UKC

Thinking about ordering abut £200 pounds of climbing equpiment from the u.s, Anyone know if I'm going to get slapped with a big charge from customs or anything like that?. thanks for any info!

In reply to Ginger McGrath: http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal...

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm

In reply to Ginger McGrath: I did, was gonna save £100 on a waterproof shell jacket... It was nearly new but the guy put the retail on as the value...

In reply to Ander: The Post Office charge a hefty £8 handling fee on top of duty and VAT

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

its a bit of a lottery, i've ordered bike stuff and not been charged and in other cases been charged. Some of it depends on the paperwork going through customs, and like others have said if somebody puts retail price down on the paper even if selling it cheaper second hand then they will take it at valuation on the paper. Sometimes sending it as a gift helps or at zero value but it has seemed a lottery on how they treat it. Good luck. Even with tax many things are still way cheaper fi the exchange rate is good.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Be prepared to pay import duty, then VAT, then customs clearance charge

Also bear in mind it can also make warranty claims difficult or impossible depending on what you buy.

I have done it and got stung and now prefer to buy uk/local if I can, I understand the temptation of a bargain as much as the next person

In reply to everyone: than guys, may give it a miss then!

In reply to Radioactiveman:

Nope, as if you fill out the proper paperwork when ya sent the warranty items back, you will not be charged VAT nor duty (ie. you need to prove you have already paid VAT & duty on said item once).


Oh, and the value marked on the CN-22 (customs declaration sticker) is not worth a dime. It's just a starting point. If you can provide the actual receipt, the duty an VAT will be calculated accordingly (I would only suggest doing this, if the value on the sticker is greater than what you actually paid though). How hard this is, depends on who is handling the import... Proper parcel companies like DHL and UPS are a lot more easier to deal with than (Finnish) Post. It also might be, that you have to do all the customs declarations yourself at the nearest customs office (in which case you won't be charged, but it will eat a lot of time... or atleast can be time consuming).

In reply to Ginger McGrath: I have ordered from REI a few times, they like the big retailers, ship via courier which is £60 ish and you pay VAT on the goods plus shipping and a clearance charge. I have also down it from smaller retailers that can put trade price down and some use US Post. But in general it does not turn out that much cheaper than UK. However Arcteryx was good from MEC when they use to ship overseas. Also it is worth doing for things you cannot get in UK.

In reply to HeMa:

I was thinking along the lines of you cant claim the warranty in the uk.