Better quality Fluke or more features in an Extech?

[Fungus]

It's about 95 eur from Brymen and 109 from Welectron.

Not really true. Brymen don't do a Blue meter. The plain red version is only 90 Euros from Welectron plus they do free shipping.

Dave says the EEVBLOG edition has the gold leads, if you go for a red one they're 10 Euros extra (at Welectron).

do I have to pay import taxes on the meter when it gets to the EU? If so, will it be on the subtotal or the final amount?

Very probably. You might get lucky but anything over $50 usually gets stopped and you have to pay 21% IVA on item+shipping cost. Correos will also add some handling fees (another 14 Euros IIRC) and you get to do lots of paperwork.

Welectron will look cheap afterwards and you'll have wasted a month waiting for it.

[2N3055]

BM257 extra kit from Welectron...

[janoc]

However, do I have to pay import taxes on the meter when it gets to the EU? If so, will it be on the subtotal or the final amount?

No idea about Spain but here in France I didn't have to pay anything when ordering from Australia.

It arrived by regular post and they don't charge customs nor VAT for small amounts like this. If you want to avoid problems avoid Fedex/UPS/DHL and such (not sure whether Dave offers those as a shipping option) - they will likely charge you a flat fee for doing the import paperwork regardless of the value of the goods and also declare the customs/VAT so you will have to pay that as well.

[GoodCrossing]

Dave only offers DHL, so I assume in that case I'd need to pay VAT. If anybody has experience ordering from this site in particular be sure to let me know, but I think I will get it from Welectron.

EDIT:

I got mine from welectron, they give some upgrades for a good price and EEVBLOG discount.

I didn't see anything about a discount on their page. Is it some sort of coupon code?

[EEVblog]

However, do I have to pay import taxes on the meter when it gets to the EU? If so, will it be on the subtotal or the final amount?

No idea about Spain but here in France I didn't have to pay anything when ordering from Australia.
It arrived by regular post and they don't charge customs nor VAT for small amounts like this. If you want to avoid problems avoid Fedex/UPS/DHL and such (not sure whether Dave offers those as a shipping option)

DHL Courier is an option, otherwise it goes DHL ecommerce which gets handed over to your local countries postal system and goes through customers the usual way.

[GoodCrossing]

Hey Dave, is it common for shipments to the EU to get stopped at customs to pay import tax? If I don’t have to pay import then ordering from here is cheaper than from Welectron actually

[janoc]

Hey Dave, is it common for shipments to the EU to get stopped at customs to pay import tax? If I don’t have to pay import then ordering from here is cheaper than from Welectron actually

That varies tremendously country by country and those fees are always recipient's responsibility. Dave has no means to know this (unless someone reports it here), IMO.

[Fungus]

Hey Dave, is it common for shipments to the EU to get stopped at customs to pay import tax? If I don’t have to pay import then ordering from here is cheaper than from Welectron actually

That varies tremendously country by country and those fees are always recipient's responsibility. Dave has no means to know this (unless someone reports it here), IMO.

My experience living in Spain is that anything sent by ordinary post with more than about $50 declared value will get probably get stopped. Anything with more than $100 declared value will definitely get stopped.

Anything sent via Fedex/DHL/UPS/courier will get stopped, maybe opened if it has a low declared value (and they probably x-ray the ones they don't physically open) to make sure there's nothing expensive inside.

Tax is paid on the value plus shipping costs. You'll also get a 14 Euro handling fee for ordinary post (Correos) and maybe as much as 30 Euros if Fedex/DHL/UPS is doing the customs paperwork for you.

Bottom line: Getting a $100 multimeter through unmolested isn't a chance I'd take.

[EEVblog]

Hey Dave, is it common for shipments to the EU to get stopped at customs to pay import tax? If I don’t have to pay import then ordering from here is cheaper than from Welectron actually

That varies tremendously country by country and those fees are always recipient's responsibility. Dave has no means to know this (unless someone reports it here), IMO.

Yes, sorry I can't tell you. Even in the same country, some get hit with import taxes etc other don't, it sails right though.
I can say that Germany and the nordic countries can be quite troublesome, or basically the EU in general.

