Hoffbass Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hi fellow Bchatters, I keep browsing American websites and could cry if i think about getting a bass from there but massive VAT and customs have to put me off all the time when making rough calculations.Even with shipping costs an MTD 535 could be much more cheaper than here for example but all these added costs kill the idea. Has anyone ordered a bass from the US?I'd be happy if you share your experiences with me Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have a friend who bought a Gibson acoustic from the US. Arrived no problem. Cost £1K but the store marked it for customs at £500. Not sure that's the best thing to do though. If anything happens in transit you could loose a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 There are several threads about this including a pinned thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/139-importing-guitars/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/139-importing-guitars/[/url] You can calculate the cost here: [url="http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/"]http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Beat me to it ET. Plenty of info already posted. Edited April 30, 2012 by leftybassman392 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I've bought several guitars and basses from the US (and Japan), some new some second hand. Bought from a variety of sources - eBay, dealers and direct from the manufacturer. Never had any problems. However everything that I've bought was (at the time) unavailable in the UK so cost savings never came into it - if wanted the instrument buying from abroad was the only way to do it. Also the most I've spent on an instrument from the US was $1000. Tips: Assume that you are going to have to pay tax and import duty on the cost of the instrument plus shipping and insurance plus a handling fee from the UK carrier. As a rule of thumb add 25% to the total cost and that should cover the various taxes and duties. Very occasionally you might not get charged it, in which case look upon it as a nice bonus (I think I've not been charged twice in over 30 purchases). Make sure the seller insures the instrument properly and don't try to avoid import duties by getting them to mark down the value. If anything goes wrong with the delivery you'll find yourself far more out of pocket then any potential saving you might have made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1335811318' post='1636457'] ... Make sure the seller insures the instrument properly and don't try to avoid import duties by getting them to mark down the value. If anything goes wrong with the delivery you'll find yourself far more out of pocket then any potential saving you might have made. [/quote] This is good advice. Particularly so when you realise that HMRC are not stupid and know the value of items and that an attempt to falsify the value in order to avoid paying duty can, in the extreme case, lead to full duty being charged and/or the item being confiscated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilLordJuju Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 one thing to add - also make sure they don't [u]increase[/u] the value on the customs slip - i've had crazy people round up by a few hundred dollars for no reason - theoretically you can claim back the extra tax, but it isn't easy Make sure they put exactly what you pay, excluding postage and no more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Horton Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 [quote name='Hoffbass' timestamp='1335806884' post='1636348'] Hi fellow Bchatters, I keep browsing American websites and could cry if i think about getting a bass from there but massive VAT and customs have to put me off all the time when making rough calculations.Even with shipping costs an MTD 535 could be much more cheaper than here for example but all these added costs kill the idea. Has anyone ordered a bass from the US?I'd be happy if you share your experiences with me Cheers [/quote] I would be very interested to see how this pans out as i have been looking into doing the same thina as i am looking for an MTD 535. Thinking out loud , Maybe we could club together to maybe save some shiping costs etc ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 If you're buying a new bass from the USA it's best to check if the warranty offered with it will be valid outside of the US - quite often they aren't. Also, if you do have any problems with the bass will the UK distributor (if any) honour any warranty claims or will you have to ship the bass back to the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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