Couple of questions on shipping DBV overseas.

[souls_at_zero]

I am in a rather undesirable situation of living in a country (New Zealand) where all the smoking supply shops stock the cheapest and nastiest Chinese vaporizers, and consider The Vaporite to be the best money can get you. I've already crossed that one off my wish list due to too many negative reviews. I've come to the conclusion that importing is my only option, and I'm really liking the idea of getting myself a Da Bhudda in black. Seems peculiar, when a recent poll showed over 50% of NZers have or currently partake in the herb. Sad times.

I'm very unsure about how well DBV distributors deal with international sales. Are there any New Zealanders here who have success stories of brining a DBV (or any other vap) into the country? I've emailed "Tokin" from Tokin's Vaps, and also vapeworld.com who both claim to ship internationally (I'm hoping they offer the 220V models). If anyone has a better idea for me then please let me know.

Another thing is the security. Our country has a very unfortunate law whereby cannabis paraphenalia is contraband, and vaporizers fall into that category. I believe this is the same for USA, although I'm not sure how thoroughly your interstate mail is scrutinized or if it's an issue at all. So I'd like to know how discretely the DBV is packed, and if it's declared as herbal vaporizer or something slightly less alarm raising, such as an aromatherapy unit.

If I go ahead and import it, I'll be running the risk of my new vaporizer going into the bin at the border if they figure out it's used to vapourize weed with. So I'd very much like to try figure out how large my risk is... I guess that may be difficult for most to answer but it doesn't hurt to ask. Especially for those here who've successfully shipped a DBV internationally.

 

[greenriver]

I'm in Australia and I recently ordered two DBVs and two Launch Boxes on Vapeworld. They shipped about a week ago, so I'm still awaiting their arrival.

I checked the Australian customs website and it made no specific mention of any kind of ban on vaporizers. When I asked Vapeworld they told me this:

As far as shipping to Australia goes, we ship there all the time and we have never had any issues thus far. We also declare the package as an aromatherapy device with a devalued cost so that you don't have to pay a high tariff.

Obviously Australia isn't quite the same as New Zealand with this stuff, but I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[feraltoker]

Hey just to let you know tokin is not able to answer his e-mail right now so if you are interested in ordering you'll have to contact him some other way, like through his tokinGLX youtube and stonerforums accounts. Tokin does offer the 220v model (I am pretty sure) and would probably ship to NZ for you. I just ordered a DBV too

 

[greenriver]

The vapes arrived today! Only took about 7 days to get here. The only problem is Vapeworld messed up and thought that Australia had the same power configuration as Europe, so they sent me a couple of European models. Now I've got to find a stepdown transformer to get them to work

 

[max]

The vapes arrived today! Only took about 7 days to get here. The only problem is Vapeworld messed up and thought that Australia had the same power configuration as Europe, so they sent me a couple of European models. Now I've got to find a stepdown transformer to get them to work

"All of Europe and most of South America, Africa and Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand use a supply that is within 10% of 230 V, whereas Japan, North America and some parts of northern South America use a voltage between 100 and 127 V." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity

 

[taggs]

this may not be hugely helpful to you but I live in Australia and have imported 2 different models of vapes from different sources at different times without problem.

1 PD directly from their website back when they still did international orders, and one SSV directly from their website.

I wouldn't worry hugely about the shipping/importing process - I'd doubt NZ is any more strict than Aus when it comes to that sort of thing. happy to be corrected though.

plenty of distributors will do international orders, i'm sure there's a list of reputable suppliers somewhere on the forum

 

[greenriver]

"All of Europe and most of South America, Africa and Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand use a supply that is within 10% of 230 V, whereas Japan, North America and some parts of northern South America use a voltage between 100 and 127 V." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity

Does that mean it should work with just an adapter? It's the 220v model with the European plug.

I took it to an electrical store and they looked at the sticker on the base which says "120 VAC, 60Hz, 25W" and told me I'd need a transformer. Think this might be incorrect?

Sorry, I should've started my own thread or something.

 

[max]

"120 VAC, 60Hz, 25W"

They shipped you a U.S. version. Their screw up. Contact the company and ask to be reimbursed for your return shipping. As for the wall plug, they vary quite a bit according to the country. You may well have to get your own.

 

[greenriver]

Perhaps the sticker on the base of it just carries the US version's details which aren't rellevant to the European model.

It's got a European power plug on it which is labelled 16A, 250V~. Pretty certain this is not the US version.

 

[max]

It should be simple enough to check the voltage and determine which label is correct. It's certainly possible they put a Euro wall plug on a US version.

 

[Chubba]

Does that mean it should work with just an adapter? It's the 220v model with the European plug.

I took it to an electrical store and they looked at the sticker on the base which says "120 VAC, 60Hz, 25W" and told me I'd need a transformer. Think this might be incorrect?

Sorry, I should've started my own thread or something.

They assfucked you fellow Aussie, just like when I got my SSV.

Ordered 220V european, got the 120V USA.

Had to spend an additional $100 on a step down transformer (got it from Dick Smith) so I could use it... emailed them multiple times, they never got back to me... absolutely terrible customer service.

Vape was good but the guys at 7th floor should stop being douches and double check international orders... my email says 220V, my invoice says 220V (a 7th floor employee wrote "thanks for the support" RIGHT next to it) and yet they send 120V.

Does your plug look like this?

That's the 120V USA plug and should confirm whether you have been diddled or not.

 

[greenriver]

I've definitely got the European plug. I've now picked up a "Multi Reverse Earthed Adaptor" from Dick Smith's for $10 and Da Buddha is working great!

Here's the plug mine came with:

So glad I've finally got it going! Thanks for posting that photo Chubba, it was very helpful.

 

[Chubba]

Nice one... the 220V vs 240V is a bit confusing as they don't offer an Australian version.

At least you didn't get a 120V

 

[max]

Ordered 220V european, got the 120V USA.

Had to spend an additional $100 on a step down transformer (got it from Dick Smith) so I could use it... emailed them multiple times, they never got back to me... absolutely terrible customer service.

Since greenriver ordered from Vapeworld, he wouldn't be dealing with 7th Floor. This is one advantage to buying a 7th Floor vape from a dealer. Dealers have much more to lose if they provide poor service, since with most vapes, there's always another dealer to buy from. I do think that Vapenow should be aware of the plug configuration (where a Euro plug works and where it doesn't) and let the customer know that they are responsible for providing the correct wall plug.