Can anyone on here work out how much if any import duty i will to fork out to the customs for my Gauges. I bought them from the states costing $240 (£122) the postal cost was $48 (£23). when i check the tracking details it tells me they are awaiting payment of charges at the Edinburgh West (parceforce office).

I'm no expert but I buy a few things from the US and often pay duties. Duty is up to 14% on vehicle parts and you'll pay VAT on top, including the handling charge from the carrier of maybe 15 quid. At a guess you will be paying up to 66 quid to collect your goods. You may get away with the 2.4% rate of duty in which case you'll pay about 47 quid. It's a right lottery and a lot depends on how the supplier declared it on their customs form.

i reckon will be approx £30,

you will get a letter in the next day or two telling you how much and asking for payment.

if you ring them they will tell you how much the charges are, but you can;t pay them till you get the letter

hth

Ray

I've imported quite a bit from the states.

Always nice to see a form with "warranty repair" on it

A tip; if you buy from the states regularly you cannot use it. If you only buy one or two times a year act as follows:

- Have the shipper make up two invoices. Invoice one, with the real value, is the one you pay and is mailed to you separatly. Invoice two clearly has stated two things: zero value and SAMPLES. This is the invoice that is put with the shipment.

- Upside: no duty, no VAT, no hassle

- Downside: your goods will not be insured.

When I bought brakes from Outlaw, I asked them always to put some production-rejects in the package. This added some weight, and thereby shipping costs, but would back up the samples statement in case customs opened the shipment.

Got a call from dutch customs after sample shipment 8 in one year.... am now flagged for the next 5 years. All of a sudden my brother is ordering stuff in the us....:-)

miegru - It's an old trick and does not always work even on the first shipment...
I've had lots of samples sent through all sorts of descriptions. Now and again customs checks and it's always the large high value items. It seems to be the luck of the draw. Having said that the US price plus charges tends to be less than the UK.

Cheers