Advice on buying from the usa

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raythefab

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Can anyone explain this to me please, im after buying some used gear in the usa for $550, and the guy has sent me this is there a problem buying from the usa thank you
this is what he said
Well, sometimes when I've shipped overseas and the buyer has ask me to put a low value on the customs form or ask me to put down that it is a gift so they can avoid the VAT or some other fee. I'm not comfortable doing that.
 
Customs duty is payable if the amount of duty is £7 or above and VAT is payable if the value of the goods is £18 or above. These must be paid whether the goods are new or used
 
Another point to consider is that there is generally a handling charge by the PO. Whenever I've bought anything (large) I've been stung for £18 even before they think about VAT/Import Duty. :crying:
 
Putting "Gift" on the consignment sheet will gaurantee that your shipment will be gutted, ranscaked, poked, prodded, spun around a bit, laughed at, witheld and finally be confused for as a new item so the VAT will be maximum. Customs although seem it, aren't that stupid.

Saying that I have bought from the States a few times, but from dealers like Adorama and BH Photo. They sell used gear too.
Certain items are still cheaper despite the import and VAT charges. My one piece of advice is use a courier to ship to the UK and not internal post companies like USPS (United States Postal Service), further reading here.
 
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Great info there Tom, now browsing adorama and see what they have for me...
 
i have bought loads (probably in the hundreds over the years) of items from the US and from the far east, I have paid duty/vat on some and nothing on others, I have never waited more than a week or so for my goods and they have NEVER been opened/repackaged or damaged with bits missing.

Perhaps you have had a bad experience or two which may be unfortunate, but if you think that UK customs have the manpower or time to look at every small package that comes into the UK to see if it requires VAT and/or duty you are delusional.

There are more checks carried out these days due to terrorism and drugs problems so many items are scanned, but on the whole they just pass through the system taking into account what is on the declaration.

Oh, and I'll just say 'a friend of a friend of a friend is a customs officer'
 
EdBray said:
Perhaps you have had a bad experience or two which may be unfortunate, but if you think that UK customs have the manpower or time to look at every small package that comes into the UK to see if it requires VAT and/or duty you are delusional.
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I don't appreciate being called delusional Ed. At all. :bat:
You have gravely misunderstood my post.
I don't expect that csutoms inspect all the vintage tube socks and star trek posters one may buy of fleabay, I'm referring to packages in excess of £200 - £500, anything labelled as a "gift" that's above a ton will be suspect and have arisk of being opened and inspected.
 
I have bought many large items from the US over the years some were very large and many cost over a couple of hundred quid. I do not ask for the item to be declared as a gift though, just ask them to considerably reduce the price paid on the declaration and mark the goods as used. Some sellers will and some won't.

10-15 years or so ago the availability of quality woodworking equipment at a reasonable price was non existant in the UK whilst the US has a massive selection and many items unavailable to the UK market, so I bought a lot of portable and some not so portable from the US. This did mean on occasions having ro use a 110V transformer for the smaller stuff and changing the motors on some of the larger items but if you wanted these items that was the only way to get them. Sometimes I was charged the duty/fees and sometimes I did not.

And you have misunderstood my post also.

At no point in your post do you mention that this does not include smaller items which are as you say rarely checked but it's amaxing how many smaller packages can contain items of extremely high value.

The customs work on the declaration alone 90% of the time as this is the easy option and as I said manpower/time is an issue.

As you are clearly aware that they do not check every package I do not see how the delusional term applies to you as I quoted " if you think that UK customs have the manpower or time to look at every small package that comes into the UK to see if it requires VAT and/or duty you are delusional."

I would be interested in how you are such an authority on current UK Customs practise when you are based in Helsinki though!

wink, wink, "as i said a friend of a friend of a friend"

And if this point is not scaremongering I do not know what is!

6:Have a disproportionate and exorbitant 'fee' slapped on it as the Customs officer has incorrectly labelled your second hand nikon flash gun as an Elinchrom Digital 2500 watt seconds flash head and refuses to accept that he/she has made a mistake.

The story can variate but never be better than that.

Now customs can charge you an excess fee if they feel you are trying to avoid duty, but to misrepresent the item completely? Sorry would not happen!
 
EdBray said:
I have bought many large items from the US over the years some were very large and many cost over a couple of hundred quid. I do not ask for the item to be declared as a gift though, just ask them to considerably reduce the price paid on the declaration and mark the goods as used. Some sellers will and some won't.
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True, but riddle me this Batman, if Customs are supicious then it's going to increase the chance of delay or complicate your order isn't it? Why risk it? Personally I don't like to as (from my experiences) brought nothing but trouble, I also won't buy anything unless I need it, and normally with paid assignments, they don't always come along with advanced warnings so time is always an issue. The times I have asked the seller to confirm that the label is not going to describe it as a "gift' things have been smooth and without delay.

