Swaping photo equipment from the US

I can't see why anybody here would be too bothered about trading with you. You're not exactly new here so seem like a safe bet. If I were a Nikon owner in an alternate universe, you being in the US wouldn't bother me. I've bought stuff off ebayers there and that's a bigger risk.

And as the question is likely to be asked, secondhand goods imported in to the UK are still subject to import duties and vat.
 
even if no money changes hands the buyer will be liable for duty, VAT and whatever the courier company charges for handling the collection of duty which can be quite a bit

The cost of sending insured packages once they go over 2kg is pretty expensive here so i'd think it's be similar in the US, most companies have an policy which excludes glass so the chances are it won't be insured.

Edited as I didn't realise you were in the US

selling here may be OK if the UK price is higher (pretty likely) because even with the charges your gear may still be cheaper
 
What if he sells his equipment here and then posts it as 'present, item of zero value'. I remember buying my old 70-300 3 years ago from HK and the seller used this trick to ensure that I didn't pay taxes. Never bought anything else from abroad tbh to know if this is standard.
 
wegotitugetit said:
i wouldnt dare swap my kit from the states you dont know who is on the other end could be mr thief
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Mr Thief could just as easily be living in the next street. Coming from a different country doesn't increase the chances of thievery.



Steve.
 
stylgeo said:
What if he sells his equipment here and then posts it as 'present, item of zero value'.
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Normally this is illegal as it is fraud. i.e. you are stating that no money changed hands when in fact, it did.

However, if two people wanted to give their cameras away as gifts......

A bit of a grey area probably but I would try it.



Steve.
 
Steve Smith said:
Normally this is illegal as it is fraud. i.e. you are stating that no money changed hands when in fact, it did.

However, if two people wanted to give their cameras away as gifts......

A bit of a grey area probably but I would try it.



Steve.
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I work for an international courier company and have what is known as "Known agent status". This basically means I can present a sealed item to the airline having x-rayed it at my warehouse. You cannot under any circumstances mis declare an item. Well, you can, but if you're caught as a courier company you lose your shipping license which in effect closes you down.

All items have a value unles they are pure documentation. It is possible to lower the value a tad, but most customs officials will have a rough idea of values and will actively seek out misdeclared items.

The best bet is to give a realistic value, and hope the VAT man doesn't hammer you!

Just a bit of advice! :)
 
I would rather you didn't try and trade over here. People need jobs here, and by coming to trade here, you are damaging the legitimate trading of goods by UK traders.

Don't expect an easy ride.
 
If you say you want to trade, then you need to understand that the word trade over here usually indicates something more heavy than purely selling one or two bits of stuff.

My response is matched to what I understood. If you are harmlessly selling a few bits then sorry, I got you wrong.
 
Even if the OP did mean trade as in set up a business selling equipment, he is free to sell into the UK just as we are free to sell into the US. It works both ways.



Steve.
 
Free market - I get you.

No income tax , no VAT, no money back, no guarantee.................. ( you may recal the song).
 
MARK AMIES said:
I would rather you didn't try and trade over here. People need jobs here, and by coming to trade here, you are damaging the legitimate trading of goods by UK traders.

Don't expect an easy ride.
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This isn't one of your better posts Mark for and I realise you have apologised for it in a later post but please take a moment to consider what you are posting.

F-Stop has posted a genuine query so let's keep it on track.

Thank you.
 
children70s_swap_shop_gal.jpg


I think that's what he means by trade :D
 
You are probably right, sorry.

I have been considering this for a while, but I think I will remove myself from this forum.

Sorry - in my world 'Trade' means something else. When I see companies closing down , and people losing their jobs , I tend to react.

Call me stupid, but that is how I read it.

It is quite a reactionary site this, and I have had my fingers bitten a few times, the last time was when I innocently posted a genuine thread, which was seized upon, and I was under suspicion of working a number. I found this rather sad.

So long and thanks for the opportunity.:wave:
 
take no notice of the doom mongers fstop, us normal people will still make you feel comfortable here mate you swap your lenses if you want :thumbs:
 
MARK AMIES said:
You are probably right, sorry.

