Banzai hobby

[Percymon]

I've had two kits from Banzai to date

Madbull got through OK, although the external invoice stated the contents ($5 for the kit, $1 for the sport tuned motor)

Egress I had to pay £26 duties (incl handling fee) - that brought it to £265 delivered; even if it'd been raided and full value VAT added it still would have been cheaper than buying in europe.

Worth the risk - yes, you will never pay more than a UK purchase prvoided the kit is >£130

Safer to buy from Stella - possibly if yours is the box that gets stopped for duties ?

[Wandy]

Worth the risk - yes, you will never pay more than a UK purchase prvoided the kit is >£130

This is very true of course. The main headache, if you get raided, is the extra wait for your parcel together with the palava of having to send all of your invoices and receipts to them.

[chriss76]

Cheers Wandy gonna send them a pm to see if they can put the invoice inside the box, I can pretty much guarantee it will be cheaper than the uk even if It gets stopped so not too bothered.

First order with them direct so hopefully all goes well.

[chriss76]

Just checked my order and instead of marking it $150 they have marked it 150 yen ....... 88p lol, oh well I'm just gonna leave it in the hands of the tamiya gods and see what happens.

[Percymon]

Just checked my order and instead of marking it $150 they have marked it 150 yen ....... 88p lol, oh well I'm just gonna leave it in the hands of the tamiya gods and see what happens.

Yes i fell foul of that in one of my first orders - they interpret $50 as Y50 for sone reason. Subsequent orders I actually type 50 US dollars although that doesn't seem to be any clearer to them either

[i_am_scarecrow]

Can I just clear something up? If I buy something for £16 am I going to sail through customs ok? Postage is £12.50, does that matter?

[Percymon]

The VAT/duty threshold is £18 (thats total price with shipping)

Bear in mind HMRC generally stop 1 in 10 packages for charges, so even if it says £50 it might still go through OK.

Your Banzai invoice will say ca $2 each for the sport tuned motors, similar (at a guess for the shocks).

If you select SAL shipping option, you'd comfortably slip under the £18 total threshold on declared values.

[ChrisRx718]

I used them for the first time ever just after new year, ordered a kit and it arrived a week later in uk,

I did get stung for customs though

Very happy, shark attack FAV for £109 all in, postage and customs...

Hope you guys all get your money back.....

I paid similar from Time Tunnel...next day delivery.

Sometimes you win sometimes you lose, but that wouldn't appear to have saved anything but a couple of pounds..

[mheald]

Still no joy with my order. £350 down, 23 days on and still nothing. Paypal will hopefully be making the decision on Thursday so fingers crossed I get my money back.

[Tamiya Era]

It is nit their mistake actually,,due to end year season load.

I will never make orders from November till Mid of Jan. Cos these are peak periods.

[SteveU30]

I just ordered an RZ motor from them today via SAL delivery, god know how long it'll take to arrive but it was a bargain at £16 delivered.

[Grastens]

I just ordered an RZ motor from them today via SAL delivery, god know how long it'll take to arrive but it was a bargain at £16 delivered.

And thanks to your mention of the Bruiser in the NIB build thread, my plans to spend money have seemed to increase. Nice going

[SteveU30]

Ha ha, this site is evil for making people part with cash isn't it?!?!?

[Percymon]

Ha ha, this site is evil for making people part with cash isn't it?!?!?

yes indeed - just ordered a sport tuned and two torque tuned motors

[chriss76]

Just received an email from Banzai about putting the invoice in the box, apparently they can not as it's not legal ..... Om a huge plus though they did send me my tracking number

[TongueTied]

Just received an email from Banzai about putting the invoice in the box, apparently they can not as it's not legal ..... Om a huge plus though they did send me my tracking number

I've heard this before. It seems that in some countries, commercial shipments have to have the "commercial invoice" on the outside. You will notice that couriers like FedEx insist on all commercial shipment this worldwide. It is a pain in the posterior, but what can you do?

[Boothy]

I have ordered two sport tuned and the set of CVA dampers for under £25 via sal. Seemed a bargain.

[Wandy]

Just received an email from Banzai about putting the invoice in the box, apparently they can not as it's not legal ..... Om a huge plus though they did send me my tracking number

I'm sorry but they are talking nonsense. I have bought many kits from RC Champ, also based in Japan, and they have no problem leaving the invoice off the package and then merely filling in the EMS customs form with vague details of the contents.

Beats me why Banzai are saying this.

[Percymon]

Jason doesn't put the invoice either, simply filling int he customs form.

I think Banzai just have one method and that has to suit all destinations - perhaps some countries insist on the external invoice so thats what they adopt as the standard ?

[Wandy]

I think Banzai just have one method and that has to suit all destinations - perhaps some countries insist on the external invoice so thats what they adopt as the standard ?

I think this is probably the truth. It's of no use to us here in the UK though.

[SteveU30]

They probably think 'you're getting it cheap enough, what more do you want?'

[Vrdetailing]

Just ordered an M06 Alfa Romeo so will let you know how I get on

[Percymon]

Still waiting on despatch info for my m05 kit from two weeks ago. Nine other orders since then have been despatched

[lentner3]

I emailed them an enquiry last week and got a reply today. I replied straight away and haven't heard since. I will definitely wait till feb at least before a place an order.

[mheald]

My 2 Egress's arrived today with a MMMMMMMMMMMMMMASSIVE import bill...hold on, no, wait, it was only £35 Winner, thanks Banzai.

Annoyingly, that outstanding order from a month ago is still in the air. I got a mail a week ago from them, apologising and promising to sort it out as a priority...I've heard nothing since grrrrrrrrrrrr. This is 100% down to issues with their staffing an order backlog, I know it. Sadly, as I want my £350 back now, I'm letting paypal sort it for me as after 20+ attempts to contact Banzai, its just sat there, doing nothing. Shame, as I really dont like opening cases on companies, especially ones that give top service normally. Odd.