[Closed] Import duty?

fedex send you a bill after delivery, which can be a shock, royal mail won't hand it over until you pay, customs can open up and check any invoices inside even if marked as a gift and make you pay, you may get away with it though, and it won't be a big hit on that much anyway

VAT + import duty on parts from USA, think parts suffer a different (lower) import rate to full bikes (4% on parts?).

Search "Import" theres been a thread a week about people buying stuff from USA and some are regulars. I got charged ~£20 duty on a £170 Marz fork from USA, still equivalent to used prices here.

With Royal Mail you get the piss-taking £8 handling/extortion charge... If you're unlucky at least, I've had a lot of stuff come through untaxed, doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/tariffFilter?r.s=a&export=false&r.lc=en

+ VAT
+ Handling Charge

= Rarely works out cheaper 🙁

I bought my new revs from the states, the shop kindly put a $150 value on the declaration, I paid about £19 in customs charges & £13 in parcel force charges. Still worked out a lot cheaper than uk prices though.

So you saved a couple of quid but you dont get a guarantee. Not really worth it especially on something that can easily cost a lot to repair.

J

Cheers for the replys. How can Parcel Force or Royal Mail etc charge so much after already paying delivery! That sounds like a rip off, you would maybe expect to pay something but not over what you would normal pay for a UK delivery! Same old rip off Britain, always paying more than everyone else.

I would not say at least 130 quid is a few quid! stu-pid, I may have bought the forks from the same shop. So buy your calculations it should come in at under £300! Who says they dont come with a warranty? I contacted Sram before I purchased the forks and they said there should be no probs as long as I have proof of purchase and are the original owner. And I have the email encase they try to back out of a warranty claim, hopefully wont come to that anyway.

jamie@balfa I must have saved at least £100 on what the retail price will be in the uk but more importantly i got a fork that wasnt yet available in the uk. As far as im aware the rock shox warranty is international, but worst case i have to send them back to the US for repair.

my simple missing-all-the-bits-that-fail Marz 55R came in at under £200 including all fees, new mail order theyre £300 and second hand on fleabay shops are asking £200. Nothing in the warranty about being cancelled if fork is personally imported or shipped abroad, its a manufacturers warranty not Sale Of Goods Act. Worth it in my book, and in the books of the dozens of people on here who appear to regularly buy from US.

UPS want COD so check to see if they are the carrier. I am sure there is a way of paying it up front to save money but I didn't see this in time to ask our buyer at work. If the thread is still going on Monday I may have more info.

Same old rip off Britain, always paying more than everyone else

Feel free to leave

Where are you buying them from? - if it's from a EU country there shouldn't be any duty or VAT due
I've just got $140 worth of [fishing] kit from the states

VAT = £12.63
Parcelforce charge = £8.00

I'm happy

A lot of products now carry a 'no international' selling or warranty policy.

Manufacturers realise that there are different taxes & cost implications around the world that can lead to different RRP's. This is one of the reasons they are stopping international purchasing as it protects the national distributor & retailers.

I fail to see how you would be happy to ship the forks back to the USA to save £100.00. Afterall, you would be liable for the shipping & be without the fork for a lot longer than if it was repaired in the UK. Given that most places charge £100 for a fork service in the UK i wouldnt have thought it was worth the risk, especially as most forks now come with atleast a 2 year guarantee.

J

hey jamie have you got any info on the acros pedals I have seen that were at the recent eurobike? regards

oh and raveydavey what is COD customs . . . . . duty

oh and raveydavey what is COD customs . . . . . duty

Cash On Delivery. Not sure why but every time UPS drop off a parcel from the States, we have to give them a cheque before they will give us the parts. It's something to do with an import waiver but I'll have to ask the brains in work tomorrow exactly what it's about.

Id only have to return them if something actually broke, ive been mountain biking for 13 years & never actually broken a set of forks & i do my own servicing so in the highly unlikely event of needing to return them to the US it'd probably cost me £50 - £60 in postage.
Obviously importing from abroad isnt for everyone but for me and a lot of others its a great way to save some cash & possibly get parts that arent yet available in the UK.

thanks davey i'm getting a frame from the states with ups although seller did state they would not try fiddle tax which is far enough. Say you had fedex ship they sent you the bill afterwards and you said do one, would they actually follow it up? doesn't seem worth it unless it was a huge amount.

><(((((º>
[b]Feel free to leave[/b]

Feel free to leave? Is that that British way? Shouldn't one complain at all when one experiences annoyance? One is hardly going to improve the place with that cowardly attitude.