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Yamaha STAGEA Comes to the UK
James Ewins

Hi everyone!

You will all know me as Wizzkid by now but a lot of you will also know me by my real name, James Ewins. I thought that it would be a nice idea to tell you all about my experience importing the first Yamaha STAGEA in the UK and what I had to do to get it here from Japan.

Where do I start? I suppose I better start with the big question, why?? Why import an Electone that isn’t available in the UK and why go through the import process which I had never done before? Answer, I am a huge Electone fan and I believe that the UK needs to have the opportunity to enjoy the latest in Electone technology. I also like to have the most up to date Electone so I can progress with my arrangements and provide the best possible entertainment to my audience.

Now you know why I’ve done it, lets move on to how I did it and what anyone wishing to follow in my footsteps will have to consider should they choose to import one themselves. A question I have been asked by friends is, “How did you find a dealer in Japan who could sell you one?” The answer I have always given them is this, “I read about it on a website where someone recommended a dealer and listed the dealer’s e-mail address.”

Most of you will be familiar with the article that our good friend Lee Anderson posted on this very site a few months ago regarding his experience importing the only ELX-1m in the USA. He gave a certain dealer in Japan a glowing report regarding their export services and it is that same dealer that I used to import my Yamaha STAGEA.

I first contacted the dealer in the spring of this year (2004) to ask for information on prices of Yamaha STAGEA and availability. I was impressed with the speed in which their replies and genuine interest in doing business with me. My salesman speaks excellent English and was very helpful. He wasn’t pushy in any way and he seemed very knowledgable regarding the information I requested.

After several weeks, I decided that I would be placing my order and I told my salesman that I would like to order an ELS-01 with floppy drive, (please read on though because this changed at later date). Without the requirement of a deposit (down payment), he placed an order for an ELS-01 with floppy drive and said that it would arrive 2 months from time of order and that I should pay for it before shipping. This was a realistic time scale due to a back log of orders for STAGEA that Yamaha had taken and although the Electone wasn’t available until March 2004, I was told that professional players in Japan had been able to pre-order Yamaha STAGEA as far back as October 2003. This meant that Yamaha had more orders than Electones, hence the wait.

Not long after placing my order, I realised the benefits of buying an ELS-01C Custom model and I requested that I wanted to change my order. Without any hesitations, my salesman agreed to change my order and he re-ordered, this time an ELS-01C with floppy disk drive. He gave me a final price including shipping, freight insurance and of course, the cost of the Electone itself. I was very impressed that they were able to change my order so quickly and at this point the main ‘back log’ had cleared at Yamaha too. So my Electone was at the dealer within a month of re-ordering – Impressive!!

The next step was probably going to be the hardest of them all and that was selling my EL-900m to raise some additional funds to pay for the Yamaha STAGEA. This took several weeks as an EL-900m is really not going to sell overnight unless you’re lucky. This is because it is a very specialized instrument and not everyone will want to spend £3 – 4K on an Electone. After a couple of months I managed to sell my much loved EL-900m to a good home for about £3.5K and then with that, I had all the money I needed to pay for the Yamaha STAGEA.

Next I went to my bank and made the payment by wire transfer. This is basically an electronic payment from a bank account in one country (in this case mine) to another bank account in another country, (i.e. the dealer’s in this case) and it is similar to B.A.C.S. (Bank Automated Clearing System), CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) and in the USA, ‘C.H.I.P.S.’ (Clearing House Internal Payment System). To do this, I had to pay a small charge at my bank of £25 and I had to get the bank details about the dealer’s account in advance. The payment took about 5 days to get to Japan.

Finally came the exciting part – SHIPPING!!!There was one slight mix up regarding my order and I would like to say for the record, that I do not hold anything against my salesman for this error. He wasn’t aware that the Custom Model of Stagea comes with a floppy disk drive as standard and so effectivly, I had paid for a second FD that I didn’t need at a cost of £100. He admitted the error and I think that shows honesty. Especially as he offered to refund the money to my bank account at the dealer’s expense. They also said that instead, I could order some scores for the money, as I had told them that I wanted some STAGEA scores anyway. It would be easier to order £100 worth of scores rather than have the money transfered back to my bank account. They worked very hard and got together the entire set of scores I ordered (complete Hello STAGEA series + one other book) and included them in the shipment.

