Futaba and Chinese import duty
 

Any of you bought radios from china, the MT4 and Futaba 4pls are very cheap from there with goodies included.

I think I'm leaning towards the futaba as the receivers are about 30 quid as opposed to the 80 quid for sanwa

Firstly any pointers on the radios

And secondly do we get stung by customs if we order from there or was it only a cheap or thereabouts

Failing that I,ll go local. But thought I'd ask

never been stung you take your chance
had radio in 3days from hongkong

I've been hit on all my large orders from Hong Kong.
All were heli/quad orders, not cars. But I doubt that makes any difference as they were labelled as either "toy parts" or "hobby parts"

I got my MT-4 from RcMart, £145 shipped with a Yeah racing case, had it in around 6 days and got through customs with out any problems, they did mark it as $9 though lol

so the duty if any wont be massive then mmmmm

It's all a bit hit and miss, but a lot of the shops in Hong Kong mark down the value to help it get through customs. I don't think I've ever been charged duty on anything from Hong Kong, but always on parcels from the USA and Japan.

If it does get stopped expect a bill for around 25-30% of the value, plus an £8 handling fee.

+1 stay away from US Shops to avoid extra costs...

Do not order anything that is on 40MHz as the frequencies it will be on will not be legal in the UK. 2.4GHz should be fine, but check specs from a Euro one with the one on offer.

If you are using 2.4GHz Futaba then consider an FRSky receiver from the UK - £23 from GiantShark. Providing the 2.4 TX module is a Futaba FASST one, then those receivers will work perfectly (I have three) and have been, in my 12th car, completely reliable. No glitches, no brownouts, no failures.

The real problem with getting a radio from HK is that the usual repairers are attached to the official UK importers. They will point-blank refuse any warranty and may well charge over the odds for any repairs. Of all the things to buy from overseas radios are one that I would avoid as if there is anything wrong you are up the creek without a paddle. HTH :)

FYI the 4PL and 4PLS are not FASST they are FHSS so the Fly Sky will not work, I do not know of any compatible RX other than Futaba's own brand

Ask the seller tosend as a gift as that way if the correct box is ticked you wont get stung

mmm might have to stay within UK , as you say warranty could be funny

that's the risk you take never had any problems involving warranty worked ok:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks Cutting, good information. :thumbsup: