Here are some aspects that you should pay attention to before making the purchase:
1. The price paid in China
The price paid in China is not the final price, because being a non-EU purchase, you need to do customs import, which involves some additional costs. To make it easier to understand and follow, we will make the following financial scenario:
The purchase price of the platform in China is $1,500 (without camera, software and accessories), which includes shipping.
The customs duty is between 5-12% depending on the classification made by the customs broker; we will take the value of 10% as a reference, so we will have to pay $150.
The VAT is 19% and is calculated on the full value (platform purchase cost + customs duty), so we will have to pay ($1,500+$150)*19% = approx. $315
The customs broker fee that will make the import customs declaration is around $70-80
So the total you will have to pay will be $2,045 (equivalent to 1,800 euros) with $545 more than the purchase price in China.
To this price you will also have to add the cost of other equipment and accessories necessary for the platform to be fully functional.
2. What does the package purchased from China contain
Usually, manufacturers in China include in the package, in addition to the motorized platform, a circular LED lamp and a carrying case, but you must be careful that the lamp they include is not professional (they use a makeup lamp) and will not meet the needs during the event when you will use it.
The software is usually not included in the cost of the equipment, or if it is included, it is not professional (it does not allow you to use overlays, background music and boomerang effects) and the resulting videos will be of poor quality and without the effects for which this type of equipment is known.
And the cost of professional software that allows you to do all the effects starts from 300 euros and can even reach 1,000 euros, which can upset your initial estimated budget.
GoPro or phone?
Most manufacturers in China use the phone as a media device for the 360 Selfie Booth, but the quality of the videos is much lower than those made with the 4K GoPro camera, the one we use.
3. Warranty, service, maintenance and spare parts?
What do you do if your platform’s motor or gear breaks down? Who provides you with the necessary spare parts, and in how long?
If you buy from China, even if you ask the supplier to help you with the parts needed for repair when something breaks, they cannot reach you in less than 2-3 weeks, during which time you will not be able to honor the contracted events, because the platform will not be functional.
We offer a standard 12-month warranty for the entire product, we also have spare parts in stock, which we can send within 48 hours and the possibility of service, even remotely.
4. User instructions, assistance and technical support?
We know what it means to step onto a new path and not have anyone to guide your steps; in the 5 years since we have been active in this industry, we have learned a lot from our own mistakes, which sometimes cost us dearly, because there was no one specialized to offer us advice when we needed it.
So we have created user manuals in Romanian, complete with everything you need to know to install and use the products we sell.
In addition, we offer direct technical assistance and support, through our fellow videographer technician – Florin, who will help you solve any problem you encounter.
Additionally, we have created a private Facebook group dedicated only to those who have purchased from us and a WhatsApp emergency group through which we offer direct support to our entire community.
We have tried to touch on the most relevant aspects, so that you can get an idea of the differences between purchasing from a manufacturer in China and from a manufacturer in Romania.
The purpose of this article is purely informative, and the final purchase decision is strictly yours.
