Importing a cab from abroad. Good/bad idea?

[Arch]

So the situation is this: I've decided to part with my thrusted MAME cab. Here in Arcade Wasteland aka Norway I'm likely to get a good price for it, which again enables me to look abroad for a new dedicated one including shipping - most likely from the US. I would really appreciate to hear your thoughs on this subject.

- Have any of you had cabs shipped like this? If so, what did you get?
- What were your experiences? Would you do it again?
- Any pointers as to how to approach courier services and sellers?
- Which cabs/games would you consider to be worth all the work that goes into this?
- Any pointers along the way?

Cheers,
Håkon

[Q*ris]

Check this topic and it's links as a start.

You definitely need somebody reliable helping you in the US.
I thought about importing many times but never took the plunge.

[Muerto]

Im sure Alpha1 can answer some questions..

[Arch]

Ah, oki, thanks for the reply guys. I can tell from the threads that there aren't that many success stories.

It seems that the previous attempts focus on bulk buys, and in my case that is not really an option anyway, being where I am. It would have to be a one or two cab-thing.

Searching about on ebay, there are those sellers who are ready to ship abroad and they seem to have some sort of deal going on with a shipping company already, door to port I guess. I saw one seller who does $800 as a flat rate. Absolutely horrible prize, I know as it pretty much doubles the price of a cab.   There is also the thing that the sellers who ship abroad tend to "refurbish" the cabs, doing all sorts of crazy stuff with them that you aren't really in control of. Pink T-molding on a Tempest might be top of the pops for some people, I dunno...

On the other hand, gettin a cab by DHL from Germany to Norway is about 550 Euros, so its not that big a difference. Might be the safer bet though, as the seller might be someone within the community.

Agh, first things first., Have to shift that MAME cab asap. Any of you guys interested?

I might ask Alpha1, yes. Thanks!

Cheers,
Håkon

[Arch]

Ah, oki, thanks for the reply guys. I can tell from the threads that there aren't that many success stories.

It seems that the previous attempts focus on bulk buys, and in my case that is not really an option anyway, being where I am. It would have to be a one or two cab-thing.

Searching about on ebay, there are those sellers who are ready to ship abroad and they seem to have some sort of deal going on with a shipping company already. I saw one seller who does $800 as a flat rate. Absolutely horrible prize, I know as it pretty much doubles the price of a cab.  There is also the thing that the sellers who ship abroad tend to "refurbish" the cabs, doing all sorts of crazy stuff with them that you aren't really in control of. Pink T-molding on a Tempest might be top of the pops for some people, I dunno...

On the other hand, gettin a cab by DHL from Germany to Norway is about 550 Euros, so its not that big a difference. Might be the safer bet though, as the seller might be someone within the community.

Agh, first things first., Have to shift that MAME cab asap. Any of you guys interested?

I might ask Alpha1, yes. Thanks!

Cheers,
Håkon

[Arch]

Ah, oki, thanks for the reply guys. I can tell from the threads that there aren't that many success stories.

It seems that the previous attempts focus on bulk buys, and in my case that is not really an option anyway, being where I am. It would have to be a one or two cab-thing.

Searching about on ebay, there are those sellers who are ready to ship abroad and they seem to have some sort of deal going on with a shipping company already. I saw one seller who does $800 as a flat rate. Absolutely horrible prize, I know as it pretty much doubles the price of a cab.  There is also the thing that the sellers who ship abroad tend to "refurbish" the cabs, doing all sorts of crazy stuff with them that you aren't really in control of. Pink T-molding on a Tempest might be top of the pops for some people, I dunno...

On the other hand, gettin a cab by DHL from Germany to Norway is about 550 Euros, so its not that big a difference. Might be the safer bet though, as the seller might be someone within the community.

Agh, first things first., Have to shift that MAME cab asap. Any of you guys interested?

I might ask Alpha1, yes. Thanks!

Cheers,
Håkon

Great, I just quoted myself. 

[gyruss]

You should also check out this topic on ukvac: http://www.ukvac.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=330629&title=usa-to-uk-shipping-costs

Shipping from the USA to the UK seems to cost something like £425 excluding duty and vat.

Maybe Paul50's will ship some more cabs to Germany, that's how a large group of us got our import cabinets. 

[Superully]

Maybe Paul50's will ship some more cabs to Germany, that's how a large group of us got our import cabinets. 

as far as i know, paul is done with importing arcade cabs to germany, because he was not happy about the prices he got for them. he guess he must have expected them in the same league as his pinball prices ...

i think i've already mentioned this in another topic: i have found an INSANELY cheap shipping company from the usa to germany and a guy in the usa is already on the lookout for my top three cabs (being tapper, track & field and pong). once he has found either of the three, i'm going to give it a try - wanna start slowly with just one cab in case there is a catch!

[gyruss]

Sounds interesting, but how much is INSANELY cheap? 

[Arch]

Good replies these. Thanks to you both.

Ully, I would be interested to know how you fare with that INSANELY cheap shipping company. They might be doing Norway as well. As they tend to operate on an international level. *duh!* 
Oh, and good luck with finding your top three mate! 

[Superully]

Sounds interesting, but how much is INSANELY cheap? 

$150 for one cab, $280 for two, transportation from five different port locations in the usa to a port in germany (unfortunately damn far away from my place, but southern germany doesn't have any ports ). now beat this price! the question is: where is the catch?

[gyruss]

Damn, that's indeed insane!  

How do you get the cab to the shipping location in the USA, does your guy take care of that too?

And what about taxes?

[level42]

"Your cab has just been shipped...ETA 3 months,depending on tides"

[Superully]

"Your cab has just been shipped...ETA 3 months,depending on tides"

good one, andré!

[Etienne MacGyver]

"Your cab has just been shipped...ETA 3 months,depending on tides"

LOL