Why are these SOLID ACACIA tenor ukuleles so cheap?!

Bidding just started over nine days to go, seller hopes that a biddding war starts on them..and for his safety there's probally a reserve on it for him...
 
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because they probably use children to help make them, pay the adults next to nothing and pick up the bulk of the fee from the postage costs.
 
regardless the reason. I'm bidding ;)
 
Those instruments are made in Vietnam. There are several vendors on Ebay who sell what seems to be an identical (to me anyways) item. A few members have successfully bidded on them and will vouch the instruments are of a decent build. There are also others who say they aren't all that and use them as wall hangar/deco (because of the inlay work and a little too busy for me). Anyway, you may be be getting it for a cheap cost, but the shipping and handling is the killer ($60). Let's just say $20 on the bid and $60 for the shipping . . . if you're interested, go for it. Just my dos centavos.
 
because they probably use children to help make them, pay the adults next to nothing and pick up the bulk of the fee from the postage costs.

Ding ding ding ding ding! Looks like one of those heavily inlaid jobs you see coming from Indonesia. A friend of mine has a gorgeous 6 string bass like that he got off eBay for about what it would cost for the tuners alone at Guitar Center. I dunno. The guilt would be so overpowering. Not consistant with the aloha spirit...
 
He makes all his profit on the shipping and handling fee since no way the shipping alone is $60.00.
 
Well, from everything I've read here an on other forums about these instruments, within a few months they crack and you end up with a collection of splinters and tinder.
 
I have bought 3 tenors so far from this guy (Taisamlu) off ebay and I bought a soprano from Anatonisai. Taisamlu products have all been amazingly beautiful and play and sound great. They are comparable to a $900 Ohana (and Ohana charges another $99 for their case). Most of the tenors he auctions get up to near $100 plus the $60 shipping. That is well worth it for the quality of his work. Anatonisai is another story. I heard a lot of bad things about his work. The soprano I got from him was $70 shipping but I only paid $10 on the auction but that was still $80. He doesn't use Aquila strings like Taisamlu does so I didn't like the muted tone I got from the uke. It looked pretty good so I sold it. If you check Taisamlu's store you will see he sells the auction ukes for around $155 - $225 plus shipping as "Buy it now". The inlay is intricate and lovely. The intonation was bang on and the sound very sweet. They are what he says solid koa, acacia, maple, spruce etc. The case is nice workmanship too. I say go for it. If you can win one for under a $100 even the $60 shipping makes it a good deal. I just bought another one that has not arrived yet that is solid Koa sides and back with a solid spruce top and a cutaway. I can't wait til it arrives. Just like anything else everyone has a different opinion but I really like this guy's ukes.
 
I recently sent a soprano 'ukulele from Hawai'i' to the UK and it cost $16 and some change bubble wrapped, and double boxed.
I just checked MGM's prices for mailing a uke expedited parcel, USPS, and it's $40-$50 for most tenors (with case). He's pretty reasonable in my experience. I've always paid at least $30 in shipping from the US to Canada. Elderly Music quoted me $70 for a soprano without a case. I think I paid $50 for my cigar-box and $35 for Dave's banjolele.
 
The thing that gets me is they put the design on the BACK of the uke, right where you can't see it...
 
There's a quote that goes something like:

Every time you spend money, you create the world in which you live.
 
The shipping rate depends a lot on how you ship it. If you send it USPS (by mail) without insurance it's fairly cheap even to Canada. Anytime I've used this method I have never been asked for duty or taxes BUT if you ship by UPS or Fedex they will charge you triple plus duty plus taxes and easily make a tenor uke a $70 delivery.
 
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