# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  Buying tools overseas?

## Ricardito

Anyone with experience in buying tools overseas apart from different voltage in some countries.
How do you find your personal overseas buying experience over the internet especially ?  
- Exchage rate 
- Other handling fees and charges  
- Transport time to destination post or courier 
- Delivery charges / customs clearance (SAC) declaration 
- Local taxes or customs duties if applicable  
-Do you use voltage transformers ie.110 to 240 volts or adaptors  
-Warranty yes no 
-Return policy of the vendor if any  
Thanks for your feedback

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## seriph1

I have saved a fortune buying tools from the US. Import duty is "payable but not collected" on items under $800 (might be more now)  - meaning you don't pay import duty as a rule if the items are of a lesser value. They have to state it like this apparently. 
Many motors will NOT run well on Aussie 50 cycle frequency unless they're rated to do so. Obviously cordless items are no problem provided you can get a charger. 
We have bought two DeWalt cordless nailers. One 14.4 and one 18 volt. Both are unkillable so far and they get a good workout. I just had to buy a 240 Volt charger. That came from China and was half the going price. Also, one charger does it all 14 - 18 - 12 and even 7 volt apparently. 
There are a lot of sellers on ebay with very high feedback ratings. I have enjoyed incredible success with everything I have bought for our home and business. 
Delivery has never been an issue for us  -  if we don't want to wait, we pay more. If we are buying magazines (I bought an entire collection of This Old House magazine) in volume from the US, I use a thing called M-BAGS and get it sent surface mail. This takes around three months but the two times I've done it, theyve arrived no worries. 30 kilos each time, which is HUGE for mail. Can't recall the exact cost but it was maybe $130 or so .... plus the cost of the magazines. From memory it would out at around $5 per magazine. The cover price here is $18 per issue.  
We just bought a used (perfect nick) 10 inch industrial DADO SET - we were quoted $579 in Australia (new) - cost us $93 delivered to our door. 
Warranty  -  nope 
Returns  -  all depends on the seller and whether you can handle the postage charges because it is VERY rare that sellers will pay postage for returns. 
Hope this helps.

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## d00biez

interesting thread as i just went thru this during a recent trip to the states. i had heard one train of thought saying that the difference in voltage is bad for motors and recharging battery packs etc. but then i heard another when i asked a good mate who buys loads of hifi gear from the u.s (also skilled in electronics) and he assured me that with a cheap 'step down' transformer (i think thats what it was called) that all would be completely ok. of course warranties would be an issue. 
i didnt end up buying any tools due to filling my suitcases up with $25 pairs of levi jeans and so on lol but i wish i had. that new milwaukee lithium cordless hammer drill (used a neighbours here and its the best tool ive ever used) was $220 at homedepot! they are going for $480 here !!!! damn it. 
cheers 
dooby

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## seriph1

yup ... price sounds about right  -  the NEW 18 volt nailer we got was a factory DeWalt Refurb and cost $99US  -  they're about $650 here. Tomorrow we are buying 2 DeWalt bare drills (new) for $174US delivered to Kilmore. Here they are more than that each from memory. 
Your mate is kinda right except anything requiring a clock-based time signature may not work properly if theyre based on a 60 cycles signal. Motors are very different beast than HiFi equipment.

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## GCP310

after 15 years of use, i upgraded to 18v makita LXT. majority of my gear i got from the states, except for the charger, the grinder and the extra battery, as i found a guy locally here on the Gold Coast 
Check out his site, Home page, as it may work out cheaper for you. 
i got the charger locally to sort out the voltage issue, the grinder, well it was on par with the US, and the battery, ditto, and i wanted it fast. 
I have bought a fair bit of gear from the states, the Fluke Laser distance measure was a bargain for $180.00 to my door.

