Buying from USA

[Kev_McC]

The 787C2 from the US is the same but different base maps and not capable of metric units.
I bought one from www.qome.com.au , local business at near-US prices. Paid $1100 for mine, including the entire east coast charts.
cheers

[craigie]

What a "Boonza" deal !!

Have also used 3 rivers for a great, hassle free deal !!

Next purchase will be a colour Chartplotter/Sounder for a massive saving !!

Craigie.

[Piscatory Pursuit]

I am sort of biased because I am a Marine Electronics dealer here in the US. There are many reputable dealers here and yes you can save alot of money buying in the states.

Here are some things to consider.
Stay away from Ebay. There are reputable dealers on Ebay but many are part time hacks who don't know anything about their products and don't know anything about customer service or what to do if you have a problem.

As mentioned by many in this thread, warranty is a problem. Humminbird, Lowrance, and Eagle dealers in the US are bound by contract to not sell their products overseas. The warranty is US only and will not be honored overseas. Any dealer shipping these brands overseas is not a reputable dealer and is doing you a disservice. These manufacturers do this to protect their overseas dealers. These units all have US basemaps but you can use international charts in them. Lowrance and Eagle can use the metric system, Hummibird is imperial only.

For my Aussie customers I recommend Garmin, Raymarine, and Furuno. I have spoken to each company and they will honor their warranty worldwide. Other brands such as Sci-Tex, Standard Horizon, and Interphase will honor the warranty worldwide but it has to be shipped back to the states for warranty service. Navman is now Northstar and it has not yet been determined if all of the Navman service centers worldwide will now honor the Northstar warranty so I would hold off on purchasing Northstar.

Garmin, Raymarine, Furuno, Sci-Tex, Intephase, Standard Horizon, and Northstar all have worldwide marine basemaps and are compatible with all GPS error correction systems like WAAS and EGNOS. In most cases you can also purchase the international charts for these units from US dealers at a nice savings.

If you decide to buy from a US dealer, be sure to check and make sure the item is instock before you purchase. If the item is not in stock or discontinued and you want a refund, you can lose money on the currency exchange. Before asking for a refund, explore other options to see if there is a similar model available for similar money to avoid currency exchange problems.

Shipping. I have found the United States Postal Service Global Express Mail to be the fastest, safest, and inexpensive. This is the only service I will use to ship overseas. You can insure the shipment and it will generally arrive in 3 to 5 business days and it has tracking. A 5 pound, $500 unit will usally cost around $50.00 to $60.00 USD to Australia. That price includes international exchange rates.

Taxes and duties. It is my understanding that you can import anything under $1000.00 AUD tax and duty free.

You want to be absolutely sure that the product you buy in the US is exactly what you want because it is obviously expensive to return and you can and will lose money on the currency exchange. It's usually not alot but it can be $20 or $30 on a $500 return so be sure you are getting what you want.

Good communication with your US supplier is key. A good dealer wants to make sure you get exactly what you want because they don't want you to return it anymore than you do. If you find a reputable dealer with some experience in shipping overseas, buying in the US can save you a ton of money!

[rayken1938]

Thanks Piscatory Pursuit for a very informative post. I have purchaced a lowrance sounder from an USA ebay seller 2 years ago with no problems but it looks like my next one will be one that has an international warranty.
Ray

[malolo]

Hi Guys

I bought a Lowrance unit over the net from a guy in New Your. It is a good unit color screen, dual frequency, GPS sounder combo, I am very happy with it. Probably saved about 1/3 of the cost ($500). I paid for the unit on friday and on the next monday it was delivered to my office. I was worried about buying overseas but as long as you do your homework on who to buy from you should be ok and save lots of $. Don't listen to the Boat dealers here as they are full of it. I was told by one that the USA do not allow GPS units out of the country becauase they can be used by terrorists. The guy I bought from was David at ##### imports. Hope this helps.