[thepianobar]

I recently arrived in Germany to study here for a year. I have a pair of hd595's, but for all the travel I plan on doing over breaks I would like a set of IEM's to go with my mp3 player.

First question: does anyone has suggestions for finding/buying these in Germany or buying/shipping to Germany (I believe it's about 30-60 min to Hamburg from where I am, not exactly sure as I haven't made the trip myself yet)

The second question is how do prices compare over here? What can I get for around the 100 euro price range? I've been thinking about the er-6i's but my ears are begging me to drop the money on some super.fi 5's which are quite a bit more than the rest of me wants to pay right now. At any rate, would it be cheaper to buy whatever I decide on here? or to have them shipped internationally?

thanks for any help or advice. and if anyone is wondering, germany's been a blast so far, it's going to be a good year.

 

[MarcusH]

Hi thepianobar,

welcome to Germany. While you shouldn't have problems getting most of the usual cans (like Beyer, Senn, AKG, etc., except Grado) you'll definitely be disappointed when looking for some IEMs. Shure IEMs are the easiest to get - as there are some stores who have at least the lower end E2Cs in stock (just go to http://www.shure.de/haendler/haendler.htm and "enter" your zip code). Unfortunately I went through some hassle in order to get some UE or Etymotic phones. I have yet to find a store who even knows about UE or Etymotic, let alone sells those phones. Therefore I had to purchase them online - there are German (or European) distributors available so it's easy and safe.
I recommend contacting Fischer Amps (http://www.fischer-amps.de) as they are the German distributor of UE products, including the super.fi products. I recently purchased the UE10s and can tell you that they are very nice people but you might consider giving them a call instead of sending them an e-mail.
With regard to Etymotic phones you might want to contact Hifi-Tuning (http://www.hifi-tuning.com/), also very nice to talk to. Unfortunately they hadn't the ER-4Ps available when I wanted to buy them so I had to get them from 4YourEars (http://www.4yourears.com/), just as nice and fast, too. They actually ship from Austria, so it'll arrive at your home pretty fast.

Unfortunately, you'll notice that the prices are quite a bit higher over here in Germany, as you have to take the import duties into account (not even the distributors are freed). I considered buying the UE10s directly from UE, but it was easier to ask Fischer Amps and you'll get 2 years warranty (according to the German law). Though at first the price might look a bit steep, it isn't when you sum up all the import duties, shipping costs, etc.. I think it depends on the case at hand if it's cheaper to import them yourself - sometimes you're able to save quite a few bucks. I'd suggest contacting other European distributors as you might get a good deal with a non German distributor - remember you don't have to pay additional import duties with the EU! So, e.g. it doesn't matter whether your phones are send to you from France or Germany - except shipping costs, of course....

Good luck and enjoy your stay!

Marcus

 

[nickchen]

Nothing much to add. Amazon.de has been the cheapest place very often, so you might take a look there.

BTW, dunno if you are a armed Bush follower or baptistic fundamental. If so, you can look "forward" to lots of hostilities here in EU.

 

[xxlMusikfreak]

Shure E2c and E3c are available in nearly every Apple-Store (possibly only in white). And the prices there are not customer-friendly.

 

[Sugano-san]

Just order your stuff directly from the US. That's what I did.

 

[Oliver :)]

Welcome to northern Barbaria, thepianobar. Where are you, Lüneburg, Lübeck, Oldenburg?

As you've seen from MarcusH's post we are not very happy regarding pricing here, due to the lovely import taxes, all for the benefit of 2-year-warranty by law. Order sth. from HeadRoom just for fun, you'll soon see what I mean

So if you want the super-low prices you have in the states you'll somehow have to arrange for that with home-base...

 

[MarcusH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver So if you want the super-low prices you have in the states you'll somehow have to arrange for that with home-base...

I'd suggest you let your relatives in the USA order/buy those IEMs and then have them send it to you (like as a present or something) - that way you'll be able to undergo any import duties, which can be quite a lot.

Nevertheless, if you want to import certain goods yourself, as someone here suggested, be sure to calculate all taxes and costs BEFORE you order as you might be unpleasantly surprised how much you've got to pay!

 

[thepianobar]

first off, thanks for the links MarcusH and to the rest of you for the help and warnings of import taxes. I think I'll order them from the States and try to have someone back home ship them to me as a gift. now it's just a matter of whether or not I really have the money to drop on something like the super.fi 5's or if I need to go the cheaper route.

I remember hearing something about declaring the value of the package and if it's declared value is over 45 euro that they charge an import tax on that as well. someone also told me that if I have a 'gift' sent to me all original packaging should be removed and it should look as un-new as possible. Has anyone had experience with this or can verify it?

