Importing from Poland???

[Deek]

Has anybody had any experiences importing airsoft kit from Poland?

I have seen a couple of Polish airsoft retailers that have very reasonable prices compared to UK retailers, with one retailer even offering free p&p to the UK.

I have looked on the Customs and Excise website and if an item is for personal use then there should be no import duty for an item posted within the EU, which Poland is.

I understand that being Polish if something goes wrong with my purchases it would be a pain to return them and get them fixed, but that is a risk with anything not bought from a UK retailer (and even some UK retailers it is a risk...)

But just wanted to know opinions before going ahead and ordering something.

Thanks

 

[b1n0gHo5t]

Well my only issue was with the post code i had to add an extra Digit to make up the seven digit code
so my delivery was delayed by a day

 

[Airsoft_Mr B]

You should never get any charges on things from the EU, so don't worry about having to pay anything extra.

When you say kit what do you mean exactly? Because you talk about returning it for it to be fixed. Guns maybe, but through my past experience with Polish retailers communication isn't great due to the language barrier. Supposedly they do free spring downgrades and things like that so their actual customer service is good and my delivery from TaiwanGun was on time and everything.

Sending it back all the way to Poland would be potentially expensive and a hassle though nonetheless. I think in that situation I'd rather just get it repaired in the UK.

That said isn't it quite rare you're going to have a major problem with the stuff you ordered?

The gear on the Polish sites generally look quite cheap (ACM / 8FIELDS stuff) Exception of a few things on Gunfire like Helikon / Direct Action products - but I wouldn't expect it to break or fall apart that quickly.

Finally I'd recommend taking a look on the Places to Buy section (if you haven't already) and you'll see there are threads on both Gunfire and TaiwanGun which I believe are the two main ones people (on AF-UK at least) order from.

There are others like specshop.pl but I don't know what they're like.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ian_Gere]

I have bought from gunfire.pl and taiwangun.com several times. No problems at all. The lads at twg are very helpful if you need gun springs downgraded or anything like that and the 1 bit i had go wrong on a gun from them - the lever that holds the upper handguard on my CM.048 broke - they sent me a new part quickly plus allowed me to add something i bought for points i had in their rewards scheme to the package for free.

 

[CaptainSwoop]

I use Gunfire all the time. I have had a pistol and an AEG from them along with various other gear.

No problems at all, it arrives promptly and has tracking.

 

[Fatknees]

I've used Taiwan gun twice no problems at all and I'll keep on using them (don't forget to add your ukara number on the comments page just incase of UK customs)

 

[Deek]

Thanks for the replies

The main site I have been browsing is TaiwanGun, and have been looking at most things on there.

The prices are very tempting and I am not that bothered if something looks cheap but does the job, especially as most woodland sites I visit double as paintball sites, so wouldn't want to spend a lot and risk getting it damaged or ruined by paint*

(* I know the paint is washable, but can still be a pain to get out of something that can't be put through the washing machine).

Airsoft Mr B I shall check out that section, thank you

 

[mr-bodycounter]

Ehh, I prefer gunfire.pl and have experience with them - I have never bought from Taiwan Gun before but I prefer the range on gunfire.pl but have no negative experience of Taiwan Gun but other people on this post have and I haven't heard anything negative from them.

 

[CES_williamson]

insert immigration joke here.

 

[Ian_Gere]

insert immigration joke here.

WTF? I don't think we have any members who read the daily fail...

 

[MisterC]

I've bought 3 guns from Gunfire and my brother and friend have both bought guns from GF and TG and never had any problems.

A CM031 (M14) my brother bought from GF had a faulty hop up unit straight from the box and they arranged and paid for a courier to collect and return it to poland. They were quite busy so it did take 2 or 3 weeks for the repair work to be done and it shipped over again, but they were decently quick to respond to emails and he got updates along the way. They also a pretty good grasp of the English language which helped massively.

 

[Passey]

there perfectly fine but don't expect any warranty as no courier incl parcel force will ship rif's back to poland.

Tried it a few weeks ago.

 

[Mack]

They will on a business account, else how would retailers post their product.

 

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

Why do people keep telling the courier its a firearm, realistic, imitation or otherwise, and then panic when the courier gets bit twitchy.

Its a Toy, it's shipped as a toy. End of.

 

[Ian_Gere]

I thought Parcelforce had the same rules as Royal Mail...? In which case they do ship RIF's, so long as they are legal (as regards demilled/restricted parts) and not air weapons. But every now and then you're always going to get a jobsworth who thinks they know what a gwaan and actually knows 'kall... as MN says, just put Toy - it is a fucking toy after all, or sports equipment and put your UKARA number in your address so it says "UKARA# XXXXXXXX" just to cover you if a UK Customs jobsworth X-rays it.