What does an official Rob Allen distributor actually import to Thailand?

People ask me two things constantly. “Is your stuff real?” and “Why is it more expensive than what I see online from Australia?” The answer to both questions is the same: because this is what it actually costs to import real Rob Allen gear to Thailand legally. Let me show you the math from the 2026 relaunch order, line by line.

The order, in one sentence

In early 2026 I placed the first post-dormancy order with Rob Allen Durban. $10,000 USD wholesale, 86 SKUs weighted to historical bestsellers, air freight for speed to shelf. Here is what that actually breaks down to.

The wholesale side

$10,000 USD direct from Rob Allen Durban. At the FX rate at the time of order (roughly 35 THB per USD), that is 350,000 THB wholesale.

What is in the order:

• Roughly 40 percent of the value is spearguns. Snapper and Tuna railgun line in 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 cm sizes. A handful of Scorpia entry guns. A few GT Carbon rollers for the bluewater-inclined customer.
• Roughly 25 percent is consumables. Replacement rubbers across all thicknesses (12.5, 14, 16 mm in multiple lengths). Shafts in 6.5, 7, and 7.5 mm. Wishbones, line, muzzle bungees.
• Roughly 20 percent is accessories. Reels, floats, float lines, weight belts, knives.
• Roughly 15 percent is masks, fins, and dive bags.

86 SKUs total. Not all in large quantities. The spearguns are ordered in pairs or fours of the common sizes. Consumables in bulk because they turn fast. Specialist items (like the carbon guns or the big 130 cm Tuna) one or two at a time.

Shipping and insurance

Air freight Durban to Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi). Chosen over sea freight because sea takes 6 to 8 weeks and air takes 5 to 7 days. For a relaunch order where I want product on shelves fast, that time difference is worth the premium.

Air freight on this order: approximately $900 USD. Roughly 31,500 THB.

Shipping insurance: included in freight cost for air.

Cumulative cost so far: 350,000 THB (wholesale) + 31,500 THB (freight) = 381,500 THB.

Thai import duty

Spearfishing gear falls under HS codes 95062900 (spearguns and related hunting equipment) and 95079000 (fishing line and related accessories). The Thai import duty on these codes is 10 percent.

Import duty is calculated on the CIF value (Cost + Insurance + Freight). CIF = wholesale + freight = 381,500 THB. Duty = 10 percent of CIF = 38,150 THB.

Cumulative: 381,500 + 38,150 = 419,650 THB.

Thai import VAT

Thai import VAT is 7 percent and is charged on CIF plus duty.

Base for VAT = 419,650 THB. VAT = 7 percent = 29,376 THB.

Cumulative: 419,650 + 29,376 = 449,026 THB.

Customs broker and paperwork

Clearing the shipment through Thai customs requires a licensed broker, document preparation, warehouse handling fees at Suvarnabhumi cargo, and transport from airport to Koh Samui (which is a flight-plus-ferry transit, not a cheap last-mile).

All-in on clearance and domestic transit: approximately 40,000 THB.

Cumulative: 449,026 + 40,000 = 489,026 THB.

The landed cost number

Wholesale: 350,000 THB. Landed at Lamai: 489,026 THB.

Ratio: 1.397x. Call it 1.40x for planning purposes.

Every Rob Allen item I stock has a landed cost of roughly 1.40 times its Durban wholesale price. That is the real number, on a real recent shipment, validated against previous 2023 shipment actuals.

Retail math

Rob Allen publishes a suggested Thai MSRP for each product, accounting for the import realities of a market like this. My default retail markup is 2.0x on landed cost, which works out to roughly 7 percent above Rob Allen’s suggested Thai MSRP.

That puts my retail at a fair-and-defensible position: not the cheapest option (if you are willing to gamble on grey market or import-yourself, you can find lower), but consistent with the brand’s suggested pricing for an official channel, with the warranty and support to match.

For context on what 2.0x on landed looks like in practice:

• Snapper 90 (RGSNP09): wholesale roughly $140, landed roughly 6,900 THB, retail 9,500 THB.
• Tuna 110 (RGTUN11): wholesale roughly $205, landed roughly 10,100 THB, retail 13,500 THB.
• GT Carbon 110: wholesale roughly $425, landed roughly 20,900 THB, retail 26,500 THB.

That is the math. It is all there to see. No mystery pricing.

