LA Guitar Sales
Talk to Ted or Helene. They have always treated me well. They are helpful, patient and very straightforward. Typically have a good variety of inventory and excellent pricing.
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Here in the Netherlands we pay between $2750 and $3000 for a D18 (depends on the store) and NO discount possible. It feels a little unfair that we have to pay much more. It gets even worse on the higher end Martins. A D45 new is $11335 for example.... 😳
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I payed € 3.600,- here in the Netherlands for my D18 (2015). It is a custom shop with a high altitude torrified Swiss spruce top. After I bought it (at TFOA) I was left with the impression that I payed too much but I kept the guitar because I love it. Price wise I really envy all yee US guitar players.
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Look at the bright side. For the price difference, you could almost pay for a USA vacation, visit the Martin factory and stop at Maury's Music nearby for a new guitar!!
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Living in the UK, out of interest, what sort of level of import customs duties/taxes would i need to factor into the costs and potential savings when buying a guitar from the US? Cheers Rich |
Here what I found on the internet:
Calculating UK Duty and VAT Here is a simple example to show you how to work out the costs of both UK duty and VAT: Goods purchased from outside of EU (converted from USD to UK£) £5000.00 UK Duty at 3.5% £ 175.00 Cost of shipping to UK £ 500.00 SUB TOTAL £5675.00 VAT @ 20% on sub-total £1135.00 TOTAL COST INC. UK DUTY & VAT £6810.00 So in this example, the total of UK duty and VAT (tax) payable to import these goods to the UK is £175 + £1135 which is £1310, along with the shipping cost of £500. After Brexit everything might change... |
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Am prob best trying to do a deal with a reputable UK dealer and try before i buy. Rich |
As an example to compare with UK and EU buyers I paid $3600 for a new 000-18 here in Canada; it’s listed at the same price of the D-18. When the exchange rate between currency is factored in as well as sales tax and import duty and shipping I think I paid about $600 extra to the retailer for providing the service of keeping a selection of Martins in stock to try out first then purchase. Well worth the price of admission for the shopping experience.
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never mind, deleted
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Karel has pretty much hit it, I'd just comment based on my personal experience... The most I've paid for shipping and insurance was US$230 (approx. £180 at current X-Rate) - that was in 2012, so may have changed substantially by now, although £500 (US$650) looks like a possible over-estimate. You'd need to discuss with your selected dealer to get a firm figure. The duty and VAT are based on the USD value of the instrument, minus discount, plus the actual shipping cost, as declared by the dealer on his commercial invoice which accompanies the shipment. If you're considering a purchase via this route, I'd advise you to call your selected dealer, and discuss with him. Ask him for the USD value for customs purposes including shipping cost which he will declare, convert to GB£ at the current X-Rate (Google it), multiply the result by 24%, and you'll have a 'ball-park' figure for the 'added' costs on this side of the Atlantic. This will become moot from 1/2/19 with regard to Martin guitars, as CFM will introduce new rules on that date which restrain US dealers from shipping cross-border (except, I think, to Canada). There may be other builders who have similar rules so, if you're looking at another brand, you would need to check with the dealer. My experience with U.K. dealers is that the 'Deep Discount Culture' doesn't really run over here - what's on the ticket is what you generally have to pay and, if you are fortunate enough to be able to get a discount from a dealer, it will be pretty skinny. For instance, I recently went to a large dealer to check out a guitar with a ticket price of £3,899 and the best discount they would go to was £200 (approx 5%). |
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