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## Ricardito

Thanks for your replies guys
Having had not success in USA or Canada I now gone for the UK where voltage is the same for corded power tools and cheaper than in OZ.
Parcelforce is the courier co and takes about 7 days to arrive here.
Regarding tools in USA so you guys buy batteries here or abroad with different voltage?
Say I want to buy a makita or dewalt cordless circular saw batteries and charger. What is the order of things? ie buy cordless and then buy the rest here? still charger and batteries cost a pretty penny here anyway.
Thanks

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## d00biez

> Your mate is kinda right except anything requiring a clock-based time signature may not work properly if theyre based on a 60 cycles signal. Motors are very different beast than HiFi equipment.

  true. though he specialises in turntables, from what i know i think they have direct drive motors in them but yeh all that clock based stuff is well and truly over my head!  
ricardito- i would be inclined to buy the whole lot there and then just get a step down transformer. they arent expensive. HOWEVER i havent done this, am only going off a good friends advice as he does it all the time, so please take my 'advice' with a grain of salt and do some more research until youre happy to proceed.

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## GCP310

batteries, tools - USA 
charger - here 
you end up with enough gear in your toolbox, let alone having to drag around a stepdown transformer. 
i like your thinking on the UK too.

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## seriph1

we bought two 14.4 volt aftermarket dewalt batteries. 3.0 ampere hour rated. They are spectacular. They were bought through eBay in Australia and from memory cost 120 the pair. Our charger is from China -  DeWalt original .... from memory it cost 95  -  and I just bought (as mentioned) two DeWalt bare14.4 volt drills ... 165.98 including delivery, from the US.  
Direct drive turntables are synchronised using a stroboscopic light and notches along the edge of the platen ... in other words, it would work fine. Again, very little load on the motor so all good.

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## Pulse

I bought a paslode finish nailer at home depot in Canada, saved about 50%, already had the charger from a framing nailer. The dewalt stuff was cheap as chips too. 
Also ordered a 240V airless sprayer (Graco) from the US, shipping was cheap but customs clearance from Schenker including a whole bunch of cargo fees and airport fees added up to another few hundred (no duty though since <$1000). In total the price was about 50% of retail here, again no warranty but decent stuff with occasional use didn't worry me too much. 
Cheers
Pulse

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## seriph1

I was looking at Canada for Model Railway stuff and while their actual price seemed OK, Canadian postage costs were exorbitant.

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## Ricardito

Just bought the 
         Fein FMM250Q Multimaster Top Kit + Accessories (240V)

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## GCP310

now is the time to make the most of OS tool purchases. 
i am getting the urge to add to the makita LXT collection i have

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## seriph1

Our new DeWalt drills arrived yesterday they are: 
DC730  -  14.4volt with 17 settings on the clutch, LED light when trigger is depressed (brilliant feature) AND 2 speeds. From memory the bare tools were $216 each in Australia. As previously mentioned, these cost us $166 including tracked and signature-delivery. 
The drills are great and a most worthy addition to our workshop as we now have two drills each and do not have to pause production while the other is using one. BTW they arrived at 2:15 and by 2:20 they were in service.... they are much better than my other DeWalts, but considering they're 16 and 19 years old I am not complaining!   :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Just as a quick addition to this discussion....
I priced a replacement switch assembly for my 18volt Milwaukee reciprocating saw, from the Milwaukee recommended retail price list in the USA. It is $24.75US
I thought I would find a price on the same thing in Australia from a local power tool repairer...... $148.00AU ex the Australian Milwaukee distributor.
Needless to say, I'll be buying it from the USA!

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## Ricardito

I bought a MAKITA BTD141 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordles Impact Driver skin only off ebay USA now I need to buy battery and charger. Anyone here find cheap batteries website or place in the USA? Charger may buy it from where seriph1 recommended QLD anyway.
I really want to buy some more makita and dewalt products cordless if possible

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## pommyplumber

Has anyone had any issues importing Lithium batteries from the US??

