I’d like to order a new, custom Samshield and pick it up when I’m in Paris next month (I live in the US). I’ve already designed it in the configurator and have the PDF with the details. Should I go through a website like Fundis and have it shipped to my hotel or is there a local tack shop that would be easy to deal with from the US? I won’t have a car but we are taking the train to Frankfurt so getting one near there would work also.
There are a couple of PADD tack stores in Paris that might be able to help but ordering through Fundis is probably easier.
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I would not count on it being ready if not available in stock.
Mine took 2x the quoted time from Samshield.
Can have it shipped to the US for not a huge amount of money.
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you may also avoid paying VAT if you ship to the US.
I have regularly been disappointed with shipping times in Europe and it’s 10x worse in the summer when everyone is on holiday.
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Well the issue that I am having, at least for the one vendor that I reached out to, is they are wanting $400 (almost 30%) more than what the price is on the samshield website. Now I would be okay with an extra $100 or so but 30% is too big of a markup considering last time I did a custom order, the price I got from the tack shop was the exact same as what the Samshield website said the price would be. I was hoping if I ordered from somewhere in France for an in-person pickup, the price would be what it is on the website.
On the US Samshield website?
I’ve had much better luck ordering online and shipping to the US. I say this as someone with family in France I can send things to before I go out for a visit. My batting average is terrible for when the items ACTUALLY show up. And again, summer is the worst.
I used moncheval for custom Mattes pads that were terrific, they also do Samshield custom orders.
So I picked everything out on the configurator on the samshield website, and they’ll send you a PDF with the specs and price but you can’t order on the website directly, so I sent the PDF to a California retailer and they quoted me the 30% higher price. I’ll try moncheval, thanks!
There’s a huge markup in the US. You can order a custom Samshield from numerous European shops and get it shipped to the US for less than what you’d pay from a domestic retailer. Try Royal Equestrian or Redpost Equestrian. They also stock a bunch of customized Samshields, so you may find they have what you’ve designed on hand already.
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I used Tailored Equestrian for a custom Samshield helmet earlier this year, and despite Samshield not delivering the helmet to them in a timely manner, they were fantastic, communicative, and shipped it very promptly once they received it. Would use them again.
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I wouldn’t count on the helmet being available for pick up with only a 4 week turnaround. I agree with ordering from a Europe retailer and just paying them to ship it to the US.
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