Buying a Phantom 4 Pro from the US to Slovakia

[tomaspetrus]

Hey,
I was really thinking about getting into this drone business and I've finally decided to buy my first "big" drone. I think the P4P is the best option to choose, but here comes the problem. In Slovakia, it costs about 1600-1700 € and that's a lot in comparison to the US - $1499 including Taxes.

I could theoretically ask my friend to bring it here when he comes back from the US, but if I decide to actually buy it, will it cost exactly $1499 converted to euro (about 1276 €) or will it get converted in that bad ratio where I will pay even more than if I bought it here in Slovakia?

Thank you

 

[John Locke]

You will have warranty claim issues if you have a craft problem if you buy it in the US and take it to Slovakia. Warranty support is really really really important, so I suggest buying locally so you have a valid 1yr warranty. Make sure you buy it from an authorized DJI reseller.

 

[AnchorageAk]

Hey,
I was really thinking about getting into this drone business and I've finally decided to buy my first "big" drone. I think the P4P is the best option to choose, but here comes the problem. In Slovakia, it costs about 1600-1700 € and that's a lot in comparison to the US - $1499 including Taxes.

I could theoretically ask my friend to bring it here when he comes back from the US, but if I decide to actually buy it, will it cost exactly $1499 converted to euro (about 1276 €) or will it get converted in that bad ratio where I will pay even more than if I bought it here in Slovakia?

Thank you

Paypal or credit card companies handle the conversion for you. At a extra charge, but it is very little. The stronger Euro gives you more buying power. After the conversion it will be like $1502. So you could get it from DJI for the $1502. They pay all entry fees.

 

[pporozin]

Hey,
I was really thinking about getting into this drone business and I've finally decided to buy my first "big" drone. I think the P4P is the best option to choose, but here comes the problem. In Slovakia, it costs about 1600-1700 € and that's a lot in comparison to the US - $1499 including Taxes.

I could theoretically ask my friend to bring it here when he comes back from the US, but if I decide to actually buy it, will it cost exactly $1499 converted to euro (about 1276 €) or will it get converted in that bad ratio where I will pay even more than if I bought it here in Slovakia?

Thank you

From not only my experience, make sure you have a good warranty and even DJI Care is good to have. I bought my P4P in Czech, bought the DJI care and after the rirst month returned one of the batteries in the warranty period. Then the remote and the more stuff will come.
I fly in CZ, SK and nearby countries regularly, in case you may need some help with the local rules, drop me a message.

 

[tomaspetrus]

You will have warranty claim issues if you have a problem when buying it in the US and taking it to Slovakia. Warranty support is really really really important, so I suggest buying locally so you have a valid 1yr warranty. Make sure you buy it from an authorized DJI reseller.

Is it really going to be a problem? I've ordered some stuff from abroad before and I would say I had even better experience while dealing with a warranty than when I ordered something from a local shop. They just didn't want to deal with me because I'm from abroad, so they just sent me a new product. But this couldn't be the same with DJI I guess. Doesn't DJI offer an international warranty?

 

[John Locke]

Is it really going to be a problem? I've ordered some stuff from abroad before and I would say I had even better experience while dealing with a warranty than when I ordered something from a local shop. They just didn't want to deal with me because I'm from abroad, so they just sent me a new product. But this couldn't be the same with DJI I guess. Doesn't DJI offer an international warranty?

Others in this forum have had issues. It appears DJI doesn't believe in an "International Warranty". Logically it makes no sense why DJI would refuse a warranty claim from anywhere, but I would assume each region has it's own P&L, so they'll refuse anything they didn't make money on in their region. I've heard you have to send it back to the region it was bought from for a warranty claim, which can be a shipping nightmare, cost-wise and time-wise. I would assume DJI wouldn't provide the free shipping label either, for an international shipment.

 

[tomaspetrus]

Others in this forum have had issues. It appears DJI doesn't believe in an "International Warranty". Logically it makes no sense why DJI would refuse a warranty claim from anywhere, but I would assume each region has its own P&L, so they'll refuse anything they didn't make money on in their region. I've heard you have to send it back to the region it was bought from, which can be a shipping nightmare, cost-wise. I would assume DJI wouldn't provide the free shipping label either, for an international shipment.

That's bad :/ I'll have to think about it a little bit more. With that black Friday deal, I was determined that this is it. But I'll most likely have to wait until some better prices or deals in my local shops appear.

