Ebay

[Monsta Mo Mini]

I'd be interested to know if anyone has made a substantial purchase from a trader in Hong Kong for example. What I'm worried about is getting stung for the import duties etc. Do they package things in such a way as to avoid this?

[Wul]

Calum - not sure how it works on ebay - but buying from CDwow - the stuff comes from hong kong and for £8.99 incl postage there can't be any import duty charged in there!

Did read on MINI2 about a guy getting Zaino polish from the canadian arm of zaino and getting stung for the duty when he went to pick it up from the post office!

[Gismo]

I've bought a few things from America & Canada (not Hong Kong) and have so far not had to pay any import tax etc.
It may depend on how the package is listed, i request that they write gift on the label ;)

Bonnie Scotland

[duncan]

I've recently bought a replacement cover on e-bay, shipped from HK.
Not substantial, i know, but no import duties.
(It took only 3 days to get here too!!!!!)

Also bought an Australian Football shirt - about £40 worth, and again no probs tax wise.
And DVD's from HMV.com.au - again no worries on tax.

They all had the green custons declaration on it, and declared as a gift.

[GAJ]

I've bought a couple of substantial things (over £100) on eBay from Singapore and from Hong Kong.
Never had any problems. Sellers normally label stuff up with 'Gift' and a low value to avoid any problems. There is a wee risk that you will be unlucky and end up paying duty but IMO it's well worth it.
I suppose it depends on how cheap the item is! I have also noticed that the post from Singapore is unbelievably quick!

[Burple]

quote:Originally posted by GAJ

I've bought a couple of substantial things (over £100) on eBay from Singapore and from Hong Kong.
Never had any problems. Sellers normally label stuff up with 'Gift' and a low value to avoid any problems. There is a wee risk that you will be unlucky and end up paying duty but IMO it's well worth it.
I suppose it depends on how cheap the item is! I have also noticed that the post from Singapore is unbelievably quick!


coughMailOrderLadyBoyscough....

sorry... bit of a cold there....;);):D

[minidriver#1]

without Gaj i wouldnt be here today

[GAJ]

Your worth every penny KJ!

[Willie M]

:D LOL

[Big Gordy]

M3 I've bought loads of r/c car stuff off ebay from Hong Kong, Japan and China and have never payed any import taxes yet. Check the senders feedback to see if any problems were for packageing. You can save a shed load of money buying from the far east as they want payed in US dollars which is weak against the £ at the moment :p:D:approve:

[Julz]

My car stereo came from the states, and I got hit with £90 customs charge, when my brakes were sent over from Alta, they put the value on the invoice as half of what it should be, so the customs charge was ONLY (:eek:) £153.68!!!:eek::mad: I think it depends on how the items are marked, i.e. gift, car parts etc., and if there is an invoice. If there is no invoice, a guess on the charges is made, and customs aren't very good at this!!!:mad::dead:

[john]

I bought some Apexi stuff from Japan and there was no invoice as such and they booked it out as a warranty replacement;)

No charge No duty:)

[Krusty]

We bought a digital camera from Singapore and 4 weeks later we got a bill for duty of about £65 from DHL - made our bargain not so much of a bargain and basically the same price as we would've been in the UK!:evil:

[Big Gordy]

One of the big downsides to buying abroad is if you ever have a warranty issue. Most UK suppliers are very reluctant to do any warranty work on something bought overseas. We had a driveshaft go on a r/c monster truck and the first thing they asked was 'did you buy it in the UK' fortunately we had on this occasion. But you are right with the custom's thing its very hit or miss I'm afraid. Best bet is to take a worst case scenario and base the cost on what it would be with taxes added. Some US suppliers will make your invoice out for less than the tax threshold (approx £37 I think) but if it gets lost in the post all you would get is the invoice value not what you paid for it :dead: But as I said earlier I've never been hit with a tax bill when buying from the far east - YET :approve:
Some of the r/c stuff was nearly £200 by the way :p:D:approve:

[Monsta Mo Mini]

quote:Originally posted by Krusty

We bought a digital camera from Singapore and 4 weeks later we got a bill for duty of about £65 from DHL - made our bargain not so much of a bargain and basically the same price as we would've been in the UK!:evil:


That's what I'm afraid of. It's photographic equipment I'm thinking of getting but any savings would be negligable if I get hit with the Import duty. I'll check out the feeback.

[euan]

I saw yesterday that Apple are going to release the Ipod mini - I want one so badly! (www.apple.com/ipodmini) But they will only be on sale in the US for 2 months before they come to the UK and the exchange rate is so good just now. Any ideas how I can get my hands on a US one? I don't know anyone in the states who could give me a postal address. Plus, what would happen with warrantys?

[Wul]

euan - have a read of this thread - maybe not such a good deal!

http://www.newminiscotland.co.uk/snitzforums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=994#10192

[GAJ]

Plus you will get a US power adapter!

[Monsta Mo Mini]

Anyone got any idea what sort of rate the import tax is charged at?

[Big Gordy]

I think its VAT (17.5%) on anything above about £30 but don't quote me :p:D:approve:
I can find out exactly what it is if you really want to know :)

[euan]

have you seen that Amazon are in a bit of bother selling CD's cheap?

http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1117734,00.html

[KenL]

Import duty is 10% plus you pay 17.5% VAT. Not everything gets stopped though.

I'm not sure where the cut-off in terms of value is. My Whalen shift knob ($125US) didn't get caught by customs but someome on MINI2 posted that they had to pay it!

[Wul]

quote:Originally posted by euan

have you seen that Amazon are in a bit of bother selling CD's cheap?

http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1117734,00.html


Once again the big boys spoil the party! :(Boooooo to the BPI!

:p

[Linda M]

I buy loads of stuff mainly from the States (not ebay).

I used to get weekly deliveries of stuff from the States by Fedex and had to pay the tax every time BUT what I was buying still worked out cheaper than buying here plus I couldn't get anywhere near the same choice here.

I got stung really badly once, we got a painting commissioned by a friend of ours in New York. Even though there was no value attached to it customs took 'ownership' of it till we paid about £200 tax which they'd worked out :eek:

I have got away with tax a few times when I've asked them to label it gift and e-mail me the invoice.