skej21 Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Does anyone know a decent place (in the UK) to buy bass hardware? In particular, I'm looking for some black, clover key, 1/2" tuners... Preferably Hipshot HB6C. I've found a few places in the US to get them from, but I was wondering if there's anywhere easier/cheaper in the UK that people know of? [Sorry to the mods if this is in the wrong place!] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Allparts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1223098' date='May 7 2011, 12:40 PM']Allparts[/quote] Priced it up at Allparts. £25 more than if I got them from the US. However, would be risking the Customs/VAT charges if getting them from the US. Hmmm. Decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Take the chance. If you use a national mail carrier rather than a dedicated courier (Fedex etc) you've a good chance of getting away with it on relatively inexpensive and small items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 [quote name='Doctor J' post='1223627' date='May 7 2011, 08:14 PM']Take the chance. If you use a national mail carrier rather than a dedicated courier (Fedex etc) you've a good chance of getting away with it on relatively inexpensive and small items.[/quote] That's what I was thinking. However, the company I found sends the items by UKmail and I'm unsure of whether they would get through with the courier. In addition, I'd be ordering five tuners. So I either order them all at the same time for combined shipping ($15 in total) and then have a large package going through OR order them one at a time to have small packages coming through, and pay $15 per item... the latter would then push the total cost to about £35 higher than allparts if that was the case. Hmmm, dilemma. Why is there nowhere in the UK that does them?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Five tuners together will be no bigger than an average lunchbox, still a small package by my reasoning. Personally, I'd go for it. Besides, even if you get stung, it's 25% of the total added on, how does that compare with (the absurdly expensive) UK arm of Allparts? Edited May 8, 2011 by Doctor J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Doctor J' post='1223822' date='May 8 2011, 01:05 AM']Five tuners together will be no bigger than an average lunchbox, still a small package by my reasoning. Personally, I'd go for it. Besides, even if you get stung, it's 25% of the total added on, how does that compare with (the absurdly expensive) UK arm of Allparts?[/quote] With the 25% extra, it would end up being about £20 more than if I'd ordered from Allparts. Edited May 8, 2011 by skej21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I'm not 100% sure about this but i heard that there is a limit whereby cost below that limit has no VAT / import charge. Might be worthwhile checking the customs website for possible details. ? Can the seller add that its a gift and put value at less i.e. £50 etc ? Just a thought. Might be illegal and get slated for this comment ? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 [quote name='dmccombe7' post='1224138' date='May 8 2011, 02:35 PM']I'm not 100% sure about this but i heard that there is a limit whereby cost below that limit has no VAT / import charge. Might be worthwhile checking the customs website for possible details. ? Can the seller add that its a gift and put value at less i.e. £50 etc ? Just a thought. Might be illegal and get slated for this comment ? Dave[/quote] I imagine it is illegal to not declare the true value. The other issue is that the seller is a company, not an individual, so I doubt they would consider that as an option. Think I'm just going to take the chance and go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 You pay VAT (at 20%) on the value of the goods plus postage/shipping charges if the value of the goods are more than £18 (or £36 if declared a gift). You pay import duty (approximately 3.7% - it depends on the items being imported) on the value of the goods if they are over £135, or the duty is at least £9. If you are charged VAT or import duty on your goods you will also be charged a clearance fee by the UK carrier - normally between £8 and £15. The other thing to bear in mind is that UK customs use their own exchange rate calculations which are not necessarily the same as the current ones for changing currency and are applied on the day the customs charges are applied - not when you bought the goods. Always assume that you are going to be charged the full amount possible of customs duty, VAT and clearance fees. IMO buying direct from outside the UK is only worth it, if there is no other way of getting the goods, or if after applying all the charges you are still saving at least 10% over buying from a UK source. This is to allow for any potential issues with the goods when they arrive (if they are wrong or damaged). In your case I wouldn't bother importing it's almost definitely going to cost you more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 [quote name='BigRedX' post='1224248' date='May 8 2011, 04:41 PM']IMO buying direct from outside the UK is only worth it, if there is no other way of getting the goods, or if after applying all the charges you are still saving at least 10% over buying from a UK source. This is to allow for any potential issues with the goods when they arrive (if they are wrong or damaged).[/quote] It's worth bearing in mind that as the UK is part of the EU, you don't get charged import duties for items purchased within the EU, not just the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontalste Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I purchased a SD 1/4 pounder and a Gotoh 201 from the good ol U S and A about five or six years ago (basspartsresource.com i think) and fully expected import duty. They were much cheaper than any uk dealer at the time and i never got the tax bill. Don't know if this helps, but im with Doctor J on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 The way I look at it is if you buy from outside the EU to always expect to be hit with import taxes and if you're not then it's an extra saving. IME I've had to pay import taxes on 3 out of every 4 items I've bought from the US and ever single time from items bought from Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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