 

[pporozin]

Is it really going to be a problem? I've ordered some stuff from abroad before and I would say I had even better experience while dealing with a warranty than when I ordered something from a local shop. They just didn't want to deal with me because I'm from abroad, so they just sent me a new product. But this couldn't be the same with DJI I guess. Doesn't DJI offer an international warranty?

There is a difference between buying shoes and drones. What happens if a crack will appear on your drone? It can be fault of the pilot, it can be a fault of the manufacturer. I do not know any company which would replace DJI drones instanly in case of any issue. The DJI support is not the best one. So you end with sending your drone/accessory multiple times because of this. One more thing - in EU your warranty is 2 years, while if you will buy your drone in US you will get only 1 year. Decide as you wish, but you have been warned.

 

[tomaspetrus]

There is a difference between buying shoes and drones. What happens if a crack will appear on your drone? It can be fault of the pilot, it can be a fault of the manufacturer. I do not know any company which would replace DJI drones instanly in case of any issue. The DJI support is not the best one. So you end with sending your drone/accessory multiple times because of this. One more thing - in EU your warranty is 2 years, while if you will buy your drone in US you will get only 1 year. Decide as you wish, but you have been warned.

Okay, I think I'll buy it in the Europe... It's just not worth it to lose 1 year of warranty and if something breaks, I'll pay the same amount of money as I would for a new drone just for a repair.
Thank you guys again.

 

[AnchorageAk]

DJI has a distribution site in Russian. If you order from DJI, and it comes from that warehouse, would you get the two year warranty?

 

[pporozin]

DJI has a distribution site in Russian. If you order from DJI, and it comes from that warehouse, would you get the two year warranty?

It does not matter where the DJI the warehouse has, it matters only where you bought the drone. If it is in the EU and you are end user (not a company), you will get 2 years warranty. If you buy it at dji.com and you live in EU, the drone will come from DJI in Germany and you will have 2 years warranty.

 

[AnchorageAk]

So. He would be better off to buy it from DJI? Which was the question. Lower price, no taxes, VAT, etc. Plus the two year warranty.

 

[John Locke]

in EU your warranty is 2 years,

Wow, 2yr warranty in Europe? That's likely the exact reason the price is higher in Europe. Makes sense now.

 

[pporozin]

So. He would be better off to buy it from DJI? Which was the question. Lower price, no taxes, VAT, etc. Plus the two year warranty.

He can buy it directly at DJI website, the DJI in Europe operates through a german company, so he will get his 2 y warranty. He pays as well VAT, the price is higher than in the US.

 

[pporozin]

Wow, 2yr warranty in Europe? That's likely the exact reason the price is higher in Europe. Makes sense now.

For end consumer the warranty is 2 years, but if you will buy it for your business (on a company name), you get only 1 year. There are different reasons for the higher prices, warranty is only one of them. There are i.e. legal responsibilities of the company to the employee which do not exist in the US and these makes the business in the EU more expensive.

 

[AnchorageAk]

pporozin. So it would cost less to get it from DJI direct, instead of his local store? Or the same? I guess he could go through the ordering process with DJI, just to see the cost. Does DJI pay the VAT?

 

[pporozin]

pporozin. So it would cost less to get it from DJI direct, instead of his local store? Or the same? I guess he could go through the ordering process with DJI, just to see the cost. Does DJI pay the VAT?

From my experience the DJI store is more expensive for the drone itself than the local store I was buing from. The batteries were cheaper for me at the DJI website, but I could still get them cheaper in some other store (no experience with them). Nevertheless the situation in Slovakia might be different and the prices might be higher than on DJI website (he has to find out and compare different stores). The DJI at their german site says that the prices are including the VAT (another legal requirement in EU-all the public prices for end consumer have to be published with VAT).

 

[tomaspetrus]

From my experience the DJI store is more expensive for the drone itself than the local store I was buing from. The batteries were cheaper for me at the DJI website, but I could still get them cheaper in some other store (no experience with them). Nevertheless the situation in Slovakia might be different and the prices might be higher than on DJI website (he has to find out and compare different stores). The DJI at their german site says that the prices are including the VAT (another legal requirement in EU-all the public prices for end consumer have to be published with VAT).

On DJI's german site, it costs exactly the same as in my local stores. Yeah, those 2 years of warranty seem like a good reason to add on price, so it's fair enough.