I have been considering this for a while, but I think I will remove myself from this forum.

Sorry - in my world 'Trade' means something else. When I see companies closing down , and people losing their jobs , I tend to react.

Call me stupid, but that is how I read it.

It is quite a reactionary site this, and I have had my fingers bitten a few times, the last time was when I innocently posted a genuine thread, which was seized upon, and I was under suspicion of working a number. I found this rather sad.

So long and thanks for the opportunity.:wave:
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Mark, this site is far from reactionary but what you must understand is that we do get a lot of new posters on here trying to promote a business hence the suspicion (rightly or wrongly) that you were doing the same, I thought that matter had been cleared up.

As to this thread, maybe the language was taken out of context but again it was sorted. I personally think you could be a very useful contributor to the forums due to your experience in the event photography world once you get used to us - we don't bite. Now stop being such a bloomin' drama queen. :D <<<< That last bit is supposed to humourous before anyone starts. ;)
 
MARK AMIES said:
It is quite a reactionary site this, and I have had my fingers bitten a few times, the last time was when I innocently posted a genuine thread, which was seized upon, and I was under suspicion of working a number. I found this rather sad.
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I think it's more a problem with it being written words on a website rather than spoken words face to face.

With a face to face conversation it's easy to work out what is meant by the tone of voice, body language, etc.

With the written word on a forum, all this inter-personal stuff is missing so it is up to the individual recipient to work out what is meant. Obviously we are all different and tend to translate things differently.


Steve.
 
AndrewC is spot on. I do tend to get the lingo mixed up here from time to time. Sorry for that. I know and actually knew (it just didn't come across in my post) that trade has another meaning over there. Sorry for the confusion. No worries and no harm done.

And thanks, Luke. :D
 
Trade in the classifieds on here also means swap. Hence the For Sale / Trade forum. :shrug:

Fuss over nothing about the wording tbh ;)
 
Marcel said:
Trade in the classifieds on here also means swap. Hence the For Sale / Trade forum. :shrug:

Fuss over nothing about the wording tbh ;)
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Sorry mate im being really dumb, I thought F-Stop said he wanted to trade and someone else said the right word is swap, not the other way round. Ill go learn to read now......

Still yeah, a fuss over nothing :)
 
MARK AMIES said:
You are probably right, sorry.

I have been considering this for a while, but I think I will remove myself from this forum.

Sorry - in my world 'Trade' means something else. When I see companies closing down , and people losing their jobs , I tend to react.

Call me stupid, but that is how I read it.

It is quite a reactionary site this, and I have had my fingers bitten a few times, the last time was when I innocently posted a genuine thread, which was seized upon, and I was under suspicion of working a number. I found this rather sad.

So long and thanks for the opportunity.:wave:
Click to expand...

No need to leave dude. I'm not offended to that point. Sorry if I made you think that. I can see where you were coming from and no worries from here. :)
 
Still no one has answered my question. lol. :D

If I were to swap my lens for another lens of the same value, how would VAT/duty come into play? Or would it? No money involved. Just a straight swap.

Also, what if money were involved? My lens plus cash for a better lens, etc?

That make a little more sense?
 
F-Stop said:
Still no one has answered my question. lol. :D

If I were to swap my lens for another lens of the same value, how would VAT/duty come into play? Or would it? No money involved. Just a straight swap.

Also, what if money were involved? My lens plus cash for a better lens, etc?

That make a little more sense?
Click to expand...

Just a guess, but I think the reason no one has answered is that no one knows.

I could be wrong like.
 
stylgeo said:
What if he sells his equipment here and then posts it as 'present, item of zero value'. I remember buying my old 70-300 3 years ago from HK and the seller used this trick to ensure that I didn't pay taxes. Never bought anything else from abroad tbh to know if this is standard.
Click to expand...
If it has a value you will pay, if you declare it as no value then there is no insurance.
 
F-Stop said:
Still no one has answered my question. lol. :D

If I were to swap my lens for another lens of the same value, how would VAT/duty come into play? Or would it? No money involved. Just a straight swap.

