Good value golf buddy Platinum

digitaldr

I'm not a golfer but my father-in-law is. Anyway he asked me to order a golf buddy platinum for him. It's available from the states for around $285 including shipping but I'v heard that customs are getting sticky so I figured I'd order from the EU. The best price I could find was from http://www.eurozonegolfshop.com/proddetail.php?prod=GBPL2GPSRF €305 including shipping. I always like to do a bit of research before buying online but all I could find were a few forum posts from people who had 3 or less posts and only registered after the thread started.  My gut instinct was to stay away but I figured it would be no harm to send them an email:

Hi,

Your price for the Golf Buddy Platinum seems suspiciously cheap. Also I see that your registered address is actually in Dominica (interesting that this is not made clear on your site). A google search reveals that  a lot of businesses, including some very dodgy looking ones, are registered to the same address. So where are you really based?

I also couldn't find any reliable customer reviews. The only ones I could find were on this forum http://thesandtrap.com/t/50274/eurozone-golf-shop They were from people who had joined after the thread had started and have never posted again!

I hope you can convince me your business is legitimate as I really need a golf buddy at a good price!

Kind regards,

Here's the reply:

Hello

Sophia normally deals with English speaking inquiries but at present, she is on vacation so please bear with me as a temporary substitute. 

We are a high volume seller that operates on low margins, thus being able to offer great prices.

We are registered in Dominica (Commonwealth of Dominica), and not the Dominican Republic, which is why we do not specify.  In 2009 when the pages for the websites were written, payment providers confused the two countries and would not deal with us.

 We have been in business for years and have sold thousands of items. If we were not a legitimate site, we would not have been able to do business for that long. Also, your credit card company and/or PayPal  would also offer additional protection.

We have presence throughout the EU, in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and the UK. 

Kind regards

Gerry

Admin.

I hadn't realized that they took PayPal before this so I bit the bullet and placed an order.  I'm pleased to say that the golf buddy platinum arrived and my father-in-law is very pleased with it. It did have a US dual voltage charger (in fairness this was mentioned in the description) so it needed a plug adapter. As it's just a standard USB charger I'm sure you could use eg an iPhone charger. 

Shipping was a bit slow as according to their about us page:

EurozoneGolfShop has no stock, just a choice of suppliers across the USA to select from.

It arrived in a large cardboard box with another smaller box inside (wrapped in united states postal service paper) and shipped via GLS from Holland. So I guess they do source from the US and then import  to the EU. I wasn't liable for any extra taxes and charges. 

I'd imagine faking a golf buddy would be pretty difficult - not sure what their clubs are like though....

 

GreeBo

i got two latest model platinums on Ebay delivered for 480, if you choose usps shipping you don't pay tax, it's just like anpost, it's just slower than dhl or ups.

digitaldr

Was that euro? Didn't know that about USPS - any reason for it being tax exempt?

GreeBo

digitaldr wrote: »

Was that euro? Didn't know that about USPS - any reason for it being tax exempt?

yeah that's euro. with a delivery company they charge you the tax and then claim it back. with regular post it's up to customs to charge you.

digitaldr

So there's always the risk that you might get caught for tax?

GreeBo

yeah but considering the previous model is selling for 480 each in halfpenny golf i was ok with paying customs anyway.

Rohbin

I'm selling a golf buddy platinum.

Pm me if anyone is interested.

charlieIRL

Rohbin wrote: »

I'm selling a golf buddy platinum.

Pm me if anyone is interested.

We've seen the adverts post, lets leave it at that thanks

digitaldr

GreeBo wrote: »

yeah but considering the previous model is selling for 480 each in halfpenny golf i was ok with paying customs anyway.

I try to buy Irish but €480 is just taking the p*ss! Thanks for the USPS tip. By my calculations if you had got hit for duty & VAT you would have ended up paying about €303 per unit so I guess the €305 i payed was pretty much spot on.

Brewster

I bought a Platinum II in States, it was shipped by USPS and I did have to pay VAT. Seems to be a bit of a lottery if you get charged or not! Worked out at 280e delivered, which is a significantly better than the 430e price quoted in many EU based golf stores..

golfguy1

Golfbuddys bought outside of eu have no guarantee with them.
major risk if buying outside eu as i had one break on me.
In my view better to buy in ireland

golfguy1

By the way got mine for 399 in kerry

GreeBo

golfguy1 wrote: »

Golfbuddys bought outside of eu have no guarantee with them.
major risk if buying outside eu as i had one break on me.
In my view better to buy in ireland

What exactly are you basing that on? Its not true for anything else (a driver for example) so I would like to see your source.

A Golf Buddy Platinum II (White) for 499 or the previous Golf Buddy Platinum model?

golfguy1

I work in a golf shop and deal directly with the golfbuddy rep for Ireland.
Also had one person return faulty golfbuddy which had been purchased in the states and gb did nothing for her.
They are much cheaper in the us but only come with a 3 month warranty that applies within the us.

Gb bought in ireland have 2 yr warranty.

You can contact gb direct if u want to confirm the above

SnowDrifts

golfguy1 wrote: »

Golfbuddys bought outside of eu have no guarantee with them.
major risk if buying outside eu as i had one break on me.
In my view better to buy in ireland

I got my Golfbuddy World Platinum for €190 in the US. Not a chance in hell I am paying an extra €210 for a warranty!

Sure I could buy a second one and still would have paid less than one over here!!!

golfguy1

Fair point. Might not feel like that if like some people that had two faulty golfbuddys. Just my preference to have the security of the warranty.

TANGLEWOOD

Hi. Just wondering where in the States did you get golf buddy platinum for €190?

Thanks.

SnowDrifts

TANGLEWOOD wrote: »

Hi. Just wondering where in the States did you get golf buddy platinum for €190?

Thanks.

I got mine on Amazon.com. Free delivery to the US.

Johnny_Fontane

thats hiliarious, I put my golf buddy up for sale on adverts.ie yesterday at €240....now I'd probably accept €200, but thats some price differential between ireland and us.

PhlegmyMoses

How would they know that it's a US model golf buddy? If there is no way of telling, they have to conform to the Irish (and EU) law that consumer electronics have a 2 year manufacturers warranty. Unless there is a fundamental difference between the US model or the company keeps tabs on where they are bought or where they are to be sold via serial number, they would be in breach of our laws.

neckedit

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

How would they know that it's a US model golf buddy? If there is no way of telling, they have to conform to the Irish (and EU) law that consumer electronics have a 2 year manufacturers warranty. Unless there is a fundamental difference between the US model or the company keeps tabs on where they are bought or where they are to be sold via serial number, they would be in breach of our laws.

The Batch and serial numbers on the units tell the supplier where they were issued original.