Buy EEVblog BM235 Multimeter from EU?

[joao]

Hello!

Is it possible to buy the EEVblog BM235 Multimeter from an EU store? Thanks.

Regards.
João

[PeterMadach]

I think you can only pick up the EEVblog branded ones from Dave, but I guess he ships to your country as well.

I have yet to see the non-EEVBlog variant anywhere.

[joao]

Hi!

Thanks, but the problem are the "men in black" from the portuguese customs service. They tax everything above 22 EUR from outside the European Union. Between VAT and other taxes it will be more 30/40%.

Regards.
João

[PeterMadach]

I asked Dave in another thread if he can mark the stuff as "gift", because of the same reason you're worried about. I'm waiting for a reply.

Other than that, your only bet is to wait if any contributor starts to sell these things in your country. The only place where you can pick up Brymens in Hungary is TME, but i haven't seen the 235 at them yet. I'm curious if it will be ever distributed in the EU.

[joao]

Good luck. Unfortunately in Portugal the "gift trick " no longer works.

[RobertoLG]

heh, they rip you off there too? same here 

[EEVblog]

I asked Dave in another thread if he can mark the stuff as "gift", because of the same reason you're worried about. I'm waiting for a reply.

What you are asking me to do is illegal in my country.

[LHelge]

Even if you would find it at a local distributor you still have to pay European VAT, there's no way around it without breaking the law.

There are some money to save though. Here in Sweden customs take 100 SEK  for handling the VAT payment, and the VAT here is quite high 25%. You could save some money buying it from for example Germany where you can pay local 19% VAT since it is within EU, and don't worry about customs taking an extra 100 SEK.

If the meter is 155 AUD incl shipping to Sweden the final price would be around 210 AUD delivered to Sweden. If I were to buy it from Germany instead it would be 185 AUD, probably lower since the shipping would be cheaper.

[imidis]

Generally, I find a lot of less reputable places mark them as gifts.

Duties are funny here, I've only had one thing charged duty on. But it is what it is, some things there is duty on some things not. I'm more concerned with brokerage fees. Fedex and UPS in the states are well known for that so I prefer everything shipped USPS from the states. Or a global shipping program.

I wish I had enough to purchase one while the sale is on, but my wife would complain. It's on my wishlist and ticks all the right buttons.    How are they shipped? (Australia Post)?

[EEVblog]

How are they shipped? (Australia Post)?

Australia Post Pack & Track.

[PeterMadach]

What you are asking me to do is illegal in my country.

I didn't know that, sorry.

Do you know if Brymen plans to sell the non-EEVBlog variant anywhere?

[mikeys]

With UK customs (20%, so ~£16) and handling charge (£14) the final price comes to about £110. I'm looking for a second meter, is there a "better" meter anyone knows in that range? I do like the "hints and tips" in the EEVBlog BM235 manual, I admit.

[mettlerr]

Would love one of the EEVblog branded BM235 too, but have to wait until Dave ships to Japan too. I will have to pay customs and tax here too (as I have to with all the other things I've ordered from out of the country), but I really want it. 

[joao]

I made the math and in my case I'll pay around 150 EUR.

[imidis]

I'm looking for a second meter, is there a "better" meter anyone knows in that range? I do like the "hints and tips" in the EEVBlog BM235 manual, I admit.

Better is probably subjective, particular features I like about daves is the accuracy and the ability to discharge caps and monitor them, which I like so I know I don't die working on the higher voltage ones. (just makes things smoother) 

Really depends on what you need, I like the features/specs for what I normally do and blue is the best colour.   

Thanks EEV blog for knowing which way it ships! Awesome!

[cs.dk]

With UK customs (20%, so ~£16) and handling charge (£14) the final price comes to about £110. I'm looking for a second meter, is there a "better" meter anyone knows in that range? I do like the "hints and tips" in the EEVBlog BM235 manual, I admit.

Since the BM235 is not released yet, the BM257 is available for ~78£ + VAT. They ship from a EU country, so no extra taxes, etc. http://www.tme.eu/en/details/bm257/portable-digital-multimeters/brymen/bm257s/#

[mikeys]

I'm looking for a second meter, is there a "better" meter anyone knows in that range? I do like the "hints and tips" in the EEVBlog BM235 manual, I admit.

Better is probably subjective, particular features I like about daves is the accuracy and the ability to discharge caps and monitor them, which I like so I know I don't die working on the higher voltage ones. (just makes things smoother) 

Really depends on what you need, I like the features/specs for what I normally do and blue is the best colour.   

Thanks EEV blog for knowing which way it ships! Awesome!

Yeah I was fishing more for people from the UK to chip in with "yeah you won't get a better meter for the price here" things like that. I think I'll pick up this BM235 and roll the dice on whether customs charge me or not, since I was going to get the £85-90 B&K 2709 in the first place, so if customs don't pick it up, it should end up cheaper.

There's a new 87V on ebay at the moment for £270 though, which is tempting, since they go for ~£400+ from the shops I've seen. Not sure if I can justify that kind of money on gear at the moment.

[fanOfeeDIY]

I asked Dave in another thread if he can mark the stuff as "gift", because of the same reason you're worried about. I'm waiting for a reply.

