Advice on Buying Dreambox & Avoiding Customs
Hi all,
Been reading a lot of post regards customs issues. Some reply s are true, some are misleading, so I thought I?d try and clarify some things and share my own experiences as well as tips on purchasing dreambox.
I?ve bought my fair share of dreambox from china suppliers as well as UK suppliers. Lets just say its a fair quanitity of boxes I?ve brought into the UK...ok?
Right.....where to begin....ok...
To buy form UK or China.
When you buy from someone in UK, you do not have to worry about customs or taxes as the dreambox are already in the UK. Namely the person you are buying from has bought them from the China and imported them.
Pros:
Fast Shipping - Shipping will be faster IF they have them in stock. They will normally be shipped via Royal Mail Parcel Force and trackable.
Return Costs - If the seller, supports a warranty and something goes wrong with you box, then you will only have to pay about ?15 to return it to them and hopefully a quick turnaround time.
Cons:
Over priced - You pay a lot more than if you buy direct from China yourself. Sometimes ?20 -?30 more. However, everyone need to make money, so you cant knock it and they do take the risks.
Warranty Doubt - Due to the risks involved in selling cloned Dreambox, these UK on-line shop spring up and at times are not around long. So if something goes wrong with it, you best hope its within the first few months, otherwise the seller may not be around for you to try and get it fixed.
WARNING:
Fake UK Shops - Some on-line shops which APPEAR to be in UK, are in fact Chinese companies pretending to be in UK to get your business. So, always email them first if unsure before you purchase and ask.
To buy from China supplier.
There are about 7 Chinese suppliers who I know of and yes I?ve used them all. All the ones mention on these forums and some who are mentioned on other Dreambox forums and also who are not mentioned anywhere.
To keep it simple, there are only 2 manufacturing companies in china who make the dreambox and they both are in the same town. They import the IBM motherboards and the tuners from Japan and make the cases, remote, power supply's and packaging in china and of course they assemble the dreambox thereon production line.
From my personal experience there is a difference in build quality between the 2 factories. These factories sell minimum orders on avg 500pcs. But to the local sellers in china they will allow 100pcs orders.
A Lot of Chinese suppliers pretend to make the dreambox units themselves. But in reality they only buy in bulk from the either of the factories and sell on to you. One or 2 of the sellers, actually work in the factory which makes them and they buy the units from their employer to make a bit of money on the side.
Some of these sellers, will sell you the item and get paid by you for the item and not have any stock at all of dreambox. They will wait until they have 100 orders of a dreambox model at LEAST, before they purchase them from the factory, take procession of them, package them and then dispatch. Some people in UK have waited 3-5 weeks on units from sellers like this.
Pro:
Price ? You can not buy cheaper locally than buying direct from china yourself.
Make money yourself ? Many of us on these forums have bought from sellers in china and sold on locally to our friends and neighbours etc...quite profitable and something to consider.
Cons:
Who to buy from ? Finding the good supplier who's price is competitive and does indeed give you good customer service is hard one and can be an expensive finding the right one.
Shipping time ? Normally shipping from china can be from 5 -12 days. From some sellers MUCH longer.
Customs taxes & Duty ? If you get hit by customs charges or duty, it will increase your costs a fair bit.
Warranty ? Many of the sellers in china say they give warranty, however, not many of them really do. You can not return a complete dreambox unit to china as the Chinese customs are much stricter than us in UK and quite frankly its is ILLEGAL for anyone in china to import dreambox receivers. So, if you send a complete unit back there is very good chance the seller will not even receive it. And if you where that seller, would you replace something you never received?
WARNINGS:
Ensure Stock ? ALWAYS email seller first and get confirmation of stock and ask if I pay now, when do you guarantee dispatch by.
Avoid Customs & Duty ? This is a very important thing as it could save you a lot of money. If you get your items shipped by DHL ? YOU WILL BE CHARGED CUSTOMS. If you are not charged before the package is delivered, then you WILL receiver the customs bill 3 months after it.
