I have had a lot of overseas inquiries lately from interested massage chair buyers. I don’ t know if it is the strength of the foreign dollar or the outrageous costs of massage chairs outside of the US, but the bottom  line is we get a lot of inquiries. We do not offer free shipping to orders outside of the continental USA, but we always offer to get a shipping quote for our visitors.

In the past, we have always just gotten an air freight shipping quote, but recently we have been looking into ocean freight.

Here is the pro and con of ocean freight versus air freight:

PRO:  Ocean freight is definitely cheaper in most cases…sometimes up to 60% less!

CON: Ocean freight takes longer to get to it’s destination…sometimes up to 45 days!

So, the trade-off with ocean freight is that you get a massage chair to you a lot cheaper but it is going to take a while longer to get there.

I just got a shipping quote for a Sogno Plus massage chair to Brazil. The air freight was about $1400, the ocean freight was $658. That is a significant savings. And, in this case, the shipping by ocean would “only” take about 26 days. That is about two weeks longer than an air freight shipment to the same place.

If you live overseas and are thinking of getting a massage chair as a Christmas gift,  you better get busy placing your order as soon as possible.

Just call or email us and give us your city and postal code and the model you are considering and I’ll get a shipping quote for you usually within 24 hours.

By the way, and this is the biggest thing, if you order any massage chair through our site, www.massage-chair-relief.com,  for international delivery, we will give you anywhere from $100 - $400 credit in shipping costs, depending on the chair model you order. You see, if you order a chair to be shipped within the continental USA, you get free shipping. It is free for you, but it costs me between $100-$400 depending on the chair model. So, if you are shipping internationally, we don’t have to pay the shipping for the chair and can pass the savings on to you!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I had another question today from another visitor to our massage chair site. This is from a fellow in Europe, so the topic of shipping massage chairs internationally comes up. I hope his questions  and my answers help you answer some of your massage chair shopping questions.

“Hi great website ! I am going to buy a massage chair for the first time and I want to buy the best chair on the market. Main points include heat, calf massage and general all rounfd body massage. Preferably The chair should be comfortable & stylish enough to use as a recliner. I am interested in the following chairs, PHP2030 OSIM Uspace Inada Sogno Omega Premier Panasonic 3006 Sanyo 7700 I would be grateful for youu advice on these chairs? Final question ,,, I live in Switzerland, do you know how much shipping would be or do you have any local European partners.

Many Thanks,

David”

Here is my response…

“Hi, David
Thank you for your inquiry. It sounds like you have been doing some homework!

We are not familiar with the PHP chairs and I know that the OSIM brand is Brookstones, but I have only sat in one OSIM model and there was nothing remarkable about it relative to the other chairs you mention. However, we are very familiar with the other models you are asking about. Here are answers to your questions:

1. “heat” -  all the chairs have heat, but the Panasonic 30006. The Sanyo has only heat in the legs. The Omega has the most comprehensive heat, in the back, seat, and legs. The Sogno has heat in the low back.

2. “calf massage” - All the chairs you speak of have a calf AND foot massager. They are all of good quality, as well.

3. “general all round body massage” - I love the Sogno PLUS massage personally because it covers more square inches of the body than any other chair in the world. It also has the Dream Wave technology which massages the seat and buttocks more than any other chair. This Dream Wave technology is quite revolutionary.  It is my favorite and since it came to America, it has become our best seller…by far.

4. “comfortable & stylish enough to use as a recliner” - The only chair that looks different than a typical massage chair, which is how most chairs look, is the new Inada Sogno. It is very stylish and contemporary looking, although the ottoman and arm massagers are quite overt and obvious. The Omega Premier has the arm massagers as attachments to the arm rests and does not look aesthetically pleasing if you are looking for a recliner-looking massage chair. 

5. “how much shipping would be or do you have any local European partners” - We will need to have your city, postal code, and model you decide upon to get an accurate shipping quote for you. Yes, we can ship to Switzerland, but we do not have any local European partners. I am told that the price of most massage chairs in Europe is so cost-prohibitive that even with the shipping cost, the combined cost is more than the standard price of a chair in Europe.

I hope this answers some of your questions and helps make your buying decision a little easier. Please email again if you have more questions or inquiries. You can also call our showroom at 1-801-417-8240 to speak to Steffanie or myself.

I await your response with your postal code and city and model you are interested in so that I can get you an accurate shippng quote…

Dr. Alan Weidner”

Well, our week at the PGA Tour Championship at Willow Creek Golf Course in Sandy, Utah ended in a very interesting way. Saturday night the sprinklers went off in the tent where our massage chairs were stored and they were soaked throughout the night! Steffanie went to turn on the massage chairs Sunday morning and found them absolutely drenched by the water. The home entertainment vendor next to us had water dripping out of the back of his flat screen TV’s when he came in!

Needless to say, we didn’t plug in or turn on any massage chairs on that last day of the Tour. We just dried out the chairs and brought them back to the showroom Monday morning. We had the HT-1650 massage chair, the HT-7450 massage chair, and the Sogno PLUS massage chair in the tent. All I could think about was how good the liability insurance was at the PGA!

Well, as it turned out, everything worked Monday morning and all is well at Massage Chair Relief!

What we get out of this experience is that the massage chairs we carry are durable and can survive a drenching from a golf course sprinkler system (have you ever seen a golf course sprinkler?? They put out a lot of water at a very impressive force!).

By the way, the picture above is a shot of the pro’s at the driving range prior to Saturday’s round.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com