Buying A Tent Online (From Overseas)

I have done this a few times, in most cases because the tent was not available locally. You really need to get a heavy discount off the retail if buying from the US as you will likely have to get it sent to a US address then forwarded to NZ and postage on large bulky items out of the US is not cheap (1.8 kg tent was $90). US dollar still quite strong and you need to consider GST and significant customs 'handling' fees. Sometimes you might get lucky with this, but factor it in with the expectation that you will have to pay when comparing prices. If you have an amazon account, you can load up a whole bunch of options in your cart and check them daily to see if any prices have shifted. Sometimes you can get serious bargains like 40% off for short periods. It's quite addictive

I've landed a couple of Sierra Designs tents ex USA with no issues and for a lot less than a comparable tent bought locally. As stated above it's not really worth doing unless they're heavily discounted - gearbuyer.com is also good for spotting good deals when they come up, and I also keep an eye out for runout deals on ebay, Amazon and REI (the 'merkins don't seem to like buying last year's model much). I've not had any issues with duty or GST, but I always keep under the $400NZD cutoff.

Have a look at these if you're after a good value local option : http://www.outdooraction.co.nz/wild-country-zephyros-1-tent.html Not the lightest 1 man around, but well designed and can handle pretty crappy conditions with ease. The vestibule means you can keep your pack and boots out of the weather or cook a meal under cover if you have to.

Torpedo7, Zempire Atom, 30% off until midnight 7th Feb = $175 https://www.torpedo7.co.nz/products/LIATAN642/title/zempire-2016-atom-adventure-tent