NZ Weather Forum

Do you also have to pay GST when it comes through? I did on a Garmin Vista about 6 years ago when I purchased it from the States. It got intercepted here and held until I paid the $90 or so GST bill to release it.

Maybe it wasn't GST? But there was a fee

Rob, I am in the country too. The wireless is very short range and I don't think it would cause an issue.
Vodafone coverage here is zilch.
No GST fee given to me when it entered, I must have paid it already when I paid the shipping costs.

In my experience importing stuff, they only charge you GST if it's value is NZ$400 or more. I guess the GST take needs to be above $50 or it's not worth their cost of processing it or something like that.

Great advice and thoughts within this thread, I intend to complete my research over the next week and then make a final decison. At this stage, my preference is for a cabled VP2+, only because as I also have a HAM interest and have experienced issues with wireless before. Installing the external cabling to my antenna mast is not a problem.

Thanks for all the advice guys - does anyone else have a recomended overseas supplier they are willing to share with other prospective Davis owners?

TIA

This extract from the NZ Customs website should answer the question:

"Calculation of Customs Charges
Where applicable, Customs duty is levied on the transaction value of the goods (the price actually paid for them). Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 12.5 percent is then calculated on the duty-inclusive value plus international freight and insurance charges. If there is no transaction (such as the goods being supplied free of charge, or a relationship between the supplier and importer which affects the transaction price), an alternative form of valuation may be used.

No revenue collection will be made if the total amount owing on the goods imported is less than $50. This revenue waiver does not apply to alcohol or tobacco products."

Rob

Hi Guys,

I successfully completed the cutover to my new Davis VP2+ (6162C with FARS) this weekend. I did get stung just under $200 NZD to get the station through customs, but I guess this was expected. Overall my impressions of the Davis gear are very positive, with no complaints so far. The product packaging, literature and build quality are far above any of the 1-wire and Lacrosse product I have used previously. The best thing was, that once mounted and connected to the control cabling on my mast, that station worked seamlessly with WD without any hacks or modifications. This is something I really liked. Today I will be completing the conversion of the daytime FARS to 24hr FARS and the project will be complete. My wind sensor is mounted on a 8m mast, and the ISS is mounted at 1.5m above grass in open space, so hopefully readings will be as good as I can get in my current location.

Thanks for all the advice on here guys, it was invaluable in helping to make my decison. I would recommend anyone thinking of doing the same to go for it, the whole process was stress free and the results very satisfying.

Cheers
Andrew

I also imported a Davis Vantage Pro 6152 recently and am very pleased with it. All up cost including GST was $400 NZ less than that quoted by Davis on their NZ site which quotes $1400.

The wireless frquency is no problem - I am close to a Vodaphone cell tower and we don't interfere with each other!

Regarding GST when the goods reached NZ DML assessed the freight component at a different cost than charged in the US by their own company! Anyhow I sent them a copy of my invoice and they amended it.

I purchased from Weatherbuffs in San Fransico and had no problems. The goods were dispatched 4 hours after my order and arrived in NZ 3 days later. Only problem was it then took 1 week for the GST to be assessed, amended, paid and the goods to arrive at my rural address. In NZ DML's customs section doesn't work at the weekends and they then use Courier Post to deliver locally.