Got a really good deal. Almost too good. (1 Viewer)

[Brad E]

Hi,

I just bought most of my HT components online. The price I paid was less than half of what I would have paid for the same stuff from a local store.
Here goes:

Harman/Kardon AVR7200 $899.00 ($1177.69 CAD)
4 JBL ND310II Floorstanding Speakers $736.00 ($964.16 CAD)
JBL PB12 Powered Subwoofer $217.00 ($284.27 CAD)

Shipping was $269.10 ($352.52 CAD) which is fairly reasonable considering the weight.

So the total with shipping is $2121.10 ($2778.64 CAD)

Very good deal because I would have paid $5900.00 CAD locally for the same components.

Now that I've paid for it I keep hearing the saying "If the deal sounds too good to be true, than it probably is."
I phoned the company to make sure they weren't refurbished or factory defects and they assured me that these are brand new items.

I looked around quite a bit on the net for prices. I found some that were close but not quite this cheap. Should I be worried?
The site I bought them off of was bestpriceaudiovideo. Has anyone heard or bought anything from here?
Thanks,
Brad

 

[Brad E]

Ok, here's another question. Is there anyway to check and see if the components I receive are actually brand new?

I'm thinking maybe the serial #'s can be traced to see if they have been previously owned.
Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brad

 

[WayneO]

Do they list phone #'s so maybe you can call them and ask? That would be a step in the right direction.

 

[Benihana]

don't worry, everything you bought is legit as long as its from a decent online store.

 

[Dave_vega]

I hope your ready to pay taxes and brokerage/duty fees at the border? On 2700$ it's gonna be quite a bit..I get reemed at the border all the time..i'd say 500$ isn't out of the question..I hope you went with a border free company like etronics.com so at least you wouldn't be hit with a surprise border charge..

 

[DonnyD]

Bestpriceaudiovideo is a pretty good online merchant and I never heard of them selling refurbs or return items. I think you got a good deal....... some JBL lines have been discounted since the new ones are out.....

 

[Drew_W]

I guarantee you that you'll pay taxes coming across the border. The taxes will be the same as buying locally in whatever area of Canada you're in. I highly doubt you can falsely declare that much stuff and let it just "slip by" Customs. The amount for the brokerage fee you have to pay depends on your shipper, and the customs broker they use. UPS kills you, Canada Post/USPS is a flat $5 fee.

From what I've read (on this forum, and elsewhere on the internet) Harman/Kardon seems to be pretty firmly in the "buy from an authorized dealer or else" mindset. And a dealer in your country. Even their online store based out of the US won't sell to Canada.

And since you asked if the deal was too good to be true, the reason it probably is is because all of those speakers including the sub are now discontinued and have been for months and months. The Northridge E series replaced the N series at the end of the summer I believe, so the place you bought them from is probably desperate to clear them out.

That said, the speakers are fantastic, I'm a fan of H/K receivers and that one is a beast. I'm sure you'll enjoy the system, and I have my fingers crossed that you don't get killed importing this stuff into Canada.

 

[Travis>D]

I bought a receiver from them in December and it was delivered well packaged, brand new and with pretty quick shipping. However, upon opening, I found that it didn't have a remote in the box. So I called them up and asked if I could come to their warehouse and swap the unit out (It was only a 1 hour drive). They said it wasn't a problem so I made the trip and low and behold, their whole shipment was without remotes. They refunded all my money then and there with no argument and apologized for the inconvience. Hope that helps ease your concerns...

 

[Steve Griswold]

For some reason that name reminded me of one of those sketchy etailers, but when I looked it up at Reseller Ratings (ALWAYS go there before buying):

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1859.html

An 8.5 is almost unheard of. You should have VERY little to worry about.

 

[Chuck Schilling]

Steve, you say that an 8.5 rating is "almost unheard of" on that site, but I just checked onecall.com and their rating is 9.5??

 

[Jason GT]

Brad,

HK stuff is quite overpriced due to, I believe in part, the Canadian distributor.

You will get hit with tax and quite probably a duty as well at the border, which Could Suck (tm). Given the size of what you're shipping I don't think that your shipment will slip under the radar

Personally, I would avoid cross-border shipping locally-available speakers, but that's just me (there are many excellent Canadian brands that are cost-effective).

Finally, your warranties may not be valid, or it may be a hassle to obtain warranty service. Hopefully not.

Even with all of this, you will probably come out quite a bit ahead -- so maybe it's not too good to be true, it's very good with a few tradeoffs.

 

[Kevin T]

not sure how the duties work but i bought a pair of gershman acoustic avant garde rx-20 from a gentlemen in canada. i think the declared value was about $4800 and i got hit with $186 and change from ups for the border fees. kinda sucked but i got a super deal on the speakers to start with anyways.

kevin t

 

[Brad E]

Thanks for the responses, and the piece of mind. I know these components are outdated, but the price is still by far the lowest I've seen.

I did check out how much the duty/tax was going to be at the border. Customs told me if they are manufactured in the US or Canada, there will be no duty charge. If they are manufacture elsewhere, duty will be 6.5%. And I know for sure that I will be charged GST which is 7%.

I couldn't find where Harmon Kardon and JLB are manufactured, so I'm fully expecting to pay the full 13.5%.
Which works out to be $365.93 bringing the grand total for everything to $3076.72, which is still a killer deal.

I went to Visions and Sound Surround yesterday before I ordered this. At Visions I was quoted around $5900.00.
Just for the Harmon Kardon 7200 alone, the price was $2700.00.
When I showed the salesman the price list from bestbuyaudiovideo, he nearly shit himself. He said there was no way he could come even close to that price.
Of course he then went on to say how risky it was to order from the internet and US companies...etc.

I'm still paying about half of what I would have paid locally so I'm very happy about that. And very excited, can't wait to get it. I've never had a surround sound system before.
Thanks,
Brad

 

[HienD]

You won't be hit with duty, just GST and Brokerage fee.

 

[Brad E]

Thanks for the info. I'm assuming that this means that H/K and JBL are manufactured in the US?

 

[Drew_W]

Hardly anything is made in the US anymore.

http://www.harmankardon.com/images/p...e/AVR7200B.jpg

Notice the "Made in China". I don't expect the JBLs to be any different.

You should however inquire about the status or the validity of your warranty on the products. That's the primary concern when ordering from the US.

This should be interesting to the Canadian folk reading this thread: http://www.etronics.com/getpage.asp?...=CanadianRates

Can I also point out that you're missing a centre channel? Or do you already have one?

 

[Brad E]

Thanks for the link Drew. That pretty much confirms how much I expected to pay. Looks like I need to add another $54.00 to the grand total for brokerage fees because it's being shipped UPS ground.



No, I don't have one yet. I have another post floating around on here about this topic, but I haven't really got much feedback on it.
I was looking at the N-centerII. The only problem is that it is a 2-way speaker and I was hoping to get a 3-way, like the EC35.
However, I have no idea what the sound difference would be, if any.
Hopefully someone reading this will be able to help me out.
Thanks,
Brad

 

[Citizen87645]

Just wanted to confirm the retailer is legit. I bought my JBL S38s from them via eBay.

 

[HienD]

Don't know about that. But if you were to get a quote on same/similar items form etronics using their canadian checkout, you'll find that there is no duty added. Just shipping and handling.

 

[Brad E]

Duty isn't calculated at the store. It's calculated by customs when the product physically crosses the border.