Buying Trumpet From Europe Or Australia

JL · New Member Joined: 01 Oct 2019 Posts: 5

Hello, I've been surfing about, reading, learning, and shopping for a trumpet.

Something I've come upon are places that sell some trumpets at much lower cost than in the U.S.

For example, this store in Austrailia has Yamaha trumpets for nearly half the price as in the U.S.

https://www.bettermusic.com.au/advancedsearch/result/index/?cat=68&q=trumpet&p=2

Any idea why? I also saw a couple of places on Amazon that have Yamaha trumpets for a lot cheaper, I think they are located in Japan. But apparently they aren't authorized dealers, so I don't know where they get them or what the deal is. But these other places seem to be authorized.

Thanks for any info.

kehaulani · Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:10 pm Post subject:

I bought a new Schilke from Thomann in Germany at a lower-than-U.S. price and it was delivered without a problem.

Regarding prices, be careful that you are only looking at a partial price of the item itself and not taking into account that the total may include import and VAT taxes, as well.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
"I wouldn't play like Wynton Marsalis even if I could play like Wynton Marsalis." Attributed to Chet

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet

Irving · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 1891

No import charges were chsrged on the Schilke because it is an American made product. If you are buyin g something foreign made then expect to pay import duties.

Trumpetingbynurture · Heavyweight Member Joined: 18 Nov 2015 Posts: 898

kehaulani · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 8:25 am Post subject:

Tony Scodwell · Heavyweight Member Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 1965

With two orders for my Scodwell USA trumpets and flugelhorns from Peter Bertram in Freiburg, Germany and Sax and Woodwinds and Brass in Melbourne, Australia a couple years ago, I certainly was curious how they would sell. My distributor is Washington Music Center and we arranged "Export" pricing to keep the retail prices in line with US prices. Soon after shipping I received an inquiry on my website from a fellow in Norway wanting my "Boston" model Bb trumpet and I advised him to contact Bertram Music in Freiburg which he did. He emailed back saying their price was substantially higher than Washington Music and he bought the horn from WMC. The pricing in Australia was much higher than the US as well and my "Export" pricing was to no avail there as well. Both dealers have not re-ordered which does not surprise me and I will re-evaluate dealing overseas in the future.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

Vin DiBona · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:33 am Post subject:

US goods are not dutiable upon return.
The only time there would be any duty is if the horn had work done to it overseas and the duty would be only on the repair or modification.
I was a licensed Customs Broker for years and handled hundreds of US good returned. Some were indeed modified overseas and duty was due on the modifications.
R. Tomasek

theslawdawg · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 11:01 am Post subject:

I have a couple AR Resonance MPs coming from Italy. Am I going to owe customs fees for the them?
_________________
My go-to Trumpet and Flugel: Thane.
Greg Black MPs

Andy Del · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:52 pm Post subject:

Hi Tony

While I can’t comment specifically on those who stocked your instruments down under ( maybe choose new t to comment directly is a better term) the cost of instruments here has always been a problem.

One of these of volume; small population = less sales and therefore less profit. Price gouging is the norm.

Another is cost of running a store. Our commercial rent levels are stupidly high, getting higher and make for the need for a bigger profit margin.

Then there are the behind closed doors deals, like volume sales for certain brands, etc etc. let’s pick the scuba industry... where volume sales in a month can result in a 40% discount on wholesale prices! This means the store pushes that brand only.

Your horns, as nice as they are, were quite likely are a victim of all of these factors, plus many schools will penny pinch when buying. Parents also think google and eBay are where the bargains are...

If I have to buy new, I look overseas. If I buy second hand, I only buy what I want or becomes available, and 99% of the time it is overseas. The reason is not only the lack of desire to be shafted on prices, but also the customer service we get is highly questionable at times. Locally, let’s just say useless is a good term to start with. To get a specific piccolo rum pet case, I had to give up on store and go via a bassoon specialist who got the case to me in a few weeks, not 6-8 months, as one local store though it ‘might’ take...

Hope that fills you in on or scene a bit!

Cheers

Andy
_________________
so many horns, so few good notes...

Vin DiBona · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 2:13 pm Post subject:

Theslawdog.
You might. If the value is under $2500.00, you may pay duty but it should not require a formal entry. (A formal entry is virtually always required on a shipment valued over $2500.00 and it will very, very likely require the services of a customs broker). Even we who experienced years in the industry sometimes were astonished at the inconsistency.
Mail shipments are usually not a problem. Cargo shipments can be. UPS, FedEx, and other couriers are supposed to know what they are doing, but I did have to step in many times when those companies messed up.

If you have to have a customs broker clear your trumpets, get ready for some very unexpected charges that will like add up to over $200.00.

Then again, things like this slide through sometimes with zero issues.

Customs keeps track of who imports what and how often. If people import more than a handful of shipments in a year, you will likely have some issues that will need to be resolved with a broker.

R. Tomasek

theslawdawg · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:07 pm Post subject:

Vin DiBona · Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:54 pm Post subject:

Hopefully, no issues will occur.
R. Tomasek

Trumpetingbynurture · Heavyweight Member Joined: 18 Nov 2015 Posts: 898

Tony Scodwell · Heavyweight Member Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 1965

Thanks to you both for your explanations on why my horns cost more in Australia. I do have a question though...

Sax and Woodwind and Brass agreed to my pricing prior to placing their order and I assume they realized the final selling price would be in line with what the market would be willing to pay.

Perhaps they underestimated whatever niche my horns would fill when giants like Yamaha and Bach are everywhere. Buyers on a budget can easily look to China for inexpensive horns (that seem to improve by the month) or the wonderful instruments Carol Brass are making in Taiwan.

Anyway, I will always continue to make my trumpets and flugelhorns as good as I can, and being able to play them at a high level as I build them is an advantage the "big guys" do not have.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

theslawdawg · Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 8:53 am Post subject: Re: Australia and European prices

JVL · Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 9:02 am Post subject:

theslawdawg · Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:41 am Post subject:

JVL · Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:57 am Post subject:

yes !

Andy Del

JL · New Member Joined: 01 Oct 2019 Posts: 5

So I contacted a few places about a Yamaha trumpet.

A couple can't sell to the USA, Yamaha prohibits it.

One could, but their warranty is not Yamaha's 5 year, it's their own 1 year.

I looked on Yamaha's site, and they have a whole list of places that are unauthorized sellers, and some may sell counterfeit horns.