@bennyc:
Seen those new black boxes recently at varia-store.com, prices in €, german distributor, who has +- normal prices compared with others. For that 2240 model, their webshop lists: "Price: from 643,79 EUR excl. Shipping costs"
rate today: USD/EUR 0,89
So you payed €488 (device+shipping) + €97 (20% tax) + €22 (bank fee), that equals about €608 incl. Shipping costs.
(under the assumption you only payed once a bank fee, otherwise we need to add €25 (=$28, but not sure what you mean with your comments)
Even with that 2nd fee added, you bought it cheaper than when through European retail store, but you had to cope with bank fee(s), extra tax, and of course the risk (unknown factor).
Interesting.
Device listing price: $353. What I payed in total: €492
Looks expensive, but don't forget that usually no tax is included in the listed prices in us shops. You only have to pay the tax for your country (where the package is imported to).
The $28 were basically a buffer in case bank fees on their side occur. Not really a legitimate practice, but I did get $18 back later on. The €22 fee was the charge of my local bank for the bank check and currency change (many us companies do not provide international bank account numbers).
PS: I did not find any EU reseller at time of ordering.
But you are right:
http://varia-store.com/Ready-Systems/pfSense/pfSense-SG-2440-Security-Gateway-Appliance::27988.html
that's the same device.
If the alrdy installed pfSense and the included support is important to you - that's maybe the better choice.
PPS: It's possible to order the board only, thats about $100 cheaper, but the case is actually quite nice.
