Buying a Bouncy Castle from China

jacquied

Hi everyone. I was wondering if I could ask for a bit of help. I'm considering purchasing a bouncy castle from China as it is an awful lot cheaper there than a comparable castle from the UK.
My concern is how to protect myself from being ripped off. The bouncy castle appears to be very good quality.
Any tips on how to proceed and what payment method I should use to try to have some come-back.

Thanks for your help

Jacquie

System

Don't know how to protect yourself but have you taken into account import duty and VAT when comparing prices?

kazwookie

What are the carriage costs?

What is the delivery time?

Customs duty or what ever it is currently called

Vat @ 20% is likely to be added

etc

jacquied

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't know about import duty and never even thought about VAT.

Delivery costs are via seafreight and cost 300USD - about £187. Delivery time is approx 35 days.

Jacquie

Slinky200

Please refrain from buying cheap from China. There are masses of manufacturers available in the UK who are struggling to survive because of Chinese imports.
There are masses of suppliers in the Uk, not sure I should name any here but if you message me I could reccomed a few.
They will provide you with a complete service including the fan and repair the castle when it gets worn/damaged.

Glad

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raineshoe

I'd be well wary of buying something like this from abroad especially if you are using it for a business as it will have to pass safety regulations here and you may pay for it and find it doesn't meet them. Better to buy from a UK manufacturer whereby you have somewhere to go back to for any problems.

Also as someone said customs will add 20% for VAT. There will also be an administration charge on top of that and also possibly an import tax charge which could add considerably to your intial "cheap" purchase.