Importing Guitars

[jazzyvee]

I came across this today which may be useful for those planning to buy from outside the UK.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/

[MikanHannille]

Bass is in customs since last night. I'm assuming I'll have it by the end of the week? Hopefull? Can't wait....

Edited November 10, 2014 by MikanHannille

[Owen]

I might want to arrange a courier from the US to here. Interparcel were heiniously expensive. Any other tips? Ta

[BigRedX]

IME It's always cheaper if the courier can be booked in the country the parcel is being collected from. That generally means getting the person sending the parcel to do the booking.

[Owen]

I am happy to book it in the states, but hope someone can advise who to use. I snagged what I wanted for a good price and my guess is that the seller is less than happy about this so is not massively motivated to sort out a courier and might even ramp up the cost as a way of recovering funds. Fedex will do it for about £140 but I figure it could be cheaper. It is an NS Omnibass so will be bass guitar-esque in size.

[kodiakblair]

Owen I got my friend in Chicago to post my bass to me in Scotland.

Seller didn't want to ship abroad so I got the pal to buy it. A Peavey T 45 in a hard case cost $125 with USPS.
You can book it here and prepay it too.Only thing is the documents need to be printed and slipped in the clear bag.

He went to the post office on Friday and it cleared UK Customs at 12.30am today so should be ready to pick up on
Saturday. With customs and VAT I expect to pay around £80

Bloody expensive on a £200 bass but they tax you on item cost and shipping cost then there's the handling fee.

So £80 shipping with USPS and £80 taxes etc on a £200 bass. It's the last time I'm buying outside the EU.

Edit I was wrong the VAT and duty + Parcel Force handling came to £46.42. Picked it up on Thursday night
so it only took 5 days from posting to clearing to depot. Pretty damn good I think.

Edited January 10, 2015 by kodiakblair

[ziggybass]

May I add my own question to this thread pls. If I am out of order maybe an admin could just shift me.

I'm a Londoner lived here in Spain on my pnsion (Not Whining!) but I like to buy the occasional Bass Body from the Staes 'USA', and it's becoming impossible now!

I have had a 62 P Bass RI stuck in Spanish customs since 30th September. Ofcourse the body cost around $300, the shipping$76 and now ofcourse The TDP part of the Spanish 'Correos' Post Office are holding my bass body untill I pay 21% import duty. But its 300 miles away in Madrid and I'm on the coast in Malaga. I find anything that comes by post always attract Customs while DHL UPS etc, wizz through for the benefit of customer care etc!
So that may give you give a helpful clue. Ofcourse that may only be the case here but think about it! The Post of is Just a Tax Collector!
Anyone have any ideas of importing from the USA that might save some money? Cheers!

[BrunoBass]

Apologies if this has been covered earlier in the thread. I'm planning to visit the US this year and wondered how easy it is to pick something up there in person instead of having something shipped over? Will customs and excise likely pounce when I re-enter the UK?

[kodiakblair]

Could happen or you could try the old dodge of taking a beater out with you and bring a shiny new one back. If you do get nailed make sure you have a receipt or Customs
will decide on a value,with us normally paying £ for $ an $800 (£530) bass could get valued as high as £800. You'd then be liable for 20% VAT + 3% Import Duty.

Course you may get lucky in which case Good on You

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1451426417' post='2940445']
Could happen or you could try the old dodge of taking a beater out with you and bring a shiny new one back. If you do get nailed make sure you have a receipt or Customs
will decide on a value,with us normally paying £ for $ an $800 (£530) bass could get valued as high as £800. You'd then be liable for 20% VAT + 3% Import Duty.

Course you may get lucky in which case Good on You
[/quote]

Thanks. Sounds risky...

[kodiakblair]

Risky !! Well aye and naw, say you were looking for a Ric. Plenty of them to choose from in the US and prices hover around £1100 sometimes less.
You buy the right one but get nailed by customs and pay £280 so for arguments sake it costs you £1400 but you've had the luxury of finding a good one.

Most Rics I see for sale in the UK are £1500 - £1700 and you're generally limited in the time to try them or it's buying sight unseen. By playing a few
over there you'll get a better grasp of what to look for faults wise.

Saving £100 - £200 or maybe even £600 is still a big chunk of change.

[chris_b]

If you get caught trying to evade the duty you'll probably get hit with a fine which could be several times the cost of the instrument and they could confiscate the bass as well.

I'd buy the bass and take it though the red channel. Just walk through. You might not get stopped but factor in the taxes and duty when you are doing your sums. If you get stopped fine but if you don't you're ahead.

