Hi All.

Has anyone bought items on eBay from the USA?

Any problems? VAT? Import duty?


I'm looking at a couple of bits for my telescope (plossl eyepiece, diagonal) and from a GB website they are £60.
From eBay USA, $50.

If I pay with paypal does my bank do the conversion from £ to $ ?


Thanks for your help.
Paul G

I've bought a few things from the states via ebay, it depends on what value the seller puts on the slip whether you will pay duty etc and you pay duty on the whole amount including postage then theres the fee you have to pay parcelforce if they use them.Ive never had a problem though make sure you get a tracking number that way you can check its progress.

is they send as a gift and state under £5 no probs but if it goes missing you lose out

Water pumps, shoes quite a lot. The tax normally gets picked up by the courier. The downside is they use UPS to deliver and the depot is normally 100 miles from your door ! But generally half the price twice the value.

Thanks for the quick replies chaps.

The package will only be small, about the size of a couple of fag packets.

It's from a big company, Telescope Warehouse, 8000 eBay sales a year, so I don't suppose it will be in a plain wrapper marked "gift".

If UPS, then it's up to me to pick it up??
That's not too bad if it comes into Stansted. Only 35 mins drive away.

Thanks again for all your replies.

Paul G

I think Customs have the right to open stuff up if they beleive they are being scammed, so I would be wary of extracting the urine with items marked "gift", especially if they are big/heavy (Also, I think that gifts are still potentially subject to tax/duty, because it depends on the value, not how much you paid... same principle as income tax on "benefits in kind".

No personal experience, but from posts I have seen on here most people have not ended up having to pay duty/tax, etc. but if you do, it could end up more expensive than the UK price... good luck

"GIFT" stopped working about 5 years ago in my experience.

Everything I have had has come in via parcelforce, you get a letter stating they are holding the package and import duty needs paying - you pay over the net and you get it tomorrow the next day, if you miss them then you just go and collect it from the nearest sorting office just like royal mail.

Handling fee is usually £8.00

VAT is 17.5% of the TOTAL value, including p&p.

Import duty is a dark art, the % vary from 2% to 15% depending on the type of item, trying to get a straight answer over the classification of your item is next to impossible for a one off small parcel.

I've got loads of stuff from the USA, and had great service.

The customs tend to hit higher value stuff.
My son payed £27 on paintball stuff valued at about £140, the £27 comprised of VAT and Parcel Farce handling fee.
I have bought stuff for about £30. and not been touched.
A word of warning on Pay Pal though.
Your protection against non delivery etc. only lasts for 30 days i think, so if the stuff is going to take longer to arrive than that then be careful.
Steve

Thank you ALL for the replies.

It sounds like the worst case scenario is that I will end up paying almost as must as if I buy in GB.

I'll go for it.

Cheers everyone

Paul G

Paypal will sort out the currency issue. Interestingly (not quite the same issue) I use an amex card with paypal and everything, even purchases in UK, is put through in dollars.

As for the tax - you may be lucky. As stated already, I bought a £100 bit of kit and ended up paying about £30 extra which was about 22% tax and £8 handling fee to parcel force. For a £25 item you should be fine.

If it's valued under £18 you don't get hit for tax, I've had a couple of things from USA and it seems it's a bit of a lottery when it gets to C&E.

The deed is done.

$47.90 = £25.12

Better than £60 + from GB

I will post the end figure when they arrive.
Hopefully the weather will have changed so I can try them out.

Thanks again Locosters. Is there no end to the info on this site?

Paul G

my uncle sent me some oreo biscuits from the US biscuits $4 fed ex next day $127. didnt pay any duty, but the fed ex man nearly fell over when i opened the package and there where my bickies

i brought a stater motor from the sates, over here they are £180, and it was $120, so it truned out to £60 plus £20 postage, and £25 vat, duty and parceforce charge. end cost was £105, so it was not bad took a while to get it.

stuart

I buy loads of stuff from the US and never have any problems....oh yeah maybe cos' I live here...

Seriously though, I do sometimes do it the other way (ooer, missus) and get books from Amazon UK.....never any problems and always delivered a few days early.

quote:

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Originally posted by Alan B
I buy loads of stuff from the US and never have any problems....oh yeah maybe cos' I live here...

Seriously though, I do sometimes do it the other way (ooer, missus) and get books from Amazon UK.....never any problems and always delivered a few days early.

---

Hi All


Well, my telescope parts arrived today. (Royal Mail) 7 days from order to receiving them.

Nothing extra to pay. I'm well pleased.


The US postage stamp says $8.45
Telescope Warehouse only charged me $10 so no rip off there.
The Customs Declaration has 4 boxes to tick: gift, sample, documents or other. Other was ticked.
The value was marked on the label as $16.

All in all this has been a cracking deal. I'd do it again anytime.


Thanks for all the help and advice.

Cheers
Paul G