Where to buy?

[Peter B]

I have decided to buy a Turtle beach Santa Cruz sound card. However, our local distributor doesn’t import that card from them as they “cannot get a good enough price to be competitive, suggest you buy it from their website”. Due to my locality (New Zealand) the freight charges from Turtle Beach is $US45 and UPS is the only option (I assume UPS is some sort of courier system). This is fairly significant given the price of the card!

So far every site I have looked at only has UPS or FedEx as a delivery option and I have also yet to find one that delivers outside the North American continent. I have not looked at the UK sites yet as that is even future away.

Can anyone recommend a reputable e-tailer that can post computer hardware internationally? (it only takes 7-10 days to get postage from the US and I am happy to wait that long and shouldn’t cost more than about $10).

[Sciascia]

Not that it may help, but the card is distributed in a lot of overseas locations under a different name. The Videologic Sonic Fury. Same card, slightly different SW bundle I believe. You may be able to find one of those.

[Peter B]

Yes I was aware of that thanks, unfortuanately the only vendors of Video Logic Sounic Fury I've found are in the UK, they don't appear to ship internationally and the prices seem very high! There must be some local taxes as they are listed at almost 70 pounds! or more than half again the US prices.

I hate to think about freight as we are virtually on the opposite site of the globe, you cannot get much further away.

[Brian Ellis]

You have found out one of the beauties of international trade. Of course, EVERYTHING costs more in Europe than in the USA. But let a European manufacturer charge more in the USA than in Europe (plus costs, of course) and he has the full fury of the US administration crying loud and clear. Even worse, if he charges less, then he is accused of dumping. Such is the liberty of commerce, a strictly one-way affair, never to the advantage of the non-Americans, while the Americans consider everybody else to be milch cows.

It is cheaper for US companies to use courier services - and charge for their services, of course - than the hassle of postal services. Also courier services are more reliable. If a shipment does not get delivered, to get compensation out of the post office service on international shipments can take months of bureaucracy.