Buying from the states

[Lee77]

Hi everyone. I've seen a couple of nice moc's at a dealer in the states. The plan was to get them then send them to ukg for grading. But I started reading about customs charges etc which I think is 20%.
To avoid all this, can't I just get the dealer to ship them to afa, which has no customs charges, get them graded, then get afa to send them to me. This way, as far as customs are concerned, there's no sale to charge tax on. :?:
I don't know if this will work, just a thought so I'd appreciate advice from anyone whose purchased from the states.

Thanks.
Lee.

 

[plantman]

My theory is to pay for the fastest shipping and declare a low value, yours would be another way to "TEST" if they wouldnt attempt taxing you.

I think theu would slap a charge on for the sake of it, but remember unless you pay for the premium turnaround with AFA its going to be a long drawn out affair, is it 4-6 weeks? then AFA charge a bomb to post it back to you.

Also remember the seller has to legally post the item to your address, and he will have no proof of that if he lost the parcel or needed to claim.

Just a thought.

 

[edd_jedi]

My advice is take the risk of putting a low value on every time. There's probably a 1% chance or so of it going missing. I've bought dozens of things from America and only ever had one go missing. Sure it was annoying for a £100 figure to get lost, but it's better than paying £50 customs tax on every single one.

 

[e30318is]

Low marked value every time (except for on really high end stuff)

I have received 50 odd £80-300 items, not had a single one go missing... yet :?

Saved many hundreds of pounds with this method.

 

[cantina_patron]

Great tips!
Customs charges have certainly put me off buying from the US in the past. Now, lets find those bargains.

 

[e30318is]

I have delcared full value on one item, the most expensive figure I have ever bought (North of a grand)
Got the guy to mark it full value for customs (just incase) and guess what..... It cleared without having to pay any customs fees :?

It saved me several hundred pounds 8)

 

[Lee77]

Thanks for the replies.
The store won't mark down the value for insurance reasons but will send it to AFA. Just gonna chance it and see what happens. It's under £200 so not a massive amount.
I'll let everyone knows what happens..........

 

[plantman]

Hope it all goes well, if it goes tits up you stand in a good position as they will no proof that they delivered it to you...lol

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Sorry to hijack your thread Lee but thinking of buying from the states for the First time and I am new to all this Custom Charges Lark.

So the seller marks it as a low value item and then I dont have to pay any charges or do I still have to pay a small charge? :?

Thanks for clearing this up guys

 

[Lee77]

I think ( but could be wrong) that over $35 then you pay 5% plus a handling fee of around £9 to royal mail.
I think it's a but hit and miss with the 5% charge as some get through free and others get charged.
Don't know if you collect graded but my idea was to get it sent straight to AFA for grading and then get AFA to send it to me. That way there's technically no purchase to be taxed on.
Also, it's a dealer I'm buying from, not eBay, so for insurance purposes, they wont mark the package down in value.
Items seem a fair bit cheaper in the states but if you start having to pay all these extra bits, it soon bumps up the price.
Confusing !

 

[Lee77]

Sorry to hijack your thread Lee but thinking of buying from the states for the First time and I am new to all this Custom Charges Lark.

So the seller marks it as a low value item and then I dont have to pay any charges or do I still have to pay a small charge? :?

Thanks for clearing this up guys

Liam, look in the vintage reference library section. 2nd or 3rd thread down is a sticky from Stevemac1976. By the look of it, you need to get the sender to mark the package with customs code 9705000090 and you get charged a lot less. You probably have to pay the full amount then claim it back.
Cheers.

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Thanks for the advice Lee. Will keep you guys posted on how it goes

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Hi Lee thanks for the info. So the seller just writes that code on the package yes? Sorry about the noob questions!

 

[Lee77]

I think that they fill in some sort of customs declaration saying what's in the parcel by means of a code.
Don't know if it gets written on the box or the form but when it comes into the uk, the customs charges on that code are lower than others.
It's all very confusing and I'm sure when it comes in, it'll be a case of paying full import tax then claiming it back.
I ordered my item today and emailed them the code for customs but the stores closed till Monday so any correspondence he gives me I'll pass on.
I'm self employed and don't cook my books every year to be giving it back to them on overseas purchases! Pissing HMRC

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Many thanks for that very helpful info Lee!

One last Q I think - How do I claim my money back once I recieve it? :?

 

[Lee77]

Walk in to HMRC and gently tap on the window with a shotgun ! :lol:

Or just keep the form you get and your receipt and ring the enquiry number.
Last time I got a letter saying the depot in Camden had my parcel and I could collect it from them when I paid the charges. All the contact details were on that.
It's a bit of aggro but it's worth it. Ringing up that is not the shotgun method !!!!!

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Oh didnt know it was easy

I wish I could walk in sometimes too! :x

 

[lee gray]

I always ask the seller to mark the item as a 30 dollar gift at my risk but make sure its sent with tracking before I bid or BIN and most of the time they do this, obviously if it goes missing you are down though but its a very small chance.

In all fairness it once took UKG longer to grade my item and send it back to me than toygrader plus it wasnt much cheaper. now I only use afa.

 

[Lee77]

Quick update on this. Got the dreaded letter from parcel force this morning. The item I bought was $325 and postage was $35. Parcel force have charged import tax of £17 and a handling fee of £8. Don't know if this is too much but it doesn't seem too bad.
What is more annoying is that it only took 6 days for the item to get from America to England , but it took parcel force 10 days to process it and another 3 days to get the letter to me! Wankers.

 

[lee gray]

thats a decent price.
I hate when they send letters out like a week later especially when u have paid for fast shipping. I once had an item from hong kong and i never checked tracking and after 9 days i get a letter and the parcel had arrived in the country just 2 days after purchase.....pissed me off as could have collected it quicker.

Luckily if u do track so you know what the situation is and contact them, you can go and pay and collect it quicker.