Anyone bought Speakers from outside U.S.A.?

Certainly makes sense to take a cheap, off-season flight to London to pick up Spendors VAT-free, for example. Or Harbeth, Quad, etc. Dealers can be convinced to give you 20% off, plus that nice -17.5% VAT yields a tidy savings.
Have a nice trip!

I purchased my Vienna Acoustics Mahler's from a dealer in Italy. I had some of the same reservations that you do. The individual had alot of positive feedback with Audiogon and would take credit cards which convinced me to go ahead with the purchase. I must say that everything went very well, the speakers arrived just as advertised. I would definitly be cautious and check feedback or references. Also, I wouldn't have made the purchase if I could not use a credit card.

call me lucky but I have purchased 2 sets of speakers overseas and had no problem with them. The first was Rogers LS3/5A from audio T in England back in 1979. Good transaction, perfect condition and when one woofer went bad in mid 90 a local dealer repaired it no questions asked for US cash. I purchased Audio Physics Virgos from Paulo in Italy through this site 2 years ago and they also arrived in perfect condition. I did read some threads on this site that there is one Italian dealer where people received less than satisfactory service but I do not recall the name.

I bought a reciever from England, and the shipping cost just about killed me. It cost just as much for shipping, as it did to buy the reciever.

Pbb brings out some great points.-----Funny;I have a 47ai also. Just bough 2 weeks ago. Factory sealed from a local shop,for a bit more than they sell for here. Guess what ??? I brought it home---DOA--- Naturally my dealer did an immediate exchange. Anybody else and I'd have shipping and worst of all waiting problems. I've read to many broken-in-shipping;threads to buy either speakers (large ones) or tube amps---and then have them shipped. I figgure it's like the lottery-- maybe you feel lucky--??

Yes, I did. From Canada, but that's where I live. You didn't want to know that. Oops! Sorry. On a more serious note, I would be leery of sending money overseas and I would be leery of getting large used speakers shipped. If some escrow arrangement could be had, the speakers were not too big, in their original cartons (brand new would be best), and the vendor had good feedback (being no guarantee though), I might go for it. Don't expect a very warm welcome from the importer though if you need repairs or replacement parts. And if there is no importer where you live, you have a new set of problems getting them serviced. I would say, your local or semi-local audio shop is the best bet, especially if you factor in shipping costs and the inherent risk. I found that even when the price is quite attractive, once you factor everything in, chiseling with your local shop makes more sense.