A lot of people here talk about ebay but it seems many of them have no clue about the buyer protections offered there. I've bought and sold a lot of expensive items on ebay for many years (particularly photo gear) and I've never been scammed. ebay has buyer guarantees and anyone who buys expensive anything without reviewing seller feedback has only themselves to blame. In fact many sellers gripe about how ebay tends to side with buyers before sellers. One of these days I'm going to upgrade my current Marantz Reference gear to an Accuphase E280 and I'm going to buy from a Japanese seller on ebay without a care in the world.
What to expect if I import an amp and preamp from a Japan seller via US eBay
I can’t afford the cost of the amp and preamp I’d like to buy. I’ve discovered I can pay just less than half what I’d pay at a dealer in the US. But I haven’ t done this before. I’m aware that I won’t have a guarantee and that I’ll need a step down transformer. I willing to take the risk of no guarantee. But I don’t know what to expect when my box hits CUSTOMS. What can I expect? What are my responsibilities? How much is it likely to cost me?, I’ll be paying $7000 for the amp and the preamp..