NZ isn't a tax paradise, I know because I live here and the local tax regimes and those who enforce them are as draconian as anywhere else in the world :-)

Despite what their website might suggest, Peak Model appears almost certainly to be Chinese-based, perhaps with someone in NZ as an agent or principle of the company.

Goods are sent direct from China (not NZ), hence the lower prices.

You may not have been charged import taxes because it's been my experience that such companies often fill in the customs declaration form with "Gift" and allege that the item has little/no value. That'll work fine a lot of the time -- but if your customs people actually open the package and discover it is not a cheap gift, they can (in many countries) hit you with some very significant charges, based on their own estimation of the value.

I always encourage those shipping products to me to use a realistic declaration and back it up with a copy of the invoice in the box whenever possible.

For what it's worth, I ordered some stuff from Peak a couple of weeks ago and got advised that, due to an error on their website, they couldn't supply for two weeks. To their credit, they did offer to refund my PayPal payment or offer me a spare LiPo for my inconvenience -- I opted for the latter.

I'm reseving judgement until my stuff arrives.

Regarding their pricing -- I think few people actually appreciate just how cheap the Chinese are selling some of this stuff for.

Take the Katana 70 V2 being sold in the USA for US$199. I just got one of these direct from the factory and, including couriered delivery from China to NZ, it cost me just a fraction of that price. I expect the price ex-factory is probably around US$50 or so.

Likewise, a Chinese-made engine that sells for almost US$400 in US shops actually costs little more than US$100 at the factory door.

I think we'll see a growing number of these "direct from the factory" sales in future as the Chinese manufacturers wake up to the fact that they can boost sales by allowing a number of "agents" to market their wares and ship direct. This is great for the astute buyer but I suspect that there will still be quite a few people who get caught out by misleading descriptions and dubious quality (with a total absense of local warranty support).

As I said, I'll reserve my judgement on Peak Model until I've got my order -- but I'm not quite so impressed at what appears to be a concerted "informal advertising" campaign being conducted through these forums.