Saxophones Off topic from Vikings Have Landed - buying abroad

majordennis · Feb 10, 2015

If somebody walked up at the end of a gig looked at your "vintage" horn and said "I bet that has seen some cool action over the years" would you admit to buying it last week?

ProfJames · Feb 10, 2015

Now there is a quandry!

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

majordennis said:
If somebody walked up at the end of a gig looked at your "vintage" horn and said "I bet that has seen some cool action over the years" would you admit to buying it last week?

Yes.
"And by the way, you can buy one in the UK, through me"

But I realize it is not a representative scenario.

Ads · Feb 10, 2015

majordennis said:
If somebody walked up at the end of a gig looked at your "vintage" horn and said "I bet that has seen some cool action over the years"

My answer would be - Sure Has but don't tell the Missus !!!!!!!!

Ads · Feb 10, 2015

aldevis said:
Yes.
"And by the way, you can buy one in the UK, through me"

But I realize it is not a representative scenario.

So Aldevis, are you going to be the UK supplier of Viking Horns ?? .. I really think they could represent real Value for money if we could get them over here at the right price (even if Viking have to have them shipped here direct from TW) - Taiwan quality at high end Chinese price

They`d give Bauhaus and "Conn-Selmer" something to choke on and make a monkey of the Mickey-takers (Cannonball springs to mind) ......

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

Ads said:
So Aldevis, are you going to be the UK supplier of Viking Horns ?? .. I really think they could represent real Value for money if we could get them over here at the right price (even if Viking have to have them shipped here direct from TW) - Taiwan quality at high end Chinese price

If I were (I am not, I am the UK supplier for Sequoia saxophones), I would not be ashamed of playing a vintage looking horn bought one week ago. That comment has been made about my tenor (untreated brass).
You cannot get much cheaper from Taiwan. And would you really buy a horn from Taiwan (or ROC) without a quality control procedure in between?

ProfJames · Feb 10, 2015

It would be good if the QC for Viking was conducted in the UK on behalf of Viking Inst. I can see Ads point.

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

ProfJames said:
It would be good if the QC for Viking was conducted in the UK on behalf of Viking Inst. I can see Ads point.

We have QC in the EU, our prices are as low as you can get, I have trusted repairers in the UK.
Still on this forum I get comments about Sequoia being "Taiwanese hotrods" from people that never tried one.

ProfJames · Feb 10, 2015

aldevis said:
We have QC in the EU, our prices are as low as you can get, I have trusted repairers in the UK.
Still on this forum I get comments about Sequoia being "Taiwanese hotrods" from people that never tried one.

My desire is to have that beautiful vintage look and sound on a modern well built horn. Hence my desire for the sound you get on your Sequoia and the soundclips I have heard from Vikings.

Ads · Feb 10, 2015

ProfJames said:
It would be good if the QC for Viking was conducted in the UK on behalf of Viking Inst. I can see Ads point.

the point was for Viking being able to avoid the cost of shipping to the USA and then back to the UK with all the various duties involved all ruining the chance of a good price .

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

Have you ever noticed a thing called VAT?

Ads · Feb 10, 2015

Err, yeah, there`s VAT on everything from low end chinesers to solid silver Rampones .

Unelss you`re on about Viking Added Tax (the cost of shipping from TW to the USA and then from the USA to the UK ) hence my thought about Viking having the QC and final setup done here

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

I cannot find the website right now, but you can buy Taiwanese horns at Taiwanese prices.
Cheaper than a Viking or a Sequoia.
I find this ignoring of the work and investments of people like Maraday or Sequoia quite disrespectful.

The design of a Sequoia (I have no experience with Viking), is different than any other Taiwanese horn I tried. better or worst I cannot say, but it is different, it feels different, it sounds different.

They invest time, money and flight tickets to get me the horns I play on daily bases.
Also I tried every Taiwanese horn around, before embarking in this enterprise.

Do you think I (or Mr. Sequoia) am making easy bucks flipping boxes from Taiwan? I am not.
I built a relationship of trust and respect with someone that is one of the best repairers I came across. Someone that listens to his customers and that himself built relations of trust and respect with the people in Taiwan that work on the horns.

Would it be cheaper getting them from makers I never met and do not offer me directly any reliability? I am not interested.

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

Ads said:
Err, yeah, there`s VAT on everything from low end chinesers to solid silver Rampones .

But all the prices in America are excluded VAT.
So if you compare a horn on a US and a UK website, you need to add 20% to the USA price.

Jeanette · Feb 10, 2015

aldevis said:
But all the prices in America are excluded VAT.
So if you compare a horn on a US and a UK website, you need to add 20% to the USA price.

Bear in mind some USA has sales tax the rate varies from state to state and generally lower than our 20%

Jx

aldevis · Feb 10, 2015

Jeanette said:
Bear in mind some USA has sales tax the rate varies from state to state and generally lower than our 20%

Jx

Usually listed something like "Fl resident add x%"
That is a funny country.

A guy bought a S. soprano in California and ended up actually paying less than in the EU

ProfJames · Feb 10, 2015

aldevis said:
Usually listed something like "Fl resident add x%"
That is a funny country.

A guy bought a S. soprano in California and ended up actually paying less than in the EU

What? That is outrageous! So if I move to Florida......

Jeanette · Feb 10, 2015

ProfJames said:
What? That is outrageous! So if I move to Florida......

You'll get lots of sun and oranges 🙂

Jx

Ads · Feb 10, 2015

aldevis said:
But all the prices in America are excluded VAT.
So if you compare a horn on a US and a UK website, you need to add 20% to the USA price.

I don`t understand what this has to do with it being cheaper for Viking to ship horns directly from TW to the UK indstead of Via the USA (which is what you replied to) . the VAT is irrelevant , it`d have to be paid wherever they come from , we have to pay it on Yorkshire made Hansons .

altissimo · Feb 10, 2015

Viking have all their horns set up by their tech in the USA, so shipping from Taiwan direct to the UK would mean employing a tech over here to do the same work on their horns.
I think the main difference in price between a buying direct from Viking as a customer in the USA and buying one in the UK via a distributor and retailer is the markup that these middle men would put on top, probably including more VAT at the point of sale... as well as the extra shipping costs and import duty