Also, what if money were involved? My lens plus cash for a better lens, etc?

That make a little more sense?
Click to expand...
OK, I'll take a stab at it.

Items sold in the UK are subject to VAT (a kind of Government sales tax for our New World cousins) if and only if the seller is registered for VAT. Such registration is compulsory if the seller's annual turnover exceeds about £64,000 but optional otherwise. There are some circumstances in which it is desirable to register for VAT without a £64,000 turnover - I registered for VAT before I even started trading, for example - but these are highly unusual. So for a private individual in the UK (or, strictly speaking, the EU) selling to another private individual in the UK, VAT is not an issue.

However, the Government tends to assume that buying something from outside the EU is an attempt to avoid VAT. Hence all purchases from outside the EU over a certain minimum value (£18) are liable for VAT. This applies regardless of whether the seller is a company with a multi-billion turnover or a private individual.

When an item is imported into the UK, its value must be declared. As NickTB says, it's not a good idea to lie about the value. The declared value is then used as the basis for calculating whether import duty (6.9% on DSLR lenses) and/or VAT is due. Customs officials don't necessarily identify every parcel that contains chargeable goods, and they don't necessarily identify all instances of misrepresentation. But it's probably not wise to assume that the parcel you send will be overlooked.

The key thing for you is that it's the value of the goods which is relevant, not the purchase price. Where the goods have been bought in a reasonably open market then it's fair to equate the price and the value. But for a private transaction between two individuals, Customs officials might well decouple the value from the price. If you claim you've sold a £500 lens for £5, they'll base the import duty and tax on the (real) £500 value, not the (artificial) £5 price.

So I think the practical bottom line is that trading with individuals in the UK will not be beneficial to you. A UK purchaser would have to pay 15% VAT plus 6.9% import duty if they bought a used lens from you in the USA, which they would not have to pay if they bought a used lens from someone else in the UK. And you can't bypass that, even if it's a straight swap and no money changes hands.
 
F-stop, personally I wouldn't have any probs 'trading' with someone in the US. At the end of the day, if customs tries to enforce import/VAT charges then it's me who would incur the costs - don't know if it's the same for me sending something to the US?

You pays your monies, you takes your chances with oversees stuff in my experience and much of the time, the actual import duty/VAT charges aren't that high - I bought $400 worth of snowboarding gear from a boarding shop a few years ago (when it was two dollars to the pound) and got a £45 charge from UPS. The order still came in at under £250 total, £150 less than if I'd paid for it all full UK RRP so I was laughing. Yes, the exchange rate is different now but even with charges there are still some good oversee deals to be had.

As for the geezer saying you're taking jobs away from UK folk, then he's living on a different planet. doubt the swap/sale of a couple of used lenses is going to put anyone out of business. I'm worried about banks losing our billions than the odd private seller of photography kit.

Some people need to chill out methinks...
 
stylgeo said:
What if he sells his equipment here and then posts it as 'present, item of zero value'. I remember buying my old 70-300 3 years ago from HK and the seller used this trick to ensure that I didn't pay taxes. Never bought anything else from abroad tbh to know if this is standard.
Click to expand...

Hk are pretty slack when it comes to Customs Vat & Duty but goods from the
States will almost certainly get hit. I think the value has gone up but it used
to $50 max for goods declared as a gift.

StewartR said:
When an item is imported into the UK, its value must be declared. As NickTB says, it's not a good idea to lie about the value. The declared value is then used as the basis for calculating whether import duty (6.9% on DSLR lenses) and/or VAT is due. Customs officials don't necessarily identify every parcel that contains chargeable goods, and they don't necessarily identify all instances of misrepresentation. But it's probably not wise to assume that the parcel you send will be overlooked.
And you can't bypass that, even if it's a straight swap and no money changes hands.
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An eagled eyed/clued up Customs officer will also establish whether the
declared invoice value is genuine or not.

In the good old days when i used to do import/export, the import duty was
calculated on the re-sale value in the UK.

Many a cheesed off customer who thought they could import mega cheap
cars soon lost a lot of profit in paying duties etc.
 
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