Where to buy audio gear in europe?

K

kingknz

Member
Hey guys,

Any suggestions on buying gear in europe? I'm looking for a place that carries the good stuff; sennheiser, sanken, schoeps, neumann mics and accessories. What store / online store is competitively priced?? Thanks for any ideas!

-knz
 
I'm in Holland right now; but I'm regularly in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, etc etc. I'm guessing stores in UK won't have a very great price... true? =)
 
Haha competitive.. I would never buy from europe, even if you live in europe (like I do). My camera, the HF100 I bought in america for CHF 650.-, in europe, it was CHF 1200 in online stores and CHF 1700.- in retail.

"Competitive nagrit" sells the mixpre for USD 1133.-, B&H sells it for USD 665.-.

Sure, you'll have to pay taxes and transport, but its still much cheaper. Often, you can even buy the same stuff twice (in case you're cautious about guarantee).

Best price I found my camera for in czech (prague), was CHF 2'400. I'm sorry if I have strong feelings about this, but buying in europe makes me feel like I'm being screwed. The camera is only an example, I could give you nearly unlimited more.
 
Yes I agree with you that buying in the US is very often quite cheaper and personally do it most of the time, as long as the euro stays stronger than the US $. But try now to buy Sound devices stuff from the B&H web site and you get this nice message "Due to the manufacturers restrictions, B&H Photo is unable to ship the following item(s) to an international destination"
And I think Trewaudio, coffeysound are all applying the same policy
Making it more complicated to buy certain equipment from the US
 
Buying e.g. in Germany also means 2 years of warranty (by law), this makes it more expensive. But most professional gear is build solid and expected to last in the field, so there only might be issues long after warranty has ended. I still think warranty and service often justify buying (more or less) localy when it comes to professional gear, but if it´s just about buying a mic online, I couldn´t care less from where it´s being shipped to me...
So far I bought a lot of audio gear at thomann.de
 
OK terrific.... so everyone in Europe still buys their gear from the US =) But how much do you end up paying in customs and taxes when importing expensive stuff into the EU? Is there a fixed % price?
 
kingknz said:
OK terrific.... so everyone in Europe still buys their gear from the US =) But how much do you end up paying in customs and taxes when importing expensive stuff into the EU? Is there a fixed % price?
Click to expand...

In Spain it is 16% tax (VAT) plus 4 % duties. And around 20€ more if you using Fedex or UPS :)
 
Last edited:
kingknz said:
OK terrific.... so everyone in Europe still buys their gear from the US =) But how much do you end up paying in customs and taxes when importing expensive stuff into the EU? Is there a fixed % price?
Click to expand...

On my stuff I pay 6.97% VAT. From America its so much cheaper that this doesn't matter at all (for tech stuff). And service? If you mean what the salesmen will tell you if you ask them.. In my opinion its borderline criminal how bad they are.

I'd gladly pay for being able to try stuff out. I'd pay $20 just to be able to look at stuff, touch it, shoot/record a bit, and then go home. Thats one part of the decision, and the other part is where you're at home and getting real information, the ability to compare spec sheets, and so on.

Stuff gets either broken in the first few months, or long after the guarantee is gone. The only interesting guarantee I saw was Rhode, with 10 years. If they hold the promise.. Hats off to them!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top