.

Im struggling to find an online dealer in Amarica or Europe who will
export, but im sure it can be done .

Are there any pittfalls? or should i gritt my teeth and buy it here .. and
yes i was going to try and take a chance having it posted ... one idea is
a
cheap flight pick one up and fly back it would proberly still work out
cheaper, esp if i could sneak through customs ...

Many thanks in advance

Pete