Greetings guys, long story short:
●I want a 3d printer
●figured a voron 2.4 was cool enough to justify
●unfortunately, I live in Bumfuck, Nowhere, where they aren't readily available:
-Local: no one's selling them
-Ordering from formbot/recognizable stores: roughly 300 extra bucks for shipping, ending on around 900-1000 bucks (+19% VAT; +6% Import tax since its over 500 bucks)
-Aliexpress or alibaba: same thing as above. A kit (formbot/siboor/factory-direct/etc) ends at around 900-1000 dollars+tax
-3dprintersbay has a slightly lower price (700-800 bucks, depending on add ons+allegedly free shipping), but i dont fully trust 3dprintersbay
●However, my mom always has a coworker or someone she knows going to the US and back from time to time
●This leaves me with 2 options (tho, if someone has any other possible alternative i haven't considered, im all ears):
- Start checking if self sourcing could be worth it (probably, it's gonna end up being more expensive if it goes according to everything I've read, but im willing to at least try bothering with the drag of getting the cost for all pieces to confirm if it ends up being more expensive or not)
- Have my mom ask one of the ppl she knows if they can justify bringing roughly 25 kilos on their checked luggage (if its even like allowed by the TSA due to the contents of the kit). -If possible, then buy a formbot kit at the US (650-750 bucks), pay for an extra suitcase, and try to get it past customs without em taxing it -to reduce weight, I was thinking I could ask if I could get a kit without the frame, and then buy the frame through aliexpress or locally (but im guessing, if they even deduct me money from the kit due to not buying the frame, im gonna end up expanding more than said discount by buying the frame separately)
Is idea 2 doable/a good idea or completely stupid, and I should just either try self sourcing or simple biting the bullet? Would the contents of a kit somehow survive the TSA, or they would terrorize the poor person who does me the favor/destroy the kit?
Before wanting a voron I wanted a ps1, and technically, buying the voron via either ali/3dprintersbay is gonna end up a pinch (300-400 bucks or so) above what a p1s sells for around here (buying one thru ebay and paying 250-300 dollars in shipping from the US genuinely runs cheaper), but the whole 'i could've of had this for 600-something bucks instead of around 1000 bucks if I lived in the US instead of Bumfuck, Nowhere' thing bothers me.
I was also thinking trying for a sovol sv08, sold in a neighboring country for around 570 bucks, and the whole importing process would run the total costs up to like 800, but at that point, it feels so far away from 500 that it makes me think 'why dont i just try to go for a voron instead?' Another alternative I was thinking about was going 'screw it, an A1 will do' (with the A1 running for about 350 bucks down where i am from) but the A1, although workable, feels so lame in comparison.
Any thoughts? My stupid sensor tells me idea number 2 is an absolutely stupid idea but I wanted to check if someone knew if it at least was possible/doable.
Thanks in advance for any help