I have found a set of forks which are considerably cheaper from a website/ shop based in America (Jenson USA) and they’d be delivered here (UK). I was wondering if I would be charged for customs when importing into this country? Rough cost of the forks is £380
Has anyone had any previous experiences with this kind of thing? will i be charged customs charges etc?
thanks

Royal Mail may chuck them in the bin,beware !!!

Haha, i hope not! Knowing my luck they would, from what i’ve heard i’d best keep an eye on ebay afterwards.

You will be liable for Import Duty a handling charge and VAT on the lot. If you get charged it is up to how the people doing the processing are feeling but factor it into the price and it will probably be a similar price to the UK. Most of the main couriers will sort it out and invoice you. Also you may not be able to do any warranty with the UK importers.

There was a thread about it last week,is it that much cheaper to get it from the states?

£200-£300 cheaper, so rather a lot, yeah

That is a lot,I’ll be quite honest I haven’t ever ordered anything from outside of the uk before,mainly because you pay your money and left wondering off your item turns up or not,I don’t really know the custom rules on compressed air and duty and so fourth but mikes smith has raised some concerning points.
Everything is a lot cheaper in the states but it’s getting it into the country that costs,for example I’ve been told by a reliable source that if you buy a suitcase full of clothes from the states and take the tags off you will not get charged the duty but if you leave the tags on you will get charged duty,think its a hit and miss situation really,may go well,may not,would be interesting to know how you get on.

Hmm, some good points there, as you say it may be worth contacting the shop and seeing whether they have sold items to the uk before and what has happened in terms of shipping/customs charges.

or i wonder if i could try and purchase it from a uk dealer and see if they’ll price match it for me?, fat chance but worth a try.

I bought a bmx in from the states last year with no issues, but have been stung for import duties and handling by the Royal Mail for other lesser items. Flip a coin I reckon!

Jenson won’t know or care about what happens with taxes, etc after it leaves their shop. You’ll be liable for VAT + Import tax + handling fee from the courier. Add in that you’ll likely have no warranty cover then compare all of that against what would happen if you buy from within the UK

Iff you try and price match they will probably just say “well get it from the states then”…..with a little snigger,legend is spot on and that’s why I don’t buy from abroad as there’s little or no after care and off anything goes wrong you on your own.

legend is spot on

Ah bollocks, that means I’ve peaked already this year!

😉

hazza123 – Member
or i wonder if i could try and purchase it from a uk dealer and see if they’ll price match it for me?, fat chance but worth a try.

US prices are mostly quoted without any sales tax on them, so straight away you need to at 20% for a UK comparison. It’s one of the reasons US pricing looks so good until you get to the till.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ordering-from-jensonusa