UK JEMSITE MEMBERS!!! shipping from USA?

[twooos]

Hi there ,If i wanted to buy, say, an Ibanez JS1200 for aroung half the price from America, and want to sneak past paying all these "HM revenue and customs" what would i have to do?

i bought an EMG zakk wylde set ages ago from america (for 80 quid) and thought it was a a great deal, didnt have to pay much shipping, and absolutely no customs charges.

But then i bought a pair of hi-hat cymbals, and i had to pay around £40 customs fee's ?!?!

Have any of you guys had experiences from buying guitars from abroad (USA in particular)??

thanks

[courtney2018]

I think it probably has to do with who ever is shipping to you they have to declare on the postage what is in the package. I've sent some stuff to a friend of mine in Derby and there was never any extra custom charges, but then again I put something cheap and vague on the declaration.

If you knew someone here that would probably be the best bet, but I would imagine that customs would want to know what's in such a large box. Small stuff I could see getting thru, but not big stuff.

[twooos]

Originally Posted by courtney2018

I think it probably has to do with who ever is shipping to you they have to declare on the postage what is in the package. I've sent some stuff to a friend of mine in Derby and there was never any extra custom charges, but then again I put something cheap and vague on the declaration.

If you knew someone here that would probably be the best bet, but I would imagine that customs would want to know what's in such a large box. Small stuff I could see getting thru, but not big stuff.

so if they value the "guitar" as say $50, the customs will just let it through?

[Big Job]

There are some threads on this already - one of note being one in this section about a chap trying to import ALL of the RG 20's and getting killed by the tentative import duties on all 3 guitars.

Anyhow, if the guitar is marked as low value, or a gift then you will be paying LESS import duty - I got a schecter 7 into the country for 35 pounds. I'd be very superised if you could do it for no money at all.

BigJob

[courtney2018]

Originally Posted by twooos

so if they value the "guitar" as say $50, the customs will just let it through?

A guitar is a large package though, so I don't think you can sneak that thru. But if it was declared as having a low value, like $50 as you say, then yea, you would probably just be paying customs charges on that value.

[GilkyBear]

But if you lowball the declaration and it gets damaged, don't expect to get more than your 50 quid out of it.

[markg5150]

Including shipping & import duty/VAT I still saved over £250 importing my RG20th from Rich. Pay the duty

If you lowball the declared value and its gets damaged you are stuffed on insurance, + if the shipper gets caught trying to de-fraud customs they get a big fine

[Passion_and_Warfare]

Originally Posted by Big Job

There are some threads on this already - one of note being one in this section about a chap trying to import ALL of the RG 20's and getting killed by the tentative import duties on all 3 guitars.BigJob

errmmm... nothing to do with me lol

It's all about wether you are prepared to take the risk mate, if the seller will declare the guitar at a low value and the delivery goes smoothly then you're happy and have got a good deal. It's all about taking the risk at the end of the day.

[twooos]

stupid f-ing uk tax....

[courtney2018]

The above is true. It's a risk. The stuff I sent over was like $60 in value, so if I lost that it wouldn't be a big deal. A guitar is completely different. Still, even if you said it was like a 100-200 quid guitar...whatever price you want, it's going to be sent in a large box and I think that will make customs want to take a peak before sending it on it's way. One way around it would be to have someone here break the guitar down into seperate pieces and send it that way. That way it's small and declaring a value of something like 100 quid or less would "look" more appropriate to the size of the package. However, you're still taking a risk. If it gets damaged you pretty much have to eat it unless you want to get into trouble.

[twooos]

Originally Posted by courtney2018

The above is true. It's a risk. The stuff I sent over was like $60 in value, so if I lost that it wouldn't be a big deal. A guitar is completely different. Still, even if you said it was like a 100-200 quid guitar...whatever price you want, it's going to be sent in a large box and I think that will make customs want to take a peak before sending it on it's way. One way around it would be to have someone here break the guitar down into seperate pieces and send it that way. That way it's small and declaring a value of something like 100 quid or less would "look" more appropriate to the size of the package. However, you're still taking a risk. If it gets damaged you pretty much have to eat it unless you want to get into trouble.

what if, i post to, say, a tax-free country, like Dubai, get the guitar shipped there, and bring the guitar back with me to England?

[jono]

My old bassist was a custom`s officer, he:d love to bust guys like you. Pay your taxes you cheapskate :P

[twooos]

Originally Posted by jono

My old bassist was a custom`s officer, he:d love to bust guys like you. Pay your taxes you cheapskate :P

i really cant be assed

[toma]

my mate gets stuff from america shipped to a friend in a uk based american airbase, that way he pays no tax whatsoever!!

x

[twooos]

Originally Posted by toma

my mate gets stuff from america shipped to a friend in a uk based american airbase, that way he pays no tax whatsoever!!

x

oh yeah thnks for remindin me dude!!!

could you please ask him about it? please tell me as much as possible,

thanks