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[Alnico Blue]

Can any of you clever chaps advise me on how this import duty works?

Looking at buying a guitar from the USA  which is under $400. 

Would this be subject to any duty etc.    TIA   Al   

EDIT:     umm!     should have Googled it before I posted . . . .

from the Google site  it looks a lot of hastle . . .  as an example a $2500 guitar will end up costing almost a $1000 more by the time I get it in my hand  so a $400 instrument would be around $160 more.    lets look at a Plan B 

[TheBoy]

Anything new with a deemed* value exceeding £15 (which can vary depending on what it is) is liable for an import duty (which again can vary depending on the goods)


*This is the value a customs official believes its worth, if checked, not what you paid, or what is on the export customs label.

[TD]

Anything new with a deemed* value exceeding £15 (which can vary depending on what it is) is liable for an import duty (which again can vary depending on the goods)


*This is the value a customs official believes its worth, if checked, not what you paid, or what is on the export customs label.

Unless it says "Gift" 

[Nick W]

Anything new with a deemed* value exceeding £15 (which can vary depending on what it is) is liable for an import duty (which again can vary depending on the goods)


*This is the value a customs official believes its worth, if checked, not what you paid, or what is on the export customs label.

Unless it says "Gift" 

Then the official will ALWAYS charge you what he thinks it's worth. So you could easily pay tax for a £1000 item that only cost £200. HMRC's term for marking things as a gift to get around paying tax is fraud. As they make and administer the rules, you get to pay. Same applies to a vendor putting a lower price on the paperwork.

[Alnico Blue]

Plan B is  . . . wait for one to surface in the UK 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Ive often seen expensive guitars listed on ebay U.S. in various seperate parts, which you can assemble after delivery, rather than as a whole instrument. I wonder if that's a way of paying less duty ?
Anyway, what you hankering after this time Al ? 

[redelitev6]

I was stung big style with import duty when I bought something from the U.S. , best bet is to try and source what you need locally or from Europe 

[Doctor Gollum]

Never had an issue with import duties. Partly depends on the carrier. Ups for example will pay the duty and then invoice you for it.

Largest, most valuable item I have imported from the States was a 50" light bar. About £800 delivered, about £150 in shipping and taxes iirc...

Depending on where it is, you can fly to the US for around £300 return with Norwegian, so you could fly over, pay cash(=haggle) and bring it back as property. Apart from checking that it's actually a guitar, I doubt Border Farce would even blink at it

Obviously you would only want it shipped in a decent transport case, so postage won't be cheap anyway as they are relatively bulky and weigh around 25-30 kgs

[Alnico Blue]

Ive often seen expensive guitars listed on ebay U.S. in various seperate parts, which you can assemble after delivery, rather than as a whole instrument. I wonder if that's a way of paying less duty ?
Anyway, what you hankering after this time Al ?

ES295  Gibson clone ( can't afford a real one )  always been a Fender user but playin'a bit of rockabilly/George Thorogood  stuff now . . .a ES295 just appeals to me rather than a 335 or a Gretch.    Epiphone  version of the ES295 is around £800 so still above my budget for this project 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I would like a 335 myself, but as you say, price is prohibitive. Theres also the fact that it would be an ornament just like the guitars I already have. 
Strats are very versatile though. Is it possible to get close to a rockabilly sound with a Strat / amp/ effects combination ? 

[Alnico Blue]

I would like a 335 myself, but as you say, price is prohibitive. Theres also the fact that it would be an ornament just like the guitars I already have. 
Strats are very versatile though. Is it possible to get close to a rockabilly sound with a Strat / amp/ effects combination ? 

IMO  yes . . .strats are very versatile . . . . more of a visual thing with this ES295 though.

i'm breaking my golden rule of guitar purchase, chasing one of these though . . . " a guitar needs to be tried BEFORE you buy it"   never brought a guitar by post before
So probably gonna sit and wait for something to appear in UK 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Patience is often rewarded. 
Having said that, I bought swmbo a Squire Telecaster a while back by mail order and I find it much more playable than either my genuine Strat or Epiphone Les Paul.
The string tension seems a lot lower for some reason, which suits my old weak out of prctice fingers. Probably luck of the draw though, as the next one on the shelf might have ben a pile of shite.

[TheBoy]

Anything new with a deemed* value exceeding £15 (which can vary depending on what it is) is liable for an import duty (which again can vary depending on the goods)


*This is the value a customs official believes its worth, if checked, not what you paid, or what is on the export customs label.

Unless it says "Gift" 

It doesn't matter, as its still what the customs official deems its worth. Whether or not it is a gift is irrelevant, and customs are well wise to that scam.  And the scam where some companies provide 2 invoices - a real invoice, and a special invoice to reduce customs charges.

[TheBoy]

Never had an issue with import duties. Partly depends on the carrier. Ups for example will pay the duty and then invoice you for it.

Its always easy to pay it.  Its the size of it that's the issue.  And added to that, the size of the "admin charge" the courier then bolts on top - ArseholeForce I think currently charge £14 on top of the customs charge.  This needs to be considered when ordering from outside the EU (or just UK, post October).  My customs + admin fee from DHL a few weeks ago was almost £20 or a £35 product.

[aaronjb]

I paid £670 worth of duty, VAT & clearance on £2140s worth of wheels recently - remember you pay duty, and VAT on top of that, on top of the combined price *including* shipping.

The most cost effective way I've found is to use a freight forwarder - my wheels came FedEx, but engine & gearbox were shipped to Miami (free shipping within the US!) and then £90 saw them loaded into a 40' container and brought to Chelmsford where STS handled the duty & clearance, and then another £70 to ship the pallet to me from the UK; or I could have driven down there and picked it all up... (except the RR broke, surprise, so I had it shipped up)

The only down-side being having to wait 6-8 weeks for delivery.