Importing a telescope from Agena Astro in the US

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Just wondering if anyone has imported a telescope - OTA - from Agena Astro or any of the other well known US retailers?

Is there much hassle with customs? Do you have to go in person somewhere to get the shipment released?

I suppose if anything is wrong you have to ship it back for service so that could be a big drawback.

Any thing else to worry about? Insurance?

[The_bluester (Paul)]

I bought a scope direct from Stellarvue and it was a pretty seamless process, the freight mob they used (I cant honestly recall which it was) arranged things via customs and all I had to do was pay up for the GST when requested and it was duly released.

I would have been in the same boat with warranty but I knew that going in to the purchase, I would have one of the few of these in Australia so if it needed repair the only option would really be to send it off and wait. It was a close run thing between that and something locally available when it came time to buy, the main reason to hesitate being local support.

[m11 (Mel)]

As the_bluester has mentioned you received a notification of the Customs duties to be paid with payment options. Once paid your telescope should be released.

I also got a scope from Stellarvue and the only issue is that they listed an item as a scope which Australian Customs interpreted as a rifle scope. I then had to explain it was a telescope and not a gun scope as Customs were asking for my import license.

[glend (Glen)]

USPS are notoriously slow, pick an international courier company if you can, like UPS or Fed Ex, as they normally handle all the inbound clearance with Australian Customs, and will call you with the charges due, which can be paid over the phone by credit card. I have used UPS probably five times to import gear and it was always fast and without drama. I have had good cleared while still in the air by UPS.