For us in UK and I think in Ireland, it is best to get shipment delivered by EMS . EMS deliver into UK to our royal mail parcel force customs section. Parceforce are EMS agents in UK so it will be a parcel force van delivering your items.
All shipments or imports from china must go through customs clearance. If you see ?held at customs? when you check the tracking on-line of your shipment, don?t panic. All do this. It is normally in customs from 12-36hours. Then you will receive it once it clears customs.
Customs paperwork ? All customs paperwork must have items costs etc.. on it. A few sellers in china will only put on paperwork the truth. However a few will indeed lower the costs of the items on the customs paperwork, which helps if the you do end up paying taxes on your order. As your seller to mark the package ?off no commercial value? or ?Gift? or ?no money value? to help you avoid customs charges.
Delivery locations: From my personal experience. If you get to many deliveries to one location, it will raise a red flag in customs department. So try and rotate you delivery locations between a few places. If you have been getting deliveries via DHL to your home and been charged duty on it. Then your home is obviously flagged as payer of duty. So don?t be surprised if some of your shipments via EMS get hit with customs.
I?ve read some people thinking they get charged because of who is sending the shipment etc... To clear this up, most of the sellers, send they shipment through the same dispatch offices and a few use the same accounts on DHL & ems. So customs being charged is unlikely to be due to who the seller is.
One word on wisdom on this bit......ONLY USE EMS AS THE COURIER ? DO NOT ACCEPT SHIPPING BY DHL. I know DHL can be cheaper at times and is faster. But your also certainly to pay extra taxes on your delivery.
Personal note:
There is many threads on this forums of people giving their advise and experiences on sellers in UK & China. Yes its is great that we all help one another and warn each other of the good and bad sellers. So, suggestion to the forum mods.
Make 1 thread for each seller that we all buy or have bought from. In that thread have a poll on:
1. Product quality
2. Price
3. Delivery
4. Customer service
5. Warranty
Then anyone shopping around can locate and view experience and opinions freely and focus post regarding certain sellers in one thread instead of all over the place...just an idea.
Anyways, I hope this clears up some myths and explains a lot. In the end if it saves someone time and money I has been worth it.
Been reading a lot of post regards customs issues. Some reply s are true, some are misleading, so I thought I?d try and clarify some things and share my own experiences as well as tips on purchasing dreambox.
I?ve bought my fair share of dreambox from china suppliers as well as UK suppliers. Lets just say its a fair quanitity of boxes I?ve brought into the UK...ok?
Right.....where to begin....ok...
To buy form UK or China.
When you buy from someone in UK, you do not have to worry about customs or taxes as the dreambox are already in the UK. Namely the person you are buying from has bought them from the China and imported them.
Pros:
Fast Shipping - Shipping will be faster IF they have them in stock. They will normally be shipped via Royal Mail Parcel Force and trackable.
Return Costs - If the seller, supports a warranty and something goes wrong with you box, then you will only have to pay about ?15 to return it to them and hopefully a quick turnaround time.
Cons:
Over priced - You pay a lot more than if you buy direct from China yourself. Sometimes ?20 -?30 more. However, everyone need to make money, so you cant knock it and they do take the risks.
Warranty Doubt - Due to the risks involved in selling cloned Dreambox, these UK on-line shop spring up and at times are not around long. So if something goes wrong with it, you best hope its within the first few months, otherwise the seller may not be around for you to try and get it fixed.
WARNING:
Fake UK Shops - Some on-line shops which APPEAR to be in UK, are in fact Chinese companies pretending to be in UK to get your business. So, always email them first if unsure before you purchase and ask.
To buy from China supplier.
There are about 7 Chinese suppliers who I know of and yes I?ve used them all. All the ones mention on these forums and some who are mentioned on other Dreambox forums and also who are not mentioned anywhere.
To keep it simple, there are only 2 manufacturing companies in china who make the dreambox and they both are in the same town. They import the IBM motherboards and the tuners from Japan and make the cases, remote, power supply's and packaging in china and of course they assemble the dreambox thereon production line.
From my personal experience there is a difference in build quality between the 2 factories. These factories sell minimum orders on avg 500pcs. But to the local sellers in china they will allow 100pcs orders.