What you are asking me to do is illegal in my country.

I understand that everybody would like to buy products beyond the country boundaries without the custom charge.

But once you work at a manufacturing company which selling products to many countries, you will learn that undervalue invoice for avoiding the custom charge purpose will cause big trouble for the seller in most of the countries, US, EU, and other western companies, including Korea and Japan.

Here are some links.
http://plainarchive.com/pages/on-import-duties-taxes
http://fita.org/aotm/sept97.html

For the people in the forum, asking Dave to take the risk and loosing the chance to able to buy the fantastic multi-meters, uCurrent and etc in the future is probably more critical for us.

I really wish the world was more simple.
I really do.

[EEVblog]

Do you know if Brymen plans to sell the non-EEVBlog variant anywhere?

It's not an exclusive agreement with me (apart from me being the official Australian rep, so no one else in Oz can sell it), so they are free to sell to others, and I thought they were going to do that. i don't why they are not anywhere else yet. Perhaps I'm chewing up all their stock. They do seem to make limited numbers of these meters. it's a two month lead time from me ordering them to delivery.

[fanOfeeDIY]

One thing you could do to avoid the custom charge legally is:
(1)Take a holiday.
(2)Visit Australia and have fun.
(3)Declare that you have Unaccompanied goods when you enter your country at the custom.

Then most of the countries allow about 6 month for having goods sent from Australia without custom charge being charged.

[imidis]

Yeah I was fishing more for people from the UK to chip in with "yeah you won't get a better meter for the price here" things like that. I think I'll pick up this BM235 and roll the dice on whether customs charge me or not, since I was going to get the £85-90 B&K 2709 in the first place, so if customs don't pick it up, it should end up cheaper.

There's a new 87V on ebay at the moment for £270 though, which is tempting, since they go for ~£400+ from the shops I've seen. Not sure if I can justify that kind of money on gear at the moment.

Just wanted to update, I did search and search. The best deal I found for a comparable big brand meter was a keysight u1233a, which came out to 250 CAD after tax and shipping. The EEV Blog one came to $151 CAD, so hard to beat the value, yeah keysight is a more known brand, more warranty, but it adds up.

I would love the Fluke 87V, but CAD its around 450-500 CAD 

[ChrisG]

Why not buy in Europe the BM869s. In many video reviews on Youtube this meter even 'beats' the Fluke 87V. http://www.tme.eu/nl/details/bm869/draagbare-digitale-multimeters/brymen/bm869s/

[imidis]

Because with shipping it is over $300 CAD Our of price range, bought the 235.

[wytco0]

Has anyone in the UK bought Dave's meter and if so did you get charged duty by customs?

it seems a bit of a lottery as to whether they charge or not and if they do we also get hit for a handling charge.

[belzrebuth]

I bought a Brymen 257s from iloveelectronics eBay shop and arrived fast and safe.
I've paid around 120€ w/shipping so a pretty good deal.

Here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-BM257s-Digital-Multimeter-6000-count-Brand-New-Fluke-alternative-/200922627340?hash=item2ec7ebfd0c:g:hQEAAOSw0vBUdEM2

I don't know if buying from Hong Kong covers international warranty though..

[stefanv]

Hello! I came across this topic while looking for an answer to the same question. I see that now you can get the non-eevblog version (standard Brymen) from multiple places. The cheapest option seems to be Amazon (.de, .co.uk, .fr, .it and .es are all selling it). TME is also selling it, but it's more expensive . I hope it helps somebody.

[Bskitter]

Hi!

Thanks, but the problem are the "men in black" from the portuguese customs service. They tax everything above 22 EUR from outside the European Union. Between VAT and other taxes it will be more 30/40%.

Regards.
João

If Dave marks the package as a "Gift" or "Personal Effects" the customs services should let it through.

[stefanv]

The problem is that if we wish to order the EEVblog version from this website we can't - it's out of stock. At the moment it seems that the only option is to have the standard Brymen version if we wish to have the BM235. The price on Amazon is really tempting.

[Brumby]

I have two of the EEVblog BM235's.

Been using one regularly and I'm very happy with it.  Haven't needed to break out the second one yet - so I am open to selling it, if anyone is interested.

[stefanv]

Can you please tell us a price? I'm interested to have it shipped in Europe (UK), so it would be good if you could estimate a shipping cost as well. Thanks!

[Brumby]

Dave still has the sale price of $130 on the meter, even though it is out of stock.  But for members of the forum, I'd ask $120.  This is still new in the box.

Shipping would be at cost.  The Australia Post rates are what I know - and they aren't cheap.  To give you an idea, the cheapest rates are: $36.95 without tracking and $51.82 with tracking.  From what I can work out, Dave can send to the UK for $20 with tracking - but I don't have an account with DHL to do that.  If anyone has an alternative, I'd be happy to entertain that.

Prices are Australian Dollars.  Any interest, PM me.

[Monkeh]

Hi!

Thanks, but the problem are the "men in black" from the portuguese customs service. They tax everything above 22 EUR from outside the European Union. Between VAT and other taxes it will be more 30/40%.

Regards.
João

If Dave marks the package as a "Gift" or "Personal Effects" the customs services should let it through.

Er, no, it doesn't work that way.