Why this is more expensive than “direct from Durban” online

When you see a Rob Allen Snapper 90 on an Australian or European retailer site for $200 USD plus shipping, and you compare it to my 9,500 THB, you might think I am expensive. Run the math:

• $200 USD at current FX: 7,000 THB.
• International shipping to Thailand for a speargun: $60 to $120 USD, call it 3,500 THB.
• Thai customs duty when you receive it: 10 percent on declared value, so roughly 1,050 THB.
• Thai import VAT: 7 percent on CIF plus duty, roughly 780 THB.
• Customs broker fees or self-clearance hassle: variable, minimum 500 THB.

All-in: 12,830 THB. Plus 3 to 6 weeks of waiting. Plus you are the importer of record if customs flags it. Plus the warranty is now routed through the foreign distributor who has no local support for you.

My 9,500 THB is 3,300 THB cheaper, three-day delivery, full Thai warranty, Stripe checkout in THB. This is not a coincidence. This is what official distribution exists to do.

Why this is more expensive than a Lazada grey-market listing

Grey-market Lazada listings skip 10 percent import duty, skip 7 percent VAT, skip customs broker fees, and sometimes sell counterfeit product stamped with Rob Allen branding that never came from Durban at all.

When you see a “Rob Allen Snapper 90” on Lazada for 7,500 THB, one of three things is true:

1. It is genuine grey-market, imported illegally, no warranty, no legal recourse if Thai customs ever flags the seller.
2. It is counterfeit.
3. It is a listing that will get suspended before shipment.

I cannot compete with illegal pricing and would not want to. My customers are buying a real thing that actually works, with real warranty behind it, from a real person who ships it with his own hands from a post office 50 metres from his front door.

What the order physically looks like

The shipment arrives at my house in Lamai, Koh Samui, in four or five boxes from the Suvarnabhumi cargo clearance. I unpack each SKU, verify against the packing list, register serial numbers for the spearguns into the Rob Allen warranty system, and shelve everything in inventory.

When you place an order on the site, I pick the items, pack them personally, and walk them across the street to the Lamai post office. Thailand Post delivers nationally in 3 business days. Tracked.

That is the whole operation. One person, one house, one post office. No warehouse. No fulfilment centre. No margin skimmed by a middleman.

Why this matters to you

A distributor who is honest about landed cost, about duty, about markup, and about warranty is a distributor you can actually trust with a 25,000 THB bluewater gun purchase. The grey-market competition cannot be this transparent because their math only works if you do not ask the questions.

Asking questions is fair. I would rather you know exactly what you are paying for than assume I am marking up arbitrarily.

The full flow, one more time

1. Order placed with Rob Allen Durban. $10,000 USD, 86 SKUs.
2. Rob Allen packs the shipment in Durban. Sends to air freight.
3. Air freight Durban to Bangkok, approximately one week.
4. Thai customs clearance at Suvarnabhumi cargo. Duty and VAT paid by me.
5. Domestic transit from Bangkok to Koh Samui.
6. Unpacked and inventoried at my house in Lamai.
7. Serial registration into Rob Allen warranty system.
8. Listed on shopspearfishingthailand.store at fair Thai-market retail.
9. You order. I pack. Lamai post office. 3-day delivery to your door.
10. Lifetime warranty is backed by a real relationship, not a hope.

That is what an official Rob Allen distributor in Thailand actually does.

Questions I get asked on this

“Why not sea freight for cheaper?” Sea freight saves about 30 percent on shipping cost but takes 6 to 8 weeks instead of 5 to 7 days. For the first relaunch order I needed stock on shelves fast. Future bulk reorders will likely go sea.

“Why not larger order for better wholesale pricing?” Rob Allen wholesale tiering does not scale that way. $10,000 is the sweet spot for air-freight-viable order size at launch. Larger orders make sense later when demonstrated sell-through justifies the capital tie-up.

“Can I buy at wholesale?” No. Wholesale is for distributors. What I can do is offer fair retail on the shop with volume-order pricing for guide operators, dive schools, or resellers of different kinds. Talk to me.

“What if I want a SKU you did not order?” I can special-order any of the 1,355 Rob Allen SKUs. Lead time is 3 to 6 weeks depending on stock at Durban and freight batch. Send me the SKU and I will quote.

The bottom line

This is what real distribution looks like: real numbers, real paperwork, real warranty, real hands on every shipment. If you want to see where your money goes when you buy from Spearfishing Thailand, now you know.

Shop the current Rob Allen range here. More on distributor status and warranty path here.

Questions on the import process, on a specific SKU, or on a bulk order for your dive operation? WhatsApp me directly. +66 (0) 80 535 2528.