29 Dec '06 13:51>
i am thinking of treating myself.
is £100 too much for a decent set?
any favourites or bargains you have had?
is £100 too much for a decent set?
any favourites or bargains you have had?
Originally posted by Audaciouscheers mate
I bought myself a set around 2 years ago from bcmchess got it for just under £100. You can check out their sets below
http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/wooden.html
I was willing to spend £100 on it mainly because it's something that I thought would last a lifetime. I'm not an otb player I just bought it as something to have if the opportunity to play came a ...[text shortened]... more but I think £100 for a decent wood set is fine and with good care it'll last a lifetime.
Originally posted by Skorjwill ask our kid to try for me
The House of Staunton regularly auctions the sets on Ebay. Last year I was able to purchase an ebonized Royale series set for about $60 US, which is a little more than half of what they were listing for at the time. If you don't mind the uncertainties of an auction or shipping in from the US you might find a similar deal. You'll probably have to purchase a board separately. I got mine locally.
Originally posted by greenphantomworth a try mate
Word of warning when buying overseas if you live in the UK as well - You will end up paying Tax from customs once the goods arrive in the UK - So what you have to do is play them at their own game and ask the seller to mark the item as a gift with a low value - say under 20 pounds. Then you will find you get your bargin tax free minus any customs hassles😉
Originally posted by greenphantomThe "rare antique ivory" sets from China are not a rip-off as long as you are wise to the fact that they are making their profit by overcharging for shipping rather than the purchase price. A further word of warning however- they are neither rare nor antique nor ivory. They are modern and mass produced as evidenced by the fact that at any given time you will find half a dozen or more identical sets being auctioned. If they were genuine ivory you would at best have a nightmare of red tape to go through before being allowed to import them.
I got one on ebay for 99p from china - the catch is you pay 40 pounds shipping cost..... But when i got the set is was amazing and was an antique made ivory with a beautiful wood board with dragons and other amazing patterns on it.
So it would have cost well over a hundred pounds to get it in the UK - but the choice is yours but for me it was well worth paying the extra postage.