Oh, and yes, I'm studying in Lübeck. I feel bad for all of you who have to put up with these high prices and import taxes all the time, rather detrimental to the Head-Fi spirit.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thepianobar I remember hearing something about declaring the value of the package and if it's declared value is over 45 euro that they charge an import tax on that as well. someone also told me that if I have a 'gift' sent to me all original packaging should be removed and it should look as un-new as possible. Has anyone had experience with this or can verify it?

For commercial items that's €25 I guess, no idea whether it's different for gifts. $20 is safe. And no, something new in the box with the price-tag still on it and a receipt for $200 won't be helpful

Quote:

Originally Posted by thepianobar Oh, and yes, I'm studying in Lübeck.

Ahh, loveley place, the beach so close, and no worries about walking the streets at night.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thepianobar I feel bad for all of you who have to put up with these high prices and import taxes all the time, rather detrimental to the Head-Fi spirit.

You name it.

 

[MarcusH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thepianobar first off, thanks for the links MarcusH and to the rest of you for the help and warnings of import taxes. I think I'll order them from the States and try to have someone back home ship them to me as a gift. now it's just a matter of whether or not I really have the money to drop on something like the super.fi 5's or if I need to go the cheaper route. I remember hearing something about declaring the value of the package and if it's declared value is over 45 euro that they charge an import tax on that as well. someone also told me that if I have a 'gift' sent to me all original packaging should be removed and it should look as un-new as possible. Has anyone had experience with this or can verify it? Oh, and yes, I'm studying in Lübeck. I feel bad for all of you who have to put up with these high prices and import taxes all the time, rather detrimental to the Head-Fi spirit.

Well, I have some experience with importing the SuperMacro from Xin. He was kind enough to declare it as a "gift" and declared a value of $20 USD. It went through customs without hassle.
The problem though might be that the SuperMacro looks handcrafted, though it's truely a masterpiece *g*, so it would be easier to convince someone of its imagined $20 value. With headphones it might be more difficult.
It's true, if a person (not a company) is sending another person a present from the USA to Germany its value may not exceed your mentioned 45 EUR otherwise you'll have to pay taxes! (cf. http://www.zoll.de/faq/index.html#Geschenkpaket)
Therefor I suggest that you let your relatives/friends in the USA remove all packaging (as you said), no bills/receipts of course and let them declare it as a "gift" with a value of < 45 EUR. I don't think it'll be necessary to make them look old, because I don't believe that a German customs officer will know how expensive those super.fis really are - they look almost like usual earbuds.
Maybe your friends should include all those tips into some pouch or something . As I said, with the SuperMacro it worked like a charm!

Ciao,
Marcus

 

[xxlMusikfreak]

You don't always have to pay taxes. I ordered the MS1 and it was written $99 on the box but I had nothing to pay - strange.

 

[MarcusH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxlMusikfreak You don't always have to pay taxes. I ordered the MS1 and it was written $99 on the box but I had nothing to pay - strange.

The 45 EUR are the limit given by the customs - see their website or the according law. I believe you were lucky, IMHO they have sooo many imported goods to handle every day that they probably only take some samples (not sure though). Maybe there's another explanation, nevertheless it would be wise to stay below the 45 EUR limit.

Ciao,
Marcus

 

[GordonHo]

hi markus,

did you fill out the form 0749 for your UE-10 refit 'package' ?

regards gordon

 

[MarcusH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GordonHo hi markus, did you fill out the form 0749 for your UE-10 refit 'package' ? regards gordon

Hi Gordon,

LOL no - one reason I chose Fischer Amps was to get rid of all those legal "troubles" *g*. I truely dislike German forms

It would be unlogical if you had to pay import duties AGAIN when you sent your UE10s for refit to the US, but I don't know exactly whether this is true or not. So did you have to pay anything?

Ciao,
Marcus

 

[GordonHo]

hi,

i didnt pay anything, but only because at the airport they were only interested in my laptop. the final "check" was a look at the keyboard.

lucky that ive still a german keyboard, i bought the laptop here in germany, but i wanted an US keyboard. i didnt get it, because it was 40eur more expensive. lucky now

i havent mailed the ue-10 yet, because i forgot the case at my parents place. should be here today.

i ordered my pair of shure e3 from the usa, and they got stuck at the german 'customs agency' in karlsruhe. quite a hassle to get to theyr place, as they are outside of the city, and without a car...

im now hesitating if i want to fill out forms or not. for personal use, you can apparently fill out the form when they come back and are beeing held at the customs agency. but it will be again a big mess, though i doubt that filling out a form now will prevent that.

regards gordon