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1451611823' post='2941872']
Risky !! Well aye and naw, say you were looking for a Ric. Plenty of them to choose from in the US and prices hover around £1100 sometimes less.
You buy the right one but get nailed by customs and pay £280 so for arguments sake it costs you £1400 but you've had the luxury of finding a good one.

Most Rics I see for sale in the UK are £1500 - £1700 and you're generally limited in the time to try them or it's buying sight unseen. By playing a few
over there you'll get a better grasp of what to look for faults wise.

Saving £100 - £200 or maybe even £600 is still a big chunk of change.
[/quote]

You must've read my mind regarding the Ric..... 😉

[kodiakblair]

I wonder how eh Paul

As there's probably 10x the numbers of Rics in the US than the UK you stand a much better chance of getting a good one,hell it's even better with US Fenders.
They average $800 2nd hand

I would suggest keeping the tax and duty factored into any purchase you might make,if you're happy with the deal and you do have to pay at customs the purchase isn'
tarnished.

Course I think you're thinking of other options

[Paul S]

Something worth mentioning, maybe. I have in recent months bought a couple of basses from Japan. Both were sent via DHL, which was a little bit more expensive than other methods but not much. It took 2 days, door to door, from Tokyo - shipped on a Monday, paid the duty online on Tuesday, delivered Wednesday. The duty they calculated was less than the amount I had worked out and there was no handling fee. Not only was it delivered to my door, it was 're-delivered' as I was out when they tried first time - I got a phone call in the afternoon asking if I was in to receive it. Although I guess that was down to the individual driver.

Compare and contrast with Parcelforce worldwide who handled an earlier purchase from Japan. Tokyo to Coventry took 3 days. Coventry hung onto it for 10 days before rubber-stamping the paperwork. I then had to drive 30 mins to my local depot to collect it where I had to pay, in cash as they had no facility for card payments, the 20% VAT, 3% import duty plus £13 handling fee.

If I ever import a bass again I will make sure it is handled by DHL.

[kodiakblair]

Paul_S

2 days from Tokyo !! That's fantastic. I was waiting on a 48 hour delivery from Parcel Farce on Hogmanay,which of course never arrived.
It'll be the 5th at the earliest now. Should have used DHL

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1451785193' post='2943468']
I wonder how eh Paul

As there's probably 10x the numbers of Rics in the US than the UK you stand a much better chance of getting a good one,hell it's even better with US Fenders.
They average $800 2nd hand

I would suggest keeping the tax and duty factored into any purchase you might make,if you're happy with the deal and you do have to pay at customs the purchase isn'
tarnished.

Course I think you're thinking of other options
[/quote]

😉

[CamdenRob]

Hi Guys,

I have this message on my parcelforce tracking for a bass I've imported from Korea...

[b]Your parcel is currently with the customs authorities and is being assessed for import duties and local taxes. These will be notified to the addressee and usually need to be paid prior to the parcel being delivered.[/b]

Any idea how long this bit usually takes / what I can expect?

[Grahambythesea]

Advice required. Thinking of importing direct from China so it's 20 vat plus 3.2% import duty plus Royal Mail handling fee? I read that you also have to pay on the shipping cost but the bass I'm looking at is sold with "free delivery" which of course means the mailing is factored in to the price, but will I get clobbered with an estimated shipping cost over the top of the actual price?

[kodiakblair]

A Bass I had delivered from Japan had free delivery. Customs ticket only showed value and that's all I paid duty on.

[Grahambythesea]

Thanks kodiakblair, that makes calculating the end price a bit easier.

[prowla]

If you get the sender to pay the duties then you avoid the courier handling fees.

[Skybone]

The new CITES regulations are going to make this more and more difficult for buying instruments from overseas. Dealers should be doing something about licences, but where does that leave the private individual???

[Passinwind]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1491037510' post='3269993']
The new CITES regulations are going to make this more and more difficult for buying instruments from overseas. Dealers should be doing something about licences, but where does that leave the private individual???
[/quote]

I've just gone through the whole CITES permitting process as a US seller to a Dutch buyer. Knowing what I now do, I would have charged a minimum of $500 for all the hassle and out of pocket expense it entailed. Frankly, I probably just wouldn't ever do it again. If the US seller happens to live very near one the of the limited number of CITES inspection stations their experience would be a bit less painful, but the wait time for the main permit would still be 60-90 days, and the potential for unpleasant surprises is pretty great.

[JimBobTTD]

Does anyone have experience of importing an instrument with an Indian rosewood fingerboard from the US? I am asking in relation to CITES. Did you need to do anything special? This is assuming that the US seller has already done the necessary for export.