Iotawatt prices in France

Is there any reason why the price of the Iotawatt available from the openenergymonitor shop is 48% (~ 200 euros) higher than the eurowatt bundle available from the stuff.iotawatt.com site (~ euros)?
France is not available as a shipping option on stuff.iotawatt.com, I assume that is intentional?

I have been recommending the unit left and right, but this frankly feels like a rip-off :frowning:, am I missing something?

Thanks,
Franck

Maybe you are asking the wrong party about the high price. I have the low price.

Contrary to popular belief, I have no relationship with openenergymonitor. The last time I sold them parts was six months ago. We have a difference of opinion about the positioning of IoTaWatt in the marketplace. That is understandable because it competes with their flagship product, the Emonpi. They are going their separate way.

I donā€™t ship to France because I use the US postal service to send international packages. They have been economical and reasonably fast and reliable. There is no other viable way to ship worldwide simply and economically.

The US postal service has agreements with the national postal service in each destination country. The package is handed off to them within several days of my shipping. In France, they sit around somewhere for a few weeks and then get shipped back to me. Customers complain that they never received notification of customs due. Duh. I send them a tracking number right away.

So after loosing international shipping costs on half-dozen packages to France, I simply stopped accepting orders there. Same for Sweden. Iā€™m a small operation. I canā€™t spend a lot of time on shipping. It either works or it doesnā€™t. It doesnā€™t work in France.

If you PM what you want, Iā€™ll send you a PayPal invoice. Iā€™ll ship the order with the understanding that if I get it back, Iā€™ll refund the purchase amount but not the shipping. I think thatā€™s fair, and I think my prices are fair. Iā€™m not trying to rip anyone off.

Thanks for your reply Bob.
Seeing European countries listed on stuff.iotawatt.com I had assumed France being omitted was due to some kind of distribution agreement rather than shipping issues, my bad.

I will contact you by PM to discuss further.
Franck

Hello,
Like Franck I would like to buy a eurowatt device and sending it to France.
But there are some import restrictions here that are sometimes complex.

To avoid inconvenience, it is advisable to indicate on the shipping slip:
-the name of sender is a private person and not a business company;
-it is a gift, so no bill inside;
-the amount reported is less than 45$.

Normally it would take 15 days to receive it
In these conditions, if you find them acceptable, Iā€™m willing to take the risk.
What is your view of that?
Thankā€™s
Patrice

Whatā€™s really inconvenient is getting caught sending fraudulent documentation through the mail.

Hi,
I am sorry but it is the only known way to send small items to France by US Postal so that they reach their destination

The other way, ā€œmore legalā€, is to use Fedex for example which will apply normal taxes
But you do not seem ready to use this carrier

Yet your product interests me enormously and it is not found in France.
Offer me a solution, I will be happy to adapt to your conditions
Thankā€™s
Patrice

I think the problem is that the French Postal Service doesnā€™t notify that duties and taxes are due to claim a package. They seem to keep them for several weeks before sending back, so there must be some alternate handling possible.

I will offer you the same thing that I offered to Franck: PM what you want and Iā€™ll send you a paypal invoice. Iā€™ll send the package via USPS and advise the tracking number. It will be your responsibility to contact the local postal service to arrange payment of any amount due and to arrange delivery. If I get the package back, Iā€™ll refund the cost of the goods but not shipping.

Hi Tuykroa

I make use of package forwarding companies (e.g. Shipto, MyUs, Viabox, etc.) which handle the shipping process.
IoTaWatt ships from the USA so Iā€™ll just send the package for free to my Shipito address in Oregon and from there I can ship it to my home country using Fedex, DHL, Aramex, etc. with insurance and the lowest shipping cost.
Due to the volumes that the package forwarding companies process, most of the time theyā€™re cheaper than shipping directly from a supplier and it saves the supplier the pain of trying to work through multiple shipping companies.

My local postal service delays packages for weeks in customs and packages tend to disappear (are stolen) so using a courier is safer (and more expensive) than a postal service.

1 Like

Iā€™ve had other international orders that use these services. I can say that from this end they appear to have worked fine. No complaints or lost packages reported. Canā€™t speak to the cost, but donā€™t imagine itā€™s competitive with the flat rate offered, but if you are in a fringe areaā€¦