[EEVblog]

My experience living in Spain is that anything sent by ordinary post with more than about $50 declared value will get probably get stopped. Anything with more than $100 declared value will definitely get stopped.
Anything sent via Fedex/DHL/UPS/courier will get stopped, maybe opened if it has a low declared value (and they probably x-ray the ones they don't physically open) to make sure there's nothing expensive inside.
Tax is paid on the value plus shipping costs. You'll also get a 14 Euro handling fee for ordinary post (Correos) and maybe as much as 30 Euros if Fedex/DHL/UPS is doing the customs paperwork for you.
Bottom line: Getting a $100 multimeter through unmolested isn't a chance I'd take.

IIRC, I have heard of issues with Spain.

[janoc]

Yes, sorry I can't tell you. Even in the same country, some get hit with import taxes etc other don't, it sails right though.
I can say that Germany and the nordic countries can be quite troublesome, or basically the EU in general.

Denmark is fine from my experience - e.g. I have bought my former Rigol 1052E from China right after your review few years ago - and it has arrived no problems, no questions asked. The same with orders from Digikey (shipped from the US) and many other things.

Here in France Digikey is a pain because they ship using a courier (DHL I believe) which will always do the customs declaration (and charge you for doing so), even if you have bought two resistors and no fees would be due otherwise. Otherwise stuff from Asia (AliExpress and similar) is arriving fine, even orders in 100-200 euro range (e.g. colleague's 3D printer and laser cutter recently). I think if the package is below a certain value, the French customs will never stop it and even larger/more valuable packages are not checked systematically.

When I lived in Switzerland (not EU but EEA member), it was the other way around - every single package from outside of Switzerland was stopped by the Post and I got charged both VAT and customs (if applicable). Fortunately the Swiss VAT is low but still. I guess German pedantry and Ordnung (now Tooki will likely throw a cuckoo clock or a cow bell at me for calling the Swiss "German"  ).

[Fungus]

When I lived in Switzerland (not EU but EEA member), it was the other way around - every single package from outside of Switzerland was stopped by the Post and I got charged both VAT and customs (if applicable). Fortunately the Swiss VAT is low but still. I guess German pedantry and Ordnung (now Tooki will likely throw a cuckoo clock or a cow bell at me for calling the Swiss "German"  ).

Rules is rules. If we don't follow the rules then society breaks down.

In all fairness, the Swiss get quite a lot in return for their taxes.

[janoc]

When I lived in Switzerland (not EU but EEA member), it was the other way around - every single package from outside of Switzerland was stopped by the Post and I got charged both VAT and customs (if applicable). Fortunately the Swiss VAT is low but still. I guess German pedantry and Ordnung (now Tooki will likely throw a cuckoo clock or a cow bell at me for calling the Swiss "German"  ).

Rules is rules. If we don't follow the rules then society breaks down.

In all fairness, the Swiss get quite a lot in return for their taxes.

Sure, I have never advocated fraud or anything of the sort. But I guess we all agree that having to pay these fees and the added aggravation with having to deal with the extra paperwork/customs office is something nobody is a fan of.

Taxes vs what you get for them - that would be another debate, e.g. compared to Danes (who are at the completely opposite end of the taxation spectrum compared to the Swiss and very different mentality). But let's not go there and keep the thread on topic.

[Fungus]

Sure, I have never advocated fraud or anything of the sort. But I guess we all agree that having to pay these fees and the added aggravation with having to deal with the extra paperwork/customs office is something nobody is a fan of.

Yep. It's not the taxes that piss me off, it's all the "handling fees" and paperwork.

Why can't they just bring it it my house and hand me a bill for the 21% tax? Why should companies be making money off the fact that I have to pay taxes?

[GoodCrossing]

Well, just a quick final update, the meter arrived about a week ago and I'm absolutely loving it! It's great to finally have a decent multimeter. I guess all my cheapo 830 meters will be used as a secondary display from now on!

[janoc]

Well, just a quick final update, the meter arrived about a week ago and I'm absolutely loving it! It's great to finally have a decent multimeter. I guess all my cheapo 830 meters will be used as a secondary display from now on!

Excellent, enjoy your new toy!