EdBray said:
10-15 years or so ago the availability of quality woodworking equipment at a reasonable price was non existant in the UK whilst the US has a massive selection and many items unavailable to the UK market, so I bought a lot of portable and some not so portable from the US. This did mean on occasions having ro use a 110V transformer for the smaller stuff and changing the motors on some of the larger items but if you wanted these items that was the only way to get them. Sometimes I was charged the duty/fees and sometimes I did not.
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Good for you. I do expect that camera equiptment that has Adorama or BH Photo plastered all over the packing draws a little more attention to itself though doesn't it?

EdBray said:
And you have misunderstood my post also.
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Apologies but I still don't really undertsand your point. So far it looks to be unnecessarily argumentative.

EdBray said:
I would be interested in how you are such an authority on current UK Customs practise when you are based in Helsinki though!
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Where do you get that I'm an authority? :thumbsdown: I'm voicing my experience and opinion in the hope that it helps others.
I'm English, I'm 30 and been living in Helsinki for nearly 3 years, interestingly enough, if you had read the all the info I provided you would already know this. No offence but I fail to undertsand how you can effectivley raise a point during a discussion\debate when selectively reading the threads.

I've had some very bad experiences with customs both in the UK and over here. I'm merely voicing those experiences and hopefully making folk aware that steps can be taken to avoid any complications. Regardless to whether your EU or UK based, my advice is use a courier. Simple.

EdBray said:
wink, wink, "as i said a friend of a friend of a friend"
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:thinking:...and this means what precisley?


EdBray said:
And if this point is not scaremongering I do not know what is!

"6:Have a disproportionate and exorbitant 'fee' slapped on it as the Customs officer has incorrectly labelled your second hand nikon flash gun as an Elinchrom Digital 2500 watt seconds flash head and refuses to accept that he/she has made a mistake.

The story can variate but never be better than that."

Now customs can charge you an excess fee if they feel you are trying to avoid duty, but to misrepresent the item completely? Sorry would not happen!
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I was quite annoyed when I wrote that but also I am somewhat exaggerating in the attempt to make you (the reader) laugh.
The truth was that Customs would not believe that the flash was as cheap as it was and wanted me to pay much more in VAT, the whole arse ache cause a huge delay to my order and really p***ed me off.

I stick by my guns = get it sent by courier and you will be much better off.
 
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I just got hit for £100 duty on a lens from the USA, but it still worked out cheaper than I could get one from HK, and then there was always the risk of being hit for duty with one from HK anyway, which would have ended up really expensive!
 
CT said:
I just got hit for £100 duty on a lens from the USA, but it still worked out cheaper than I could get one from HK, and then there was always the risk of beog hit for duty with one from HK anyway, which would have ended up really expensive!
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Sorry to hear it CT :(,
A little late but apparently One-Stop (HK) will refund the VAT if your charged upon arrival to the UK.
I've only ever ordered once from them and evaded customs on that occasion. :shrug:
 
Well,. I'm not too bothered Tomas tbh, The lens was mint and it still worked out at a good price anyway compared to HK. I couldn't source one in the UK at all. This was a lens no longer in production so I doubt One-Stop would have helped much.
 
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CT said:
Well,. I'm not too bothered Tomas tbh, The lens was mint and it still worked out at a good price anyway compared to HK. I couldn't source one in the UK at all. This was a lens no longer in production so I doubt One-Stop would have helped much.
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Righty o then mate, I gotcha. Just out of interest, which lens was it?
 
Zeiss 21mm 2.8 Biogon for the Contax G2. Comes with it's own viewfinder. Virtually distortion free. :love:

product_83438.jpg
 
LOL. Will do Tomas, but this retouching job I've foolishly undertaken is my version of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. :puke:

Just do a Google image search on 21mm Biogon, you'll find loads of images taken with it
 
I can't remember now but the bulk of it was VAT and import duty IIRC, then there was a small handling charge from the couriers I think. Bastids! :D
 
I think it was about 380 quid.

I'd think seriously before I bought an expensive item from the US again.
 
Not to mention having to send it back to the US for any warranty work, it will not have a UK warranty on it unfortunately
 
i read a notice in the PO that royal mail now charge £8 for handling a customs surcharge

I wanted a HDMI switcher last year, I looked at the monoprice website and they were 1/2 what they cost in the UK but the post was a killer, thing was the post stayed the same and the price of the switcher went down if you ordered 6+ so i asked on a forum if anyone else wanted one, found 5 buyers and ordered 6, i'd budgeted VAT and duty in the price of the 5 but despite there being a big customs label with a $400 value declared no duty was claimed.

a few weeks later I bought an original star wars poster and that cost me £11 in duty :bonk:
 
If I could find a bargain I was looking for in the US, I wouldn't have a problem ordering it. Of course, calculate any tax & duty into your 'bargain price' for the max you may be expected to pay.

Having lived in the US and imported £ks goods from the US to the UK I've never had a problem. Had one delay of two days for what seemed nothing in particular. Using an international courier as long as you have adequate isurance I don't see why it should be an issue.

The only negative at the moment is of course the exchange rate!:eek:
 
nictry said:
Not to mention having to send it back to the US for any warranty work, it will not have a UK warranty on it unfortunately
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Not always so, some sellers provide an international warrenty... they do exist, I had one with some camcorder equipment:D
 
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