Each of the above options has its own 'pros and cons'. Here are some of them:

Buying from a local reseller:
This is the easiest way, but also the most expensive option - read on and you will see why. You choose your bike, pay the money, wait the 10 to 16 weeks and take delivery - no hassles. Be sure you have read and understood my article on How to Choose a Handcyce before you start the buying process. Contact me if you want assistance.

Buying from an overseas wholesaler:
You do the research, decide on a wholesaler, configure the bike, pay the deposit and then the final installment. The bike will generally be shipped to the aircraft carrier's (freight forwarder) bond warehouse. They do not inform you of its arrival, so if you are not on the ball you could end up paying days or weeks of wharfage as it sits there occupying their valuable warehouse space.
Once you know it has arrived, you need to go to the freight forwarder, pay some money to get the forms to take to customs. Hopefully you have already contacted SARS to obtain the importer code. This code is required to be allowed to import - you can do this once a year as a private individual, or you need to register with SARS as an importer. Be warned.
So, armed with your private individual importer code and the forms from the freight forwarder, you need to go to customs and engage the services of a clearing agent who will clear the shipment through customs for you (for a fee), usually around R1,500.00. You need to pay VAT of 14% on whatever the wholesaler has put on the invoice. Be careful that they dont include the full retial price and a discounted price (the price you paid) as some unscrupulous clearing agents will make you pay VAT on the full retail amount. So, in essence, make sure the invoice is clean and shows ONLY the amount you actually paid, or you may be nicely ripped off.

So, say you have a quote from an overseas wholesaler for a handcycle priced at $3,295.00, what is it really going to cost you?
Add $600 for overseas airfreight, now the price has gone up to $3,895.00 Now you need to pay 50% deposit with your order - porbably by your credit card, so if the exchange rate for the day is quoted at R8.00, the best you will get is around R8.30. Pay the money, wait a few weeks, pay the balance and they ship the bike to you.

Now the real fun starts. If they are a nice wholesaler, they will email you to let you have the MAWB# and flight details. Now you need to do the customs thing. The clearing agent wil charge you around R1,800.00 to clear the freight. Add the VAT - yes you have to pay VAT on the total on the invoice, including VAT on the freight cost - using the example above you will pay out R4,777.99 in VAT and fees.
Total cost of the bike is now: R38,906.49 and you thought it was going to be R26,360.00 ($3,295.00 * R8.00). That is R12,546.49 more than you anticipated, but a lot less than the local agent's R48,000 quote! Please feel free to contact me if you need any further clarification on this procedure and the costs involved. This above example is a real live example and included 3 weeks of waiting for the 'clearing agent' to release the shipment...very annoying to say the least.