Buying off B&H

SFTPhotography

SFTPhotography

Ranger Smith
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Steve
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Anyone here done this

I know they are a US retailer - what's the deal with import duties etc. They seem to have an option where you can pay all the taxes/duties upfront - but will this actually clear customs here in the UK or would I be better selecting pay myself and dealing with it myself

Sadly wex put their price up today and I called them and they couldn't offer me the lens at the price they had yesterday. You win some, you lose some. Can't fault their service or the deal they did offer me, but it doesn't match B&H's or the one they had yesterday. Not their fault - entirely mine for holding out rather than buying when I should have.

With the duties the B&H one is only £50 more but I just want to make sure that if I tick that box I am not hit again with further taxes as the duty alone comes to over £400
 
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I made a purchase from digitalrev some years ago, if I remember correctly they also add import and VAT charges beforehand and there were no additional charges when it was in the UK.
 
Personally I would wait for any potential us trade deal. Right now postal companies would hit you even with handling charges. Mostly nothing when ordering from China though. You just wander what and why is going on
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Personally I would wait for any potential us trade deal. Right now postal companies would hit you even with handling charges. Mostly nothing when ordering from China though. You just wander what and why is going on
Click to expand...

My other half told me earlier that she read before Brexit, postal charges into Europe were £14 and now they are £47.
 
price of product
postage
import duty
VAT
handling fee if courier/post office has to collect duty on your behalf.

if B&H pre-pay customs fees on your behalf exchange rate is fixed, otherwise the one used by B&H's bank at payment could well be different to the one used by HMRC.

Postal charges to the US have gone up due to Covid 19 as a lot of airmail goes in the holds of passenger planes, and theres a lot less of those. Hence Royal Mail introducing world zone 3 for US only with a higher rate. Courier costs I've not noticed a massive increase, but some of the budget deals have gone as there is less surplus space to be filled.
 
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