Question re: shipping

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hello - I am a customer in the United States, and I would like to place an order but have it shipped to a friend in Berlin so that they can include it in a shipment of other items they are sending me. Will I have to pay the VAT when it is shipped within the EU? Please let me know if there are any issues or concerns in this regard.

  • Will I have to pay the VAT when it is shipped within the EU?

    Yes, as the shipment is not leaving the EU with the parcel that we send out. If you choose to do this, we won't be able to refund VAT, as that paperwork is way too much work and it would cost you more to pay for that than you're getting back in VAT.


    If the high DHL shipping price is what's holding you back from shipping direct, you might want to wait another week or ten days, as we're almost ready to launch our new shipping system that also allows other carriers. We've signed a contract with a DHL wholesale agent - shipments won't be faster (all sea freight to the US right now), but a lot cheaper, as this agent has huge volume and therefore gets good discounts.


    On the other end of the spectrum of shipping cost, we'll add GLS to our shipping carriers, who work with FedEx on the other side of the pond. This will enable you to get a parcel from us in less than five days guaranteed, but the price is a lot higher (around 110,- EUR). Apart from the higher price, there's the other drawback of "street addresses only", as FedEx does not deliver to PO box addresses.

  • Any update on the GLS shipping option? Still only seeing Parcel One & DHL. The Parcel One section shows GLS as a carrier but not the price I would expect for expedited shipping.

  • Any update on the GLS shipping option?

    Unfortunately, I had to drop GLS. I did a single test-shipment and was surprised with an invoice that had a number of extra positions that were somehow mentioned on page 40 of the fine print (picked a random number), making the whole thing totally not suitable for a small company like ours. Essentially, their "service fees" boil down to a minimum monthly fee, practically no matter if you ship something or not, and I just won't take this risk. I told them that reasonable, predictable pricing will surely get them a few extra sales, but the model they have presented is practically asking me to add more money to the shipping fee than I'd pay as an end-customer for UPS next-day-service including pickup and customs papers handling.


    Parcel One has reduced the price vs. DHL a lot, and they're working on an express option as well. Not sure if that will materialize this year, and if it does, it may be "shortly before Xmas".


    The good news is that Parcel One easily beats DHL in terms of transit time. The first parcels have already overtaken parcels that were shipped with DHL before we introduced Parcel One - shipping time to the US is under three weeks with Parcel One, whereas DHL has recently broken a record with a parcel that we've shipped here on April 2nd, and it arrived on September 30th. And of course they refuse to compensate for anything, as they have delivered. Not the kind of partner I'd recommend.


    So if you want to order anything, it would be a good idea to do it today, It won't arrive sooner if you order later :-)

  • So, I ordered my package on 10/14, and received it on 10/28. Pretty snappy! My only regret is I had been waiting for the new mail options, and missed out on my chance to buy an ACA1233n-55 :-( Hopefully you'll offer them again someday.

  • Hopefully you'll offer them again someday.

    There will be new 030 accelerators - I'm already working on a new design, but the 55MHz card is nothing I can offer again. The cost of speed-testing each and every CPU was just too high, and with the ever-rising price of CPUs, I need to make sure that new cards are only moderately more expensive. After all, my mission in the past years has always been to keep the hobby affordable.

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.