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Hi,

I'm looking at some US based websites to buy some gear who will ship to the UK. The prices when converted to UK currency look reasonble but i was led to believe that if you purchase you then have to pay excise duty when it is delivered to your door equivalent to VAT?

Is this true, does anyone have any experience of this? I'm only looking to buy from the US as the item isnt available in the UK.

I've bought loads of stuff from the US. Wether Customs grab your parcel is down to a few things. UPS and FedEx always pass every parcel through Customs, so you will get stung for various fees if you choose them as your courier.

If you do get caught, you will be charged Excise duty, VAT, and an £8 or £13 'handling fee'.

USPS parcels pass through 'normal' channels, and my experience is that 20% of your purchases will be 'nabbed'. They don't have the manpower to check every parcel. However, the UK PO has recently increased their staff and facilities, so more parcels are being 'stung'.

I never buy from a site that only uses UPS or FedEx. Up to you.

Mike fae Dundee wrote (see)

I've bought loads of stuff from the US. Wether Customs grab your parcel is down to a few things. UPS and FedEx always pass every parcel through Customs, so you will get stung for various fees if you choose them as your courier.

If you do get caught, you will be charged Excise duty, VAT, and an £8 or £13 'handling fee'.

USPS parcels pass through 'normal' channels, and my experience is that 20% of your purchases will be 'nabbed'. They don't have the manpower to check every parcel. However, the UK PO has recently increased their staff and facilities, so more parcels are being 'stung'.

I never buy from a site that only uses UPS or FedEx. Up to you.

I havent had an issue...but then I havent bought any high value stuff and the sender has declared the item as a gift........

I also have a cunning plan.....but wont put it on open forum, lest it ceases to be cunning or a plan

Thanks i'll bear that in mind. Its REI.com i'm looking at.

Who incidentally dont tell you which courier there going to use...

I expected you to reply Mike...you'll single handedly drag the US out of recession with a mixture of alcohol and credit cards.

My one order from REI was nabbed for duty and VAT, which made it very expensive. To calculate the cost:

Take the total price, inc postage. (Bear in mind that most credit cards charge you 2.75% more than the exchange rate).

Add duty to that total. I don't recall the exact amount, but duty on clothes is very high - about 11 or 12%.

Add VAT at 15% to the new total, inc duty.

Add a handling charge - at least £8, and possibly a fair bit more.

And factor in the hassle if you need to return the goods for any reaason. 

It's a gamble - if what you want is cheaper in the US, and it doesn't get hit for custome charges and you don't need to return it, you could be quids in.  Otherwise you might see why kit is more expensive here than there (the UK shopkeeper has to pay import duty and VAT).

Unless what you want is euther unavailable, or very much more expensive in UK, it's probably not worth it.

Or better still,if you have a friend over there (i use my cousin) get the order sent to them (usually free del) then get them to send it to you,BINGO... no duty.

I do it all the time with all manner of stuff,otherwise a general rule of thumb is that the price in $ will be the eventual price in £

The only difference in marking the item as a gift is that you're only liable for VAT if the value is over £36, instead of £18 for a non-gift.

Import duty is waived if it works out as less than £7 on an item, so you'll only start paying it on higher value goods. VAT is chargeable on the full value of the item if it exceeds the £18/£36 limits.

It is of course a criminal offence in the States for the sender to mark the item as a gift when its not or not declare it's true value even if you get a relative to forward it. And its very likely a criminal offence here for you to request it. But while I doubt there are many prosecutions, expect to be told where to go if you request this from a major retailer.

Hi,

I'm looking to see if buying a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 will be cheaper from the US.

UK sites at the cheapest i can see £283.00 (xPP)

I've seen this on a US site for $280.00 plus $43.00 P&P via USPS.

Anyone any idea by the time i get stung for add ons is it worth ordering from abroad?

Cheers

Your not late Lee, i reopened it as i'm about to buy.

Can you remember the mark up for excise etc when you bought from Moontrail or did you not get stung?

Graeme Cogger 2 wrote (see)

My one order from REI was nabbed for duty and VAT, which made it very expensive. To calculate the cost:

Take the total price, inc postage. (Bear in mind that most credit cards charge you 2.75% more than the exchange rate).

Add duty to that total. I don't recall the exact amount, but duty on clothes is very high - about 11 or 12%.

Add VAT at 15% to the new total, inc duty.

Add a handling charge - at least £8, and possibly a fair bit more.

Once I did, once I didnt from moontrail .. no idea why. I cant remember the exact cost sorry but it still worked out a lot lot cheaper than buying from uk so was still very pleased and not grumbling to much. It was an Akto tent i got hit with, but it was an end of season offer if I remember correctly $270, the pound was worth 2 dollars back then so items was still like half uk price. Ive shopped from US many times, it really is hit or miss, packages with lots of smaller items seem to get though ok, like someone really couldnt be bothered . I would suggest to add about 30% to the us dollar payment, look at exchange rate and if its still works out cheaper, go for it.  good luck.

El Manana wrote (see)

Graeme Cogger 2 wrote (see)

My one order from REI was nabbed for duty and VAT, which made it very expensive. To calculate the cost:

Take the total price, inc postage. (Bear in mind that most credit cards charge you 2.75% more than the exchange rate).

Add duty to that total. I don't recall the exact amount, but duty on clothes is very high - about 11 or 12%.

Add VAT at 15% to the new total, inc duty.

Add a handling charge - at least £8, and possibly a fair bit more.

actually having reread the full thread i reckon this might be the worse case scenario

Customs seem to catch stuff from the US more often than not these days, so I'd say it's a likely scenario...