Desey Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 just wondering as i have never done it when buying things and shipping them over from places like the US and Japan or whatnot, do you have to pay import tax on the items you buy or is it just the long postage wait and charges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Yea, you have to pay import charges unfortunately. If you google import charges calculator - you will find calculator on customs website to give you rough idea on charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Take the price of your goods and shipping combined. And then add 20% for your VAT, and then add between 3 and 6% import tax depending on what kind of parts it is. I generally get a trusted friend who regularly imports stuff from the US to tag it onto orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Basically, expect to pay 23% (VAT and Import Duty) + a handling fee from whichever courier delivers in the UK. It can be a hassle, but you can also save a decent amount sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desey Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 ahh that suckz thought id stumbled upon a holy grail of mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Unfortunately, if it was that cheap / easy UK Traders would be out of business! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetpilot Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 If your prepared to be patient shipping can be cheap (ish) sent by sea (4 - 8 weeks) rather than air. I just had a price for 4 wheels from Japan, shipping by sea was only £162 to my door, not bad when you consider even inside the UK it would be £40 ish insured. I also just looked into some costs for a set of shocks from Northern Ireland, TNT wanted over a £100!! If you find a decent seller and want to take a risk, they might also be friendly with the "value", but at your own risk, if it goes missing you can only claim the declared value. Vat goes on last too, so its item value, import duty, shipping and then + VAT on all of it, staggering that you pay vat on a shipping service from another country but hey, we all know we have to grip out ankles when it comes to the government! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I tend to use the rule of dollars to pounds. Works out about that once you've put taxes and shipping on top, if you dosage anything then consider it a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I paid $530 = £331 to ship my V8 over by sea. I would have been looking at nearer $1,800 = £1,125 to ship the same item by air. Saving £794!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Most cases it's import taxes that bite, not delivery. As I'm looking at getting new s/c unit soon...air delivery not a lot, but taxes are like £300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Most cases it's import taxes that bite, not delivery. As I'm looking at getting new s/c unit soon...air delivery not a lot, but taxes are like £300 *cough* tax and customs cost me £1,600 so you're absolutely right, that's the killer part! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Buy your parts from a UK Trader. I bought a set of rear LEDs for my Zed from the US, and a month later one developed a fault, £60 to return them to the US by UPS. Got my money back from the supplier for the LEDs only, could not get my £34 import duty back so total out of pocket £94 - 00 and I still did not have a set of LEDs. Could have bought a genuine set from Clark for what it cost me and what I lost. Then bought a second hand set of genuine ones from a member on here. Maybe I was just unlucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 ive just ordered a giant clock from china and now wondering how much it will really cost me now it landed at stanstead Saturday with fed ex....does that mean im going to get stung?? or is it a hit and miss thing? didnt realise to do it by sea makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I guess you have to be careful and select items which have very little chance of breaking.. like badges or big metal suspension parts... although that's no guarantee! Any saving would be wiped out straight away if you had to return the item! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 ive just ordered a giant clock from china and now wondering how much it will really cost me now it landed at stanstead Saturday with fed ex....does that mean im going to get stung?? or is it a hit and miss thing? didnt realise to do it by sea makes sense It depends... If you're lucky, they may have put a low value on the customs document... if not expect to pay another 30% with Duty, VAT and Handling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) is a low value under £100? I ordered a turbo charger kit from US and didnt pay a penny but then ordered some brakes and got stung pretty hard, havent ordered abroad for ages, seems they have got harsher! for OP sometimes people on here get stuff from US so maybe worth asking when you got a wod of cash and see if you can jump in on the order and contribute to original shipping cost Edited April 21, 2014 by jumping350 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 is a low value under £100? I ordered a turbo charger kit from US and didnt pay a penny but then ordered some brakes and got stung pretty hard, havent ordered abroad for ages, seems they have got harsher! for OP sometimes people on here get stuff from US so maybe worth asking when you got a wod of cash and see if you can jump in on the order and contribute to original shipping cost If it comes by Fed Ex they always seem to charge you Duty before they will deliver it. As they have to pay and then try and collect it from you, so now you have to pay before they deliver, obviously they been stung a few hundred times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 it says expected delivery wednesday im guessing il get contacted before then to pay? what a mission....thank god for Tarmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Most cases it's import taxes that bite, not delivery. As I'm looking at getting new s/c unit soon...air delivery not a lot, but taxes are like £300 *cough* tax and customs cost me £1,600 so you're absolutely right, that's the killer part! That's what you get when you get greedy...when V6 is not enough for you but £1600 is a big big ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Don't want to sound arogant, but I'm reading this thread and I'm laughing my head off at the amounts people paid for tax. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Because he is dodgy Romanian lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I'm not condoning this but many companies will provide a invoice for a much lower price or mark smaller items as "gifts". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 True, but then you're screwed if something happens during transit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Just visit said country with a big empty bag and a friend who can keep hold of the items until you arrive ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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