A Lot of Chinese suppliers pretend to make the dreambox units themselves. But in reality they only buy in bulk from the either of the factories and sell on to you. One or 2 of the sellers, actually work in the factory which makes them and they buy the units from their employer to make a bit of money on the side.
Some of these sellers, will sell you the item and get paid by you for the item and not have any stock at all of dreambox. They will wait until they have 100 orders of a dreambox model at LEAST, before they purchase them from the factory, take procession of them, package them and then dispatch. Some people in UK have waited 3-5 weeks on units from sellers like this.
Pro:
Price ? You can not buy cheaper locally than buying direct from china yourself.
Make money yourself ? Many of us on these forums have bought from sellers in china and sold on locally to our friends and neighbours etc...quite profitable and something to consider.
Cons:
Who to buy from ? Finding the good supplier who's price is competitive and does indeed give you good customer service is hard one and can be an expensive finding the right one.
Shipping time ? Normally shipping from china can be from 5 -12 days. From some sellers MUCH longer.
Customs taxes & Duty ? If you get hit by customs charges or duty, it will increase your costs a fair bit.
Warranty ? Many of the sellers in china say they give warranty, however, not many of them really do. You can not return a complete dreambox unit to china as the Chinese customs are much stricter than us in UK and quite frankly its is ILLEGAL for anyone in china to import dreambox receivers. So, if you send a complete unit back there is very good chance the seller will not even receive it. And if you where that seller, would you replace something you never received?
WARNINGS:
Ensure Stock ? ALWAYS email seller first and get confirmation of stock and ask if I pay now, when do you guarantee dispatch by.
Avoid Customs & Duty ? This is a very important thing as it could save you a lot of money. If you get your items shipped by DHL ? YOU WILL BE CHARGED CUSTOMS. If you are not charged before the package is delivered, then you WILL receiver the customs bill 3 months after it.
For us in UK and I think in Ireland, it is best to get shipment delivered by EMS . EMS deliver into UK to our royal mail parcel force customs section. Parceforce are EMS agents in UK so it will be a parcel force van delivering your items.
All shipments or imports from china must go through customs clearance. If you see ?held at customs? when you check the tracking on-line of your shipment, don?t panic. All do this. It is normally in customs from 12-36hours. Then you will receive it once it clears customs.
Customs paperwork ? All customs paperwork must have items costs etc.. on it. A few sellers in china will only put on paperwork the truth. However a few will indeed lower the costs of the items on the customs paperwork, which helps if the you do end up paying taxes on your order. As your seller to mark the package ?off no commercial value? or ?Gift? or ?no money value? to help you avoid customs charges.
Delivery locations: From my personal experience. If you get to many deliveries to one location, it will raise a red flag in customs department. So try and rotate you delivery locations between a few places. If you have been getting deliveries via DHL to your home and been charged duty on it. Then your home is obviously flagged as payer of duty. So don?t be surprised if some of your shipments via EMS get hit with customs.
I?ve read some people thinking they get charged because of who is sending the shipment etc... To clear this up, most of the sellers, send they shipment through the same dispatch offices and a few use the same accounts on DHL & ems. So customs being charged is unlikely to be due to who the seller is.
One word on wisdom on this bit......ONLY USE EMS AS THE COURIER ? DO NOT ACCEPT SHIPPING BY DHL. I know DHL can be cheaper at times and is faster. But your also certainly to pay extra taxes on your delivery.
Personal note:
There is many threads on this forums of people giving their advise and experiences on sellers in UK & China. Yes its is great that we all help one another and warn each other of the good and bad sellers. So, suggestion to the forum mods.
Make 1 thread for each seller that we all buy or have bought from. In that thread have a poll on:
1. Product quality
2. Price
3. Delivery
4. Customer service
5. Warranty
Then anyone shopping around can locate and view experience and opinions freely and focus post regarding certain sellers in one thread instead of all over the place...just an idea.
Anyways, I hope this clears up some myths and explains a lot. In the end if it saves someone time and money I has been worth it.
screw you nag3 
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