907
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 06:38 AM |
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eBay. Buying from the USA
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
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dave1888
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 06:44 AM |
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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.
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tjoh84
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 06:51 AM |
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is they send as a gift and state under £5 no probs but if it goes missing you lose out
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chrisj
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 07:05 AM |
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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.
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907
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 07:29 AM |
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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
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Humbug
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 07:45 AM |
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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
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 08:02 AM |
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"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.
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stevec
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 08:23 AM |
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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
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907
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 08:30 AM |
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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
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geoff shep
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 08:59 AM |
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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.
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Peteff
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 09:08 AM |
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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.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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907
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 09:21 AM |
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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
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afj
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 10:19 AM |
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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
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Stuart_B
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 10:48 AM |
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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
black mk indy, 1.6pinto on cbr600 bike carb's.
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Alan B
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 11:38 AM |
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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.
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907
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| posted on 6/8/08 at 07:23 PM |
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quote:
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.
Mmmm, a few days early eh?
I would have thought you would get them about 6 hours late. 
Cheers
Paul G
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907
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| posted on 13/8/08 at 07:05 PM |
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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
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