Most of my online purchases these days come from american private shopping clubs (fashion sale sites), Amazon USA and Buy.com. But sometimes I have to shop elsewhere either due to high shipping costs from the USA to Russia or due to some kind of incompatibility of standards.
This was exactly the case with a car seat. I wanted to buy one of the safest car seats, so decided not to go for a universal one. After researching crash tests results I decided to purchase Britax Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with the ISOFIX base. I could have bought a similar car seat on Amazon USA, but I wasn't 100% sure that LATCH and ISOFIX were compatible. While some drivers say that LATCH and ISOFIX bars are almost identical, few European and Japanese cars have the top tether anchor.
It was an obvious step to look for Britax Romer car seats in Germany and the UK. I really liked the prices in German shops. And I was glad that some of them do ship directly to almost any country in the world including Russia. When such shops ship outside the European Union, they exclude VAT (19%). This was exactly the case with the German online store KidsRoom.de.
Now the question is did I manage to save anything by purchasing the car seat in Germany and not in Russia or not. I did manage to save a lot! The price of Britax Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with shipping from Germany to Russia was more than 40% lower than the lowest price I was able to find in Russian online stores!!!
Price without shipping at avtokresel.net: 19 800 RUR
Price with shipping to Russia (!) at kidsroom.de: 281 EUR
So basically you can buy Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with ISOFIX base and ship it from Germany, or you can buy Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II without ISOFIX base in a Russian online shop!
Another reason for buying German car seats from Germany is to avoid fake items.
KidsRoom.de is not the only web-site recommended by Russian shoppers.
There are several other baby shops in Germany that ship to Russia directly and exclude VAT, namely: maxis-babywelt.de, babyshop.de, kidscomfort.eu, Loopoo.de, PingPong Online.
German shops usually ship to Russia by DHL and accept debit/credit cards and/or paypal/moneybookers.
Please note that it is always a good idea to compare prices before making a purchase. Some items cost the same, and some items are more expensive in Germany than in Russia.
Update (2012/01/14)
Also please note that if you ship outside the European Union, you may add all items that you want to purchase into the shopping cart to see the price excluding VAT but including shipping:
This was exactly the case with a car seat. I wanted to buy one of the safest car seats, so decided not to go for a universal one. After researching crash tests results I decided to purchase Britax Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with the ISOFIX base. I could have bought a similar car seat on Amazon USA, but I wasn't 100% sure that LATCH and ISOFIX were compatible. While some drivers say that LATCH and ISOFIX bars are almost identical, few European and Japanese cars have the top tether anchor.
It was an obvious step to look for Britax Romer car seats in Germany and the UK. I really liked the prices in German shops. And I was glad that some of them do ship directly to almost any country in the world including Russia. When such shops ship outside the European Union, they exclude VAT (19%). This was exactly the case with the German online store KidsRoom.de.
kidsroom.de: Britax Romer Baby-Safe Plus SHR II Trendline including Isofix Base
Now the question is did I manage to save anything by purchasing the car seat in Germany and not in Russia or not. I did manage to save a lot! The price of Britax Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with shipping from Germany to Russia was more than 40% lower than the lowest price I was able to find in Russian online stores!!!
The cheapest Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with ISOFIX base in Russia
kidsroom.de Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II receipt: price + shipping = 281 EUR
Price without shipping at avtokresel.net: 19 800 RUR
Price with shipping to Russia (!) at kidsroom.de: 281 EUR
So basically you can buy Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with ISOFIX base and ship it from Germany, or you can buy Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II without ISOFIX base in a Russian online shop!
Another reason for buying German car seats from Germany is to avoid fake items.
KidsRoom.de is not the only web-site recommended by Russian shoppers.
There are several other baby shops in Germany that ship to Russia directly and exclude VAT, namely: maxis-babywelt.de, babyshop.de, kidscomfort.eu, Loopoo.de, PingPong Online.
German shops usually ship to Russia by DHL and accept debit/credit cards and/or paypal/moneybookers.
Please note that it is always a good idea to compare prices before making a purchase. Some items cost the same, and some items are more expensive in Germany than in Russia.
Update (2012/01/14)
Also please note that if you ship outside the European Union, you may add all items that you want to purchase into the shopping cart to see the price excluding VAT but including shipping:
KidsRoom.de shopping cart: Britax Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with shipping excluding VAT
Are you happy with the car seat? Do you find it safe? This is our first child, so I am not exactly sure what I should be looking for. I live in Germany and have the chance to get this car seat from someone who ended up with two of them. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSafety was my main concern. According to ADAC tests Britax Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II is one of the safest car seats no matter whether you use ISOFIX base or not:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.adac.de/infotestrat/tests/kindersicherung/kindersitz-test/default.aspx#
However I do prefer to use it with the ISOFIX base, because it is safer.
The best way to find out whether a car seat is good for you is to go to a shop (or in your case to someone selling it) and try to put your baby in this car seat into your car. The Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II seat is not ideal, it has some minor drawbacks. But I'm very happy I've bought the safest car seat I was able to find.
[...] had successful experience in shopping for Britax/Romer car seat in Germany. So when I needed a baby stroller and a trike (bicycle with 3 wheels) I decided to check prices in [...]
ReplyDeleteRomer Baby Safe Plus SHR II is much more expensive with the ISOFIX base. The safety of this car seat looks good in ADAC tests even without ISOFIX base. Should I save and buy it without the ISOFIX base?
ReplyDeleteWhat about australian cars? Do they use ISOFIX or LATCH? Does it make sense to ship Britax Babysafe Plus SHR 2 from Germany to Australia?
ReplyDeleteWhy German stores only? Do they offer the cheapest Romer car seats in EU?
ReplyDeleteWhen I click onto the ADAC link, I don't see this Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II.
ReplyDeleteBritax/Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II with ISOFIX is the safest car seat tested by ADAC in 2011-2012. It is safer to use ISOFIX. And it was easier for me to install and remove the car seat because of the ISOFIX base. It's up to you whether you want to save or go for the safest option.
ReplyDeleteFew european stores exclude VAT when shipping outside the EU, and few of them offer international shipping.
ReplyDeleteBritax / Romer Baby Safe Plus SHR II car seat was twice cheaper in Germany than in Russia. Great saving even if there were any other options I was not aware of.
It was tested in 2011. Try to choose Year (Testjahr) 2011-2012 and hit the "Aktualisieren" button. Then you will see something like this:
ReplyDeleteDoes KidsRoom exlucde VAT automatically or upon request?
ReplyDeleteKidsRoom and other German online stores mentioned in the article exclude VAT automatically.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteWhat about CYBEX Aton 2 with Isofix and PEG PEREGO Primo with Isofix? They are less expensive than Romer Baby-Safe Plus SHR II with Isofix.
Hi Freig,
ReplyDeleteThey are good according to ADAC tests. But I haven't read anything else about these car seats.
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