Sending a JEM to UK

[bunyok23]

hi guys im sending a JEM thru USPS to UK. what should i declare its value? does it matter?

[markg5150]

You should declare the true value for insurance purposes if it gets damaged and you could get a heavy fine for fraud.

But you could do it on the cheap and under-declare to reduce shipping cost. You take your chance ...

[Out Of This Swirled]

if you do true value then hes gonna have a hefty import duty, and clearing charge, but if you dont do it full and something happens?? anything over 18 dollars gets taxed. every now and again you do get them through without a bill, those are the good days! best of luck.

[bunyok23]

thanks for your replies. $650 is the max insurance on USPS.

for you guys in the UK how much did you pay for taxes?

any guys here in the US have experinece sending jems to UK?

[Out Of This Swirled]

i had to pay nearly 100 pounds for a 400 dollar guitar!!! sweet NOT and it wasnt what it was supposed to be dam evilbay.

[markg5150]

Total is about 22%. 17.5% VAT + 4% import duty.

My RG20th from Rich was sent through Fedex - get a quote from them

[Gurj]

I think Fedex and UPS are twice the price of USPS. Around $250 compared to approx $125 for USPS.

[axemanrio]

Originally Posted by guitarnutteruk

i had to pay nearly 100 pounds for a 400 dollar guitar!!! sweet NOT and it wasnt what it was supposed to be dam evilbay.

I was charged £11.52 for the stud mod I received from Rich, which costed a little over £20 Luck does play a role I guess.

[funkdubious]

I had a couple of Jems shipped from the US and I'd say Fedex is the way to go.I think I paid around £120 tax

[voodoo_child]

Whatever you do, don't overdeclare it ...
I bought a Mesa/Boogie from a guy in the US, and for some ridiculous reason , he put the value down at waaay over what i'd paid for it.

I think he thought he was supposed to put the new list price or something stupid I ended up paying couple hundred extra customs

Best thing is just ask the buyer. Some guys want to insure it fully, others want to take a risk and save on customs. Talk to the guy and see what he thinks.

[Toadster]

hmm might be wrong but i know when my old company received packages from the usa we allways told them to put "returned goods" as it shows the item has had the import duties paid so we wouldnt have to pay the duties when they got to us in the uk, could you get around the tax by simply putting that on it...they wouldnt find out i think,..maybe... correct me if im wrong

Nick

[Maffster]

ask the buyer what he wants to do,i would go fully insured/declared. i think the buyer is buying because it is a hard to get jem,not so he can save $100 on the list price.

[albee1952]

Toadster has an interesting idea there. I have shipped about a dozen guitars to the UK and Europe and always used the US post office and spent around $100-120 and they have not screwed up yet. Fedex quoted $350 to Vienna(the first I shipped overseas) so I went the the post office and never looked back.

[7 Dying Trees]

Use fed-ex, USPS are ok as well, and as long as it's packed extremely well it'll be fine. However if you are going to undervalue it, then you have to ship with a company that is good, and fedex have always been reliable and quality, plus the extra you pay, you then save with undervaluation.

I mean, you may get caught out, but it's a risk that is worth it, as I think they really charge far too much for importing, it's obscene.

Saying that, last time i got guitars, i went on holiday to the US, had them shipped to my hotel, then flew back with them, which is the easiest way really, and you get a holiday out of it!

Just avoid UPS. Any company that manages to lose 2 100lbs speaker cabs is incompetent beyond belief.