£ is UK
€ is Europe
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What you got for a shipped price is identical to what I got. $166 + 88.66 shipping. The other day shipping was $91 so shipping costs may shift a bit from day to day based on the exchange rate. Wonder why another buyer ended up with fees other than just shipping then? Wish I written them down.
Curious why you bought Sires from Thomann when there are US dealers?
I have no issues with Thomann whatsoever. I’m only interested in there being enough value to purchasing from them to offset any higher costs to acquire something or to deal with a warranty issue or a return. It’s the devil in the details that can jump out and surprise you if you don’t have all of them to begin with.
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I bought two of my Sires (U5 and M5) from Thomann because they offered the very best price, including shipping, when compared to total price from every other vendor in the world. Sweetwater is a go-to for a lot of players, but their prices are higher and they charge sales tax (as does Reverb).
Thomann offers a huge selection, some of the very best prices, express shipping, and no sales tax. What’s not to love? 
As I’ve mentioned, I bought my Sire V8 from Pitbull Audio (California-based vendor). They sell at MSRP, but they offer 10% off to first-time customers, free shipping, great customer service, and NO sales tax. I received my killer V8 for $809, with premium hybrid case. I don’t know how they do it, but I’m very happy they do. 
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Interesting that even with shipping costs Thomann’s price was better than US dealers who ship free. Sales tax is another issue but somewhat difficult to understand here since the percentage charged varies. Some dealers charge only the state sales tax rate while others charge the entire rate including special district and local taxes. I’ve been charged as little as 3.8% and as much as 8%.
Since I’m looking to buy an inexpensive fretless myself I’ll give the HB models Thomann sells due consideration. Based on what I had read in that post I referred to I didn’t want to pay $250 for a bass then find I had to pay another $100 in fees before it could be delivered to me. Based on your experience that doesn’t seem to be the case or at least not in Texas.
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Should be no import duties on a $250 instrument, it’s well under the limit.
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IIRC they were not duties imposed by US Customs but other costs associated with shipping and brokerage. Or maybe the item was over the dollar limit for import duties. My memory of it is more vague than I’d like which is why I pressed the issue here for more information. I’m content that it will be just the item + shipping only.
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Texas sales tax is 8.25%. If and when I can save that cost, I jump at it. 
Thomann would definitely be my go-to for a Harley Benton. Getting a decent fretless platform for 250 bucks, delivered, seems like a no-brainer. 
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The shipping cost to SoCal is about $90 for the Semihollow Bass (HB)
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Yep, the same to Austin.
I’m wondering if Thomann’s shipping rates are holiday season dependent.
I placed all of my orders with them at off-season times, and the cost was at least $20 lower.
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I just added some random stuff to the cart… I still have the same shipping cost.
15€ seems the inexpensive normal rate.
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I meant shipping rates for large items, like bass boxes, that are heavy and take up a decent amount of expensive space as air cargo.
I’m thinking it’s it matter of shipping volume, possibly due the holiday onslaught. Supply doesn’t change, but demand sure does.
Logistics is a multi-factor thing: fluctuating fuel costs, personnel requirements, etc.
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Yes and once it shipped it’s fast aside from the custom hold. I think it’s all by air. I know that the DrumTec in Germany is just as fast as my 2-day Amazon shipping. To say it’s impressive it’s an understatement of the year.
Cheapest (and perhaps most rewarding) way is to take a fretted bass you already own, remove the frets, glue in veneer strips, then finish fretboard with super glue polished to a mirror shine.
Basically…
And an excessive amount of side dots don’t hurt…
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I did just that!
Why did you do that?
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@Gadget that’s the symbol for the pound; British currency. The pound sign (£) stands for Libra, a pound weight in Latin. The pound is also referred to as ‘sterling’ when you’re talking currency. The Euro symbol (€) is for the currency called the Euro that’s used in most of Europe.
The present system is 100 pennies to a pound - simple.
But I was born just as the previous system changed over. It used to be:
One pound was divided into 20 shillings. One shilling was divided into 12 pennies. One penny was divided into two halfpennies, or four farthings. So there were 240 pennies to a pound.
1 pound and 1 shilling was a guinea. Guinea’s were normally used for more expensive items such as cars, suits etc.
Anyway, total madness.
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What kinda neck is that?
I did a Squier conversion but that was a couple of years ago. I gonna do another Squier conversion then I’m gonna convert this.
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Thank goodness for decimalisation!!! Now all we need to do is ensure that no one ever talks about pounds and ounces, dispense with miles and as for Fahrenheit, wtf? I genuinely have no idea what a temperature is, if it is quoted in °F, and absolutely no interest in the conversion!
Post Brexit, the bl00dy BBC have started using yards and inches. We are truly mad in this country! It’s SI all the way for me!!
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Wow, what’s that? I can see it’s an Ibanez … it’s beautiful!
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