Ordering from the US...

Mr Grumpy

Mr Grumpy

Ambassador of Comings and Goings
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I like ordering from the US because the sellers are trustworthy and reliable, decent prices and stuff turns up as advertised. I'm specifically talking about guitar stuff here, and I consider the US to be home of the best guitar gear (ignoring Marshall & VOX).

I hate ordering from the US because of:

1) the transportation hub system - so crap... My Kluson tuners are at their 5th different location in the last 10 days, and I don't think they've reached the international departure 'hub' yet...

2) crap 'insurance' - the only stuff I've ever bought that's never arrived and I've not been compensated for has been through US transportation companies...

3) crap dealings with import duties. These US companies seem to use overly high valuations on import duties and high charges as a revenue stream; pretty much fraud in my book.

4) It's sooooo slow. I've got strings I ordered 5 weeks ago that haven't reached Korean immigration yet. I have previously ordered the same strings from 3 other countries (yes, Korea is that crap that even getting strings can be tricky...), and they've all arrived in 10 days or less.

The US is a great country for guitar stuff, but the transportation companies are the worst I've dealt with. Sorry for the whine...
 
Mr Grumpy said:
I like ordering from the US because the sellers are trustworthy and reliable, decent prices and stuff turns up as advertised. I'm specifically talking about guitar stuff here, and I consider the US to be home of the best guitar gear (ignoring Marshall & VOX).

I hate ordering from the US because of:

1) the transportation hub system - so crap... My Kluson tuners are at their 5th different location in the last 10 days, and I don't think they've reached the international departure 'hub' yet...

2) crap 'insurance' - the only stuff I've ever bought that's never arrived and I've not been compensated for has been through US transportation companies...

3) crap dealings with import duties. These US companies seem to use overly high valuations on import duties and high charges as a revenue stream; pretty much fraud in my book.

4) It's sooooo slow. I've got strings I ordered 5 weeks ago that haven't reached Korean immigration yet. I have previously ordered the same strings from 3 other countries (yes, Korea is that crap that even getting strings can be tricky...), and they've all arrived in 10 days or less.

The US is a great country for guitar stuff, but the transportation companies are the worst I've dealt with. Sorry for the whine...
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Aside from the obvious difference that we have no import duties to pay on stuff from the US (duh!) and the slowness, just about everything you’ve said are things we’ve experienced, at some level, too.

Most things arrive pretty quickly. But, now and then, an item may take a long time to arrive, even for us.

The insurance/compensation issue can bite us, too. It can and does happen where we will order something that never arrives and it can be like pulling teeth to get compensated ... if at all.

As for the hub system...I don’t even know if that could be improved. The US is so large and entities are so geographically separated. I mean, take just the state of Texas. The entire UK could fit inside Texas 2.8 times. You could squeeze ten European countries into Texas alone. I don’t say that to brag; I‘m just trying to offer a sense of scale. I’ve done the same as you...track orders across country from distribution point to distribution point. I tend to just accept that as a natural consequence of the situation.

Geographically, Canada is larger even than the US. But, our population is much, much more numerous. I don’t know what their delivery system is like.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
I like ordering from the US because the sellers are trustworthy and reliable, decent prices and stuff turns up as advertised. I'm specifically talking about guitar stuff here, and I consider the US to be home of the best guitar gear (ignoring Marshall & VOX).

I hate ordering from the US because of:

1) the transportation hub system - so crap... My Kluson tuners are at their 5th different location in the last 10 days, and I don't think they've reached the international departure 'hub' yet...

2) crap 'insurance' - the only stuff I've ever bought that's never arrived and I've not been compensated for has been through US transportation companies...

3) crap dealings with import duties. These US companies seem to use overly high valuations on import duties and high charges as a revenue stream; pretty much fraud in my book.

4) It's sooooo slow. I've got strings I ordered 5 weeks ago that haven't reached Korean immigration yet. I have previously ordered the same strings from 3 other countries (yes, Korea is that crap that even getting strings can be tricky...), and they've all arrived in 10 days or less.

The US is a great country for guitar stuff, but the transportation companies are the worst I've dealt with. Sorry for the whine...
Click to expand...

What tuners you need????
 
^ I just decided upon some old style strip tuners. They are 18:1 though, so should be nice to use and were under $50 delivered, so I thought good value. Funnily enough, I have 5 guitar bits currently on order from the US which are taking their time, and the tuners are the only ones which have just arrived at Incheon (usually get to me within a day from there, but it's a holiday weekend).

I agree with Smitty about the size/scale issue, and there's also the state/federal issue which is another complications that very few countries have. You could almost compare Europe to the US with regard to both scale and "state"(country)/federal(EU) scale. The EU is more efficient with regard to mail, but it's obviously not a direct parallel.

Anyways, I hope you lot are all appreciating my contribution to the US economy! :)
 
A little over a decade ago I ordered a new laptop. I was tracking it along the route. It arrived in Des Moines, IA which is 3.5 hours straight south of me. I think "great it will be here tomorrow ". Next day nothing shows up. I get online to track and I see it is now on it's way to Hawaii. 5 days later I get it.
 
Gahr said:
Hahahaha! Now I might never buy a new Gibson ever again...
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Just buy a pre-2020 (pre-junk_rub) to be ok.

Tonight could be dangerous because there's an overnight sale on at one of my favourite Korean guitar shops, we will see... But then again, I did promise myself no more gear until I get my skills up, so I've been working that metronome hard! :)
 
Unless the item was near a major transportation hub to Australia I usually don't bother ordering from the USA. San Diego, Los Angeles, even Las Vegas all okay, Boston and New York I haven't had too many problems either, but the Northwest and the Midwest are usually pathetic. Anything from the Great Lakes region is usually a PITA.

Order Gotoh stuff from Japarts.ca ... cheaper prices (no eBay Global Shipping Program) and if you are in the Asia-Pacific region they arrange for the stuff to be sent directly from Japan on EMS. The downside is that stuff is generally not in stock at Gotoh so there is a production delay. They expect my tuners and bridge to ship near the end of the first week of February.
 
my last one was agonizing...13 days...the seller used parcel post...the box was so dirty when got it. like it sat in coal or something. Couple more guitars on the way & will prob stop. I noticed the more ya buy the more incidents happen..was on a 4 year streak until last month of good shipping. I did buy one & didn't catch it was sellers first ebay sale..yup..that was the Washburn with the dent & cracked headstock. Have an amp on 11 days now...seller quick grabbed a label..then made excuses for 5 days. Reverb said i could cancel but got it at great price..just not sure how people don't ship out next day....maybe too used to 20 min eta's for work..and being on top of customer service as a total a#1 priotity...keep it right..no problems other than the 1% who were planning on jacking you from beginning
 
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