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## sundancewfs

I didn't. My friend who posted my 18 volt Lithium batteries over checked the amount in the battery against allowable amounts postable and found it was under by quite a bit. (he worked in health physics with all sorts of radioactive sources)

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## GCP310

> I bought a MAKITA BTD141 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordles Impact Driver skin only off ebay USA now I need to buy battery and charger. Anyone here find cheap batteries website or place in the USA? Charger may buy it from where seriph1 recommended QLD anyway.
> I really want to buy some more makita and dewalt products cordless if possible

  check my previous post    

> after 15 years of use, i upgraded to 18v makita LXT. majority of my gear i got from the states, except for the charger, the grinder and the extra battery, as i found a guy locally here on the Gold Coast 
> Check out his site, Home page, as it may work out cheaper for you.

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## Ricardito

thanks *GCP310*
Just bought Makita  impact driver and circ saw I'll check that guy from QLD for chargers.
I am also very keen on Dewalt gear too

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## GCP310

Roger is pretty easy going and great to deal with. 
he also gets in Dewalt gear. 
G

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## DIY-Chippie

Hey all, 
I'm hoping someone can help regarding buying tools from overseas. I just bought a Senco Fusion cordless finishing nailer for work around home. I got it through Amazon in the US delivered for $430, as opposed to $800 from my local tool supplier. I got an adaptor from Dick Smiths for the US cord to plug in aussie power point, not knowing that I needed a transformer of some sort (I'm a total rookie) and it blew the charger when I turned the power on. Then I rang the Australian Distributor for Senco to get a replacement charger and he told me that because I bought it overseas he can't supply me with a new charger (even when I wanted to buy one), or repair my charger because it's a US charger. 
So, does anyone know where I can buy a new senco charger? 
Or what I would need (transformer? where to get?) if I get my US charger repaired or get a new US charger? 
Any help would be appreciated, as I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment. 
Cheers.

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## racingtadpole

> Then I rang the Australian Distributor for Senco to get a replacement charger and he told me that because I bought it overseas he can't supply me with a new charger (even when I wanted to buy one), or repair my charger because it's a US charger.

  Sounds like he is assuming you want it repaired or replaced under warranty.  Also sounds like they are trying to punish you for buying OS.  Try ringing them again and this time tell them your toolbox got stolen and you need to buy a new charger because it was in the toolbox.   Otherwise find a distributor in the US to return it for repair (it wont be warranty) and then get a cheap step-down transformer (240-110/120) from evilbay. 
Good luck with it.

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## DIY-Chippie

Thanks racingtadpole, I'll give that a try. As for the step-down transformers, are the 200W ones ok?

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## racingtadpole

> As for the step-down transformers, are the 200W ones ok?

  Dont know, have no idea how much current your charger is supposed to consume.  If you put up a picture of the label (make sure its legible) I can probably tell you. 
Its just occured to me that the Aust agent may not sell to you because they are wholesale only.  It may be easier to go to a tool store that sells Senco and order a new 240V charger from them.

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## DIY-Chippie

Hey rtp, here is the charger label     

> Its just occured to me that the Aust agent may not sell to you because they are wholesale only. It may be easier to go to a tool store that sells Senco and order a new 240V charger from them.

  I went to my local tool supplier (Gasweld) and they rang Airco (aust senco distributor) and they wont sell one if the gun is bought overseas. The guys at Gasweld said I was breaching sencos distribution rights. It's sencos way of trying to outlaw internet sales of their products. I've never been made to feel like such a criminal for buying something overseas. I buy race parts for my car from the states all the time, no problem. 
I rang Senco HQ in Cincinnati Ohio, and they only sell to distributors. So I rang Jensen Fasteners in Sacramento California, the guy was very helpful, and he's shipping me out a new charger in the next week or so, for $69US + shipping. 
So racingtadpole, if you could help me out with what sort of transformer to get I'd appreciate it. 
Cheers.

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## petersemple

The label you photographed says that the charger draws 120W, so any transformer that can deliver more than 120W would work OK.  The 200W one you mentioned above therefore should be fine.

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## racingtadpole

:What he said:

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## DIY-Chippie

I thought that would be the case, but wasn't 100% sure. Thanks alot for the advise fellas. 
Cheers.

