Import taxes and customs

[wisewood]

Has anyone bought a saw of ebay from America? Just wondering if you would incur charges from customs or not. Don't want to commit to something and find I have to pay extra to receive it!

Cheers,

Si

[Stubby]

I f its brand new from a dealer then yes you do . I used to by second hand on a regular basis back in the day when the £ was strong against the $ and sometimes there would be no charges at all and sometimes there would be . When new, there are customs charges and handling charges and all the paperwork attached . So yes , be prepared !

[gensetsteve]

I bought a new controller for our hot tub for about £100 and it cost me £20 in taxes to get it released from the post office. Still £200 cheaper than the robbing dealers over here though.

[john k]

You should reckon on a few percent duty and 20% vat, plus a handling charge of about £10 from the carrier (Parcelforce etc).

 

If it's something small you may not get any charges, but don't bank on it.

[Hoggin]

I've bought quite a bit of stuff from overseas, including the USA, and it doesn't matter whether it is new or used, if it is worth over £15 including carriage charges, you stand a good chance of getting hit for duty etc. As has been said, the carrier will often sting you for an additional charge for collecting the duties too.

 

There are various dodges such as getting all the paperwork and packaging removed but I've never known them to work. The customs people then pick a value out the air, usually on the high side. You can dispute it but it costs you to appeal. If you refuse to pay it, they won't let you have your goods.

 

If you bring it back in your baggage, the limits are higher and you stand a better chance of not having to pay anything at all.

[Stubby]

I've bought quite a bit of stuff from overseas, including the USA, and it doesn't matter whether it is new or used, if it is worth over £15 including carriage charges, you stand a good chance of getting hit for duty etc. As has been said, the carrier will often sting you for an additional charge for collecting the duties too.

 

There are various dodges such as getting all the paperwork and packaging removed but I've never known them to work. The customs people then pick a value out the air, usually on the high side. You can dispute it but it costs you to appeal. If you refuse to pay it, they won't let you have your goods.

 

If you bring it back in your baggage, the limits are higher and you stand a better chance of not having to pay anything at all.

 

In the past I have hadf one or two for free when they were marked as "a gift" but they are wise to that now .

[wisewood]

Cheers guys, I'm a little bit more clued up as to what to expect now, thank you.

[difflock]

I know of a gentleman (down the pub) who buys his fine cigars direct from Cuba.

About 1 in 3 consignments are seized by Customs.

He gets the other 2 out of 3 on average.

Even with the seizures he reckons it is only about 1/2 the UK price.

And they certainly smell like wonderful cigars.

Despite his longstanding order the seize rate remains about the same statistically.

[skip]

gifts over £40 and goods over £30 will be held until duty is payed, the americans have to fill the declaration out so if they mark gift under £40 you stand a chance of no charge unless the x-ray computer recons its worth more than £40 then ur screwed for the duty plus a hefty fee!

[Craig Johnson]

if your bringing in climbing lines dont call it rope call it string much less duty lol