Whilst there’s a huge amount of interest in Windows Home Server outside the USA, the range of hardware available to buy there is wider and often cheaper than in Europe and Asia. One solution is to import your hardware directly from the States, an option I know many readers have considered. But how do you do it? What are the risks? How long does it take? In this guest post, Denison Chapman talks through his experience of importing a home server from the US.
First, why would you want to?
Well, although home servers are starting to be sold in Europe it has been very slow compared to the USA. HP finally decided to release, in selected countries only, the smaller, EX490, of their two latest Media Smart Server models late last year. The more powerful EX495 is still only available in the USA with no release plans in Europe. Other companies have been similarly slow to release in Europe.
Personally I was looking at buying a WHS for 18 months due to the fact that my existing systems were only just coping with the increasing load of my media files. I have seen from other posts on this web site that in the past quite a few people have arranged cross border purchases. So at the end of last year when my file space finally gave out and HP released the third generation MediaSmart servers I decided to buy. Given that a server is probably going to have to last up to 10 years, you are not likely, unless it breaks, to change it as often as a PC. My strategy would always be to buy the fastest and largest capacity available so I was a bit miffed when HP only released the smaller model here in Europe.
A quick check on the web showed that prices are substantially cheaper in the USA. No surprise there then, so off I go the arrange an import.
Issues with Importing from the USA
Finding a way to actually purchase a machine: The first problem is that most web sites will not ship outside the USA and Canada. In fact I could not find a retailer who would. The second is that very few, if any, European dealers are selling the EX495. I could not find any of these either.
So the easiest and cheapest way to import is to use a trip you would make anyway to the USA, buy a home server and then carry it back in your luggage. No carriage charges, no restrictions on where to buy, and, if you ‘forget’ to declare it, no import duty.
In my case I had no trips planned. However I do have a lot of friends based in the USA and these days that applies to a large proportion of the population. So my friend Jim agrees that I can arrange a delivery to his house and that he will forward it on to Europe. From this point on it’s easy.
I checked about 10 web sites, picked the cheapest, typed in Jim’s address in the USA, my VISA number and 4 days later, Jim received the home server.
Protecting your money: In the UK, though not elsewhere in Europe, buying with a credit card offers some protection if the box never arrives. In my case, as it happened, the cheapest retailer was selling via Amazon.com as well as direct which adds another level of protection.
Shipping: You have a few choices including the likes of DHL but we chose to use the US postal service. Estimates from DHL, FedEx, etc ranged from $135 to $190. USPS office was “only” $ 83.90 including insurance. I have to say that the downside of this was a somewhat slower service and poorer international tracking . DHL would guarantee 3-4 days. USPS took a week to get it out of the USA and then it got stuck for more than another week in customs clearance this end. Finally released into the snow, it was stuck another week getting to the local post office, by which time we were on holiday.
Here you have to be very careful because the local post office will automatically return parcels not delivered and then not collected within a set period. The period varies by country. In the UK I think its only 10 days and in the Netherlands, 21 days. So if you are not at home and don’t get back in time you may find the long awaited box has vanished, never to return, leaving you to sort out the mess with the supplier.
Packaging: One worry is bound to be ‘will the package be damaged in transit’? In fact the HP box is very secure and well insulated from dropping or being squashed in any way. Plus the supplier encased Hp’s box in another outer box. It arrived in perfect condition.
Prices and Costs
USA list prices are EX495 = $699 and EX490 = $549. In early December 2009 you could get 50 dollars off these prices and that’s when I bought. Since then prices have fallen another 50 dollars to around $600 for the EX495 and $450 for the EX490.
Current street prices (mid Jan 2010) in Europe for the EX490 Celeron processor, with 1 TB storage and 1 year guarantee are between 440 and 500 euro or say $650 to $750
So what did it cost me? Purchase price $650, shipping $85, local import duty $130 (89 euro). So, the total cost of the EX495 with 1.5 TB, Pentium dual core processor was $865 or 590 euro and a month later maybe you could take 50 off these prices. In essence I got the faster box I required at a good price, equivalent to not more than the imagined street price were HP ever to release it in Europe. I am happy with this. It was stress free – I never left the house except to collect the package from the local post office.
Obviously if you were to bring it over personally and avoid import duties you would get the faster box for the same price or less than the smaller one.
First experiences
Lots of teething troubles. No problem so far with HP though. Support seems normal even though it’s cross bordered. But, that’s another story.
Thanks to Denison for a great post! Feel free to share your own experiences importing a home server below, or if you have any questions, feel free to submit a comment and hopefully Denison will be able to tell you more.