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## Lexi01

I've been looking at some Paslodes on eBay recently. 
Apparently the US models are labelled "Paslode Cordless" and the Australian models are labelled "Paslode Impulse". 
From what I can make out the tools are the same and the nails you buy at your local hardware in Oz will fit. But I can't get a definitive answer on whether the Australian-bought gas will fit (and work in) the US guns...(can't mail gas into Australia). 
So beware of US guns I guess...unless anyone can confirm if gas cannisters bought at your local Mitre-10 will work in the US guns.

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## racingtadpole

Find a distributor in the US, email and ask them for the Part No of the gas cannisters they sell, take that to M10 and compare. I'd wager on it being the same. You can bring gas into Aus but it cant come via air, and even though C02 is fire suppressant it must still be declared and manifested as Dangerous Goods because the cannisters are pressurised.  Not usually something the postal service would deal with, you would have to use a freight service.

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## Jack-the-Hammer

> I've been looking at some Paslodes on eBay recently. 
> Apparently the US models are labelled "Paslode Cordless" and the Australian models are labelled "Paslode Impulse". 
> From what I can make out the tools are the same and the nails you buy at your local hardware in Oz will fit. But I can't get a definitive answer on whether the Australian-bought gas will fit (and work in) the US guns...(can't mail gas into Australia). 
> So beware of US guns I guess...unless anyone can confirm if gas cannisters bought at your local Mitre-10 will work in the US guns.

  I have the Paslode CF325 cordless nailgun which is the US model.  This is the same as the Australian Paslode Impulse model. 
The fuel cell (gas canister) is included in the Paslode nail handy pack.  The handy pack includes an adapter which attaches to the fuel cells so  it can be use with the US model.   
The nail and fuel cell handy packs are available at Bunnings Hardware.

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## Pulse

I bought the Paslode straight finishing nailer in Canada, just the same as the one here, except different model numbers and the Aussie one takes takes two different nail sizes, mine only takes 16G nails (C) and not 16G and 14G (ND) like the Aussie one. 
Already had the framer so had a charger. Saved about 50%, brought it back after a holiday there. 
Cheers
Pulse

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## Bloss

1. Don't tell anyone where you bought you gear (Senco or other) - it's none of their business. Grey importing is not illegal, but no retailer is compelled to sell to anyone so if they want to be d*!&# heads then that's their right.  Of course if they were smart businesses then they'd sell you a charger and make a profit on that - and maybe you'd buy from them again rather than tell everyone you know how bad they are and ensure that you always buy overseas! As said above you should simply buy an Australian charger - the batteries etc are identical - it's only the charger voltage that's an issue. Just find out the item code of the 230v  charger and buy it. 
2. Paslode is Paslode - gas is same and there is 3rd party gas available too. Batteries etc and consumables identical too. Charger is the issue. Always worth asking the US supplier if they will ship a 230v charger as they often can and will - they keep the US one and sell at the same price.

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## Lexi01

> Paslode is Paslode - gas is same and there is 3rd party gas available too. Batteries etc and consumables identical too.

  Great news. 
<Edit> 
I emailed Paslode Australia to ask about compatibility and got the following response: 
"The fuel cells sold in Australia are compatible with the Imported tool providing the stem adapter is the same." 
But he didn't tell me what the stem adaptor was... 
Anyway, I'll take Bloss' word that they work.

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## stevoh741

I buy all my hitachi 18v lithion ion from US and they are far cheaper than here. Example, checked the price on 18vdrill skin here was $269. I brought one and a 18v hitachi recipro saw and total cost delivered for both tools was $240. Delivered in 6 days. So what about no warranty, I have never had one break in under 1 year so the aussie warranties no good any way. And, for all the winging retailers wanting GST added to these transactions, then go ahead, do the maths, my $240 + GST is $264 - which is still less than half the price of the pirate pricing over here so it won't stop me buying.....

