Let me translate. It is a 10 liter spiral mixer suitable for mixing bread doughs. It’s a commercial unit that you might find in a bakery. To put that in perspective, it weighs about 100 lbs. Compare that to you typical kitchen mixer.
I have been making artisan sourdough bread. A few months ago I bought an oven — basically a pizza oven — to cook it instead of using the regular oven and something cast iron to keep the steam in. It works fine for a couple of loaves but I want to make more at the same time. The oven can do it but I wanted a mixer. So, I bought one.
The reason I am telling you this is that I want to explain the local price vs. buying it in the US and shipping it. I paid about $1000 delivered to my house. This unit was made in Brazil. I found similar (but Chinese-made) units on-line in the US in the $500-$600 price range. So, why did I decide $1000 was an OK price?
First, there is shipping cost. $2 to $2.50 a pound is a decent price. So, that’s at least $200, probably more as packed for shipping, it would weigh more. Then we have import duties. It looks like 15% which, disgusting as it may seem, is on the total cost including shipping. So, there is another $105. There are additional charges for processing through customs and such.
In fact, I just realized that the QuickBoxUSA web site includes a calculator. So, I plugged in $500, 100 lbs and “kitchen accessory” and here is what I got. Note this is just what I pay them — it does not include the $500 price of the product.
So, $478.33 or $978.33 when it is at my door. Gee, I could have saved $20. But, there are other issues:
- I would have had to wait at least one and probably two weeks to get it. Mine was delivered about 24 hours after I bought it.
- I got to “kick the tires” before purchase. I knew exactly what I was getting.
- What I bought was made in Brazil rather than China — something I think is a plus.
- It has a one year warranty right here in Guatemala City. That is a big difference if I had to send a defective unit back to the US.
So, yes, here is something that cost me significantly more than it would have cost in the US. Not a typical “every day” item but I felt it was important to show how to evaluate your options.
Now, for your amusement, when I was walking back to the bus from the store I saw this:
Yes, an evangelic Christian church with a star of David. I’m no church expert but that just seemed a bit strange.