13. January 2010 at 8:38 pm
If you are in Europe and have any friends that are in the US Military here, you can work a deal with them (lets say a case of beer) to ship it to their Post Office box on base. No customs fee's, reasonable USPS rates ($15-20 usually) and gets here in a week or so. Not that you are technically allowed to "borrow" someone's Post Office box but they don't really enforce that rule too much.
13. January 2010 at 9:34 pm
If you live in Norway or Sweden you could use the service of a company called Jet Carrier. They have a warehouse in New Jersey which you ship the goods to and then Jet Carrier ships it to Norway/Sweden for you. And then they ship it via the postal service to your post office. I have used it 8-10 times and they provide good and fast service. I can recomend them
13. January 2010 at 9:56 pm
I bought a HP Medismart Server from B&H in New York. I was able to pay by Paypal in US Dollars and I ordered on the Sunday evening and I received it on the Thursday. I had to pay the courier upon delivery the import tax but it was a doddle. I used an existing UK power lead as the power input was universal. I did think there was a fault at one point which turned out to be a fan issue but HP were more than happy to assist me over here. I was very fearful of buying something so expensive online but the reality was quicker and easier than some items I've bought from Amazon!
13. January 2010 at 10:06 pm
I bought my EX495 as well as all electronics, DVDs and Blurays from
the American Amazon.com. For the shipping I use a service called MyUS.com. They provide you with a US address, they ship DHL 2 days and prices are VERY reasonable. Check it out. I've been using it for the past 2.5 years, never had the slightest issue. Amazon ships goods to my US address and once a month I request a shipment. As billing address and credit card for both Amzon and MyUS, I use my Swiss one without any issues. Cheers, Kostas
14. January 2010 at 1:00 am
@Kostas: I use ExpatExpress (http://www.expatexpress.com) as a shipping service. After a quick glance at MyUS.com it seems that ExpatExpress has cheaper shipping/handling rates (at least to Japan where I happen to live). They even have a "buy-for-me" service for sites that only work with U.S. credit cards. Also, you don't have to sign up for any membership. I can recommend them.
Cheers,
teq
14. January 2010 at 3:02 am
I bought my HP EX495 from B&H Photo in NY and it arrived no problem in Australia just a week later.
14. January 2010 at 1:14 pm
Also bought my EX495 from B&H Photo in NY. Delivery to Japan took couple of days. No problems.
16. January 2010 at 2:27 am
Coming from the export compliance field, these types of antics make me cringe. There's a reason most US retailers won't export (and it's not because they don't trust you) – the export laws of the US are a convoluted process especially with computers and the varying regulations that have to be adhered to. Before you start thinking "Those crazy Americans and their dumb laws" I will point out that trying to export them from the EU is even more daunting (requiring a license for every shipment of a classifiable product, computers included).
If you're going to attempt this using one of these clearing houses, make sure they do the paperwork – having a correct commercial invoice is vital, that includes listing the ECCN and HTS codes and the correct value. Most of the time they'll list it as generic electronics and lowball the value to try and avoid detection. If it gets so much as a second glance by US Customs, your shipment will be siezed and you will have no recourse.
And for the love of Pete, don't buy anything with a value over $2500, that's just BEGGING for trouble.
16. January 2010 at 1:55 pm
Sounds like a lot of trouble and expense for an EX495. I'd advise people living in Europe to purchase an EX490 (payed 400 euro for it here in The Netherlands) and do a CPU (I've been using a 3.0 GHz E8400 for more than a month now) and HD upgrade. The hardware & software of the two machines is identical for the rest.
17. January 2010 at 1:58 am
Question: Is the BIOS the same for the two machines?
17. January 2010 at 10:40 am
I would think so, seing as the version number of BIOS on my box is "EX49x 1.00 23/07/2009" (notice the "x" after "EX94"). In any case the BIOS had no trouble detecting the new dual core CPU. The Task Manager and the HP "MediaSmart Server" software shows the proper status for both cores. Have a look over here for ffedback from other EX490 owners who upgraded their CPU: http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic….
17. January 2010 at 9:33 pm
Thanks a lot. I did find the same posting, which confirm an option for processor and memory upgrade…. sweeet!
I cannot wait till the new WHS 2 becomes available. Hopefully it will also support my ex475 box. If not…let's wait and think positive.
21. January 2010 at 11:24 pm
MyUS is definitely up there when it comes to expensive parcel forwarding services. Have a look at Shipito. They are among the most popular and are still very reasonably priced.