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## Lexi01

> I emailed Paslode Australia to ask about compatibility and got the following response: 
> "The fuel cells sold in Australia are compatible with the Imported tool providing the stem adapter is the same." 
> But he didn't tell me what the stem adaptor was... 
> Anyway, I'll take Bloss' word that they work.

  FYI for anyone interested. I got the following follow-up from Paslode Australia: 
"Paslode Fuel Cell (Product Code B20540A) is compatible with this tool (902200 CF-325 Framing Gun). Available at our distributors. 
Please note that Paslode Australia does not cover any warranty or back up for these tools."

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## Bloss

Warranty is always an issue - the distributor rights come with local warranty provision contracts - so you can't expect a local distributor which made no profit on your purchase to honour warranty. But these things are pretty reliable and if you are unlucky I have found (through others not me) the US companies are very good with helping diagnose and confirm and the cost is just the shipping (which can be cheap - but can also be expensive to US).

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## zac320

Hey guys whats the best website to buy the tools from? toolking is cheap but dear on postage. If i buy it from Gearfordad does that 6 month warrenty apply in australia? 
Cheers

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## Lexi01

> Hey guys whats the best website to buy the tools from?

  eBay!

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## stevoh741

try these guys.   Buy DeWALT Power Tools, Makita Tools, Porter Cable Tools, Milwaukee Tools Online - HardwareSales.com     I only use them now, price and postage good.

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## Pitto

> Hey guys whats the best website to buy the tools from? toolking is cheap but dear on postage. If i buy it from Gearfordad does that 6 month warrenty apply in australia? 
> Cheers

  Gear4dad is on the Gold Coast, i have bought a bit of gear from him as i could pick it up and save on postage. if he has 6months warranty on his website, i am sure he will stand by it. He has excellent service, and i will be back to buy more battery's and makita gear 
G

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## Pitto

> try these guys.   Buy DeWALT Power Tools, Makita Tools, Porter Cable Tools, Milwaukee Tools Online - HardwareSales.com     I only use them now, price and postage good.

  
damn it, i just went to look and ended up buying the fence guide for my makita lxt circular saw. 
they have some nice gear

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## stevoh741

> damn it, i just went to look and ended up buying the fence guide for my makita lxt circular saw. 
> they have some nice gear

  They are loaded with tools and CCCCHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!!!!!    :Biggrin:

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## Belair_Boy

G'day Guys 
Just received a HITACHI WH18DL 18 VOLT LI-ION IMPACT DRIVER I bought on eBay from the USA.  eBay Australia Shop - WE ARE TOOLS WAREHOUSE: DEWALT, MAKITA, HITACHI 
AU $ 119.99 including shipping. Took 10 days (7 working) to arrive. I already have the HITACHI DS18DL 18 VOLT DRILL (which I can highly recommend) with batteries and charger so I only needed the bare tool (skin/naked).  The last HITACHI catalogue had it listed for $319 so a substantial saving.   
Payment was made with PayPal and their buyer protection applies, no  worry about it not showing up or being damaged / not what was ordered. 
The drill was bought in Australia so no problems with the voltage for the charger but if I was going to get another I would be happy to buy from the US and use a small (~100W) step down transformer.  Although, then having both the 110V and my 240V unit I don't think it would be hard to work out what changes would be needed to be made to the 110V unit to convert it to 240V if they use a common circuit. (Electrical engineering background) 
No connection, just a happy customer passing on a good experience with buying from overseas.

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## racingtadpole

Put a diode in the active lead?  Half wave gives you 120V, but screws with your frequency only giving you 25Hz.  Its a bit agricultural but should work. :Wink 1:  
Might see if I can get hold of a 110V charger to suit my tools to try it on.

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## CPE W&C

> try these guys.   Buy DeWALT Power Tools, Makita Tools, Porter Cable Tools, Milwaukee Tools Online - HardwareSales.com     I only use them now, price and postage good.

  Ive been using these guys for a couple of years now. Excellent postage rates and good service. Ive had one problem with 2x Makita batteries i brought(they packed it in after 12 months) but the warranty was up anyway i think...

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