The shipment left Japan via Fedex on the Friday night and was in London Stansted Airport by Saturday night! That was it, that was he moment I realised: there was a Yamaha STAGEA on UK soil! It then stayed at Stansted for 3 days while I sorted the authorization out with Customs (more on that issue in a minute). Then, on Wednesday the 18th of August 2004, the Electone arrived at a local Fedex depot and I went to get it. This must have been the longest 2 hour round trip I’ve ever made!

When I got my Yamaha STAGEA home I took it out of the box and took off the protective covers and lifted up the retractable dust cover to reveal the main panel of Stagea, full of buttons and the all new touch screen LCD. Playing STAGEA was the next experience and I have to say that it is an extremely satisfying one at that. It feels, well, just different to the EL-900m, sort of more solid and bigger, almost like playing an ELX-1m I suppose. From the multiple percussion sets available to the new mega voices, STAGEA is an addictive Electone. It feels like no other I have ever played. The wait was really worth it!!

So, what did this actually cost, exactly? Here is the breakdown of the cost of the Yamaha STAGEA and some important information on Customs duties for the UK.

ELS-01C (Custom Model)	978,500 yen
ELS-01 Floppy Disk Drive (for ELS-01 standard model only)	10,800 yen
English Manual	1,500 yen
Shipping / Handling	200,000 yen
Freight Insurance	4,000 yen
Charge for Remittance / Wire Transfer Fee (This is what it cost the dealer to receive an overseas payment.)	5,000 yen

Customs and Excise is an issue that needs to be taken in to consideration as I nearly came unstuck here!! Here is some useful information for importing in to the UK:

Any item being imported in to the UK from non-EC countries and possibly EC countries as well, that is over a certain value is subject to VAT and Excise payable up front. To find out what you will need to pay you need to add up the total cost of whatever it is you are importing, this includes shipping, insurance, remittance, anything you have had to pay for. This is the value of the goods.

Now, multiply the value of the goods by 3.2% (different percentages for different types of goods) – this is the excise duty payable on Synthesizers and Electronic Organs. It may also apply to other Electronic instruments too. Once you have multiplied the value of your goods by 3.2% you then need to multiply that figure by 17.5% to add the VAT on. Yes, you are correct. You have to pay VAT on Excise duty!! I was as astonished as you. But I suppose that’s life isn’t it. Now you have the final, final cost of your Electone.

In my case, the cost of bringing an ELS-01C in to the county worked out to about £7400 including taxes. The VAT and excise will need to be paid before Customs will release the Electone for the final leg of shipping (i.e. to your front door). Otherwise it stays at the airport and this is where I nearly came unstuck. I thought I would be sent a bill through the post and there I was wondering why my package wasn’t going anywhere. Well now you know what will happen and those figures will save some of you here in the UK a lot of ‘agro’ trying to ring up Customs and Excise for an answer.

To finish off, I would like to say that everything else but the Customs and Excise duty was all arranged by my salesman. He arranged the insurance, the shipping, the manual, the scores, and handled it all brilliantly. If you have the urge to import a new Electone then the opportunity is there and you now have my experience to help you to decide whether you want to do it or not.

If you want to e-mail me at all about my import experience or indeed anything else Electone, then I am more than happy to talk to you. I will also be releasing a Yamaha STAGEA CD later in the year so keep yur’ eyes peeled!!

Happy playing,

James

Article published with the kind permission of James Ewins.
Web Site/Page: http://www.organfax.co.uk/players/jamesewins.html

Tags: electone, electone organ, instrument, Music, stagea, synthesizers, yamaha d deck, yamaha stagea