import duties?

sofaboy73

been looking at getting a Nomad frame but feel a little sick at paying £1800 for one in the UK when they are $1800 in the US.

If i were to import one in an effort to save cash, what import duties / taxes would i be hit with and what sort of figures would you be looking at?

nicklouse

(1800x4.7%)x Vat and no warranty

blablablacksheep

dont import from US, i been also looking into it and the charges are shocking compared to what they were a few years ago.

unless the pound to dollar is 2:1 it isnt worth while.

remember you got to take into account the added VAT of 20%, then the shipping costs, then customs charges, surge charge ect

customs charges no 1 can tell you how much, because no 1 knows untill past customs.

I think UPS are better for getting past customs but i been told the best palce is hong kong/china as you dont pay import charges ect from there.....

personally it really a big risk, depends a lot on who selling, some people stick over-high values on packages then get you too pay the charges, i have had this happen a few times so ask about what they going to label the goods as.

Ransaka

Yup, mate of mine bought a guitar from the US, guy put it was worth new on the customs form for insurance rather than what my mate bought it for and he ended up paying that value on the import duties rather than what he paid for it.

pauljoes

with what Ransaka said dont do thats, altering the value of goods for import duty. If your parsel got damaged lost or stollen you would only get what it states on the invoice. I am a UPS driver and we get loads of import fee`s to collect everyday and UPS also put a £15 charge on top for handling the goods.

the article don

For that frame, you're looking at about 36% extra to cover all duties and taxes ( see HMRC website), which comes to $2448. Customs duty is defined in advance, ther's no mystery to it as suggested above.

At the current exchange rate, that's about £1500.

So you're saving £300 but losing the warranty. You'd also have to fit it yourself. I'm sure your LBS will do it including fitting for £1800. Importing hradly seems worth it at current exchange rates.

j_l

If you can get the Bike shop to ship item as second hand, duty is lower and no VAT, I used to buy Range Rover stuff from the US having a good rep with the retailer was a real help.

that said it was in 1992 :?

blablablacksheep

^^ yer but it a offence to do so and theres a nice big fine for doing it, so i quote the line

"are you feeling lucky punk?" "well are you?"

Anonymous

Note that duty varies depending on what you import. I'm not sure if a frame that has other bits on it may be all one duty. The VAT will be the same though.

Also vat & duty are charged on shipping on top too.

Anything sent via couriers will usually get an automatic charge. Stuff coming in by Royal Mail is subject to a bit of a lottery on charges and it is possible to get away with no charge at all, though a bike frame is likely too obvious.

Then on top, if you are hit, the couriers and Royal Mail will charge a nice big handling fee for making the effort.

One way around it though is to have the item declared as a warranty repair with zero value, but you have to make sure the retailer is going to cover the cost in case of lost in transit. Some foreign retailers that do a lot of UK imports may be prepared to either prepay VAT & duty or pay it back if you get hit. I find this when buying camera equipment from Hong Kong (they declare as warranty replacement also).

Another option is to actually fly out, make the frame look a little used and return with it but send all the invoices and receipts by post. UK customs at airports are generally looking for people they know about anyway, but they'd have no way of proving you didn't take the bike with you and return with it. Good option if you are going out there for a trip anyway.

Just a shame Gordon Brown lied to us (as always) when he promised to change the import limit for travellers from outside the EU to a couple of £k.

sheepsteeth

use this site to figure out the costs involved in importing stuff into the UK:

http://www.dutycalculator.com/