Advice on shipping a frame from the USofA

[ED209]

Rob gt_lover is sending a frame to me for $90.80 US shipped with $450 insurance which is a good price  cheers Rob 

Can anyone tell me if its possible to avoid the taxes when it arrives over here? heard some stories of peeps getting stung 

[griff]

ask him to disguise it so it looks like a worthless piece of pig iron and then no-one will question a low value at customs
he's probably got a few gt decals he could slap on it
 

[brummie]

only way as far as im aware is to mark at low value and perhaps as a gift
think they might find insured for $450 a bit suss tho ed 

[ED209]

only way as far as im aware is to mark at low value and perhaps as a gift
think they might find insured for $450 a bit suss tho ed 

thanks for the heads up and the PM mate... guess I'm just stuck with paying the taxes eh... or getting properly done over if it goes astray

  either way 

[bobafett]

Occassionaly the odd thing gets through with a lower marked value than insured value Ed but usually if they spot the diff they nab you for the insured value + postage cost and then apply VAT to the lot and then Duty as well 

And then parcel force take another £8 for the privilege !

Get him to mark it as a GIFT regardless because you will either avoid Duty completely or pay it at a capped rate 

No avoiding the VAT though unless he marks it at $50 

[brettypeeps]

Occassionaly the odd thing gets through with a lower marked value than insured value Ed but usually if they spot the diff they nab you for the insured value + postage cost and then apply VAT to the lot and then Duty as well 

And then parcel force take another £8 for the privilege !

Get him to mark it as a GIFT regardless because you will either avoid Duty completely or pay it at a capped rate 

No avoiding the VAT though unless he marks it at $50 

x 2 if you paid by card it will be covered if it goes astray

[Hiro Tonka]

I've just been quoted $280 (£173) to ship  a whole bike from the USA.
Does this seem to be about right or would I be paying over the odds?

Cheers.
Steven

[wildon]

To avoid any charges you have to have it marked at under $30 now.  I got stung the other day for something that was marked at $30.. the threshold is £18 so it was close.
I get them to mark everything at $25 .. everything .. had a judge, aerospeeds and loads of stuff sent from US and got them to do it.  I've had a few who have stuck a customs form on and left it totally blank .. nothing on it at all.. no description, nothing .. and its got through fine.
and $280 to ship a bike sounds very high to me.  I've never paid more than $75 for f&f.

[Robbo]

I've just been quoted $280 (£173) to ship  a whole bike from the USA.
Does this seem to be about right or would I be paying over the odds?

Cheers.
Steven

You should be able to get a full bike over for $150 (£90) ish. 

[Peter J]

Import duty is very hit and miss, I've had two small parcels in the last/this week (one was hubs the other cranks) both marked up as TOTAL value (inc shipping) of $35.......got stung on one and not the other.

But...Parcel force wanted their blood money as well 

The dirty robbin Barstools 

[ED209]

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document#P40_4237

2.4 Gifts

Goods sent as a gift that are over £40 in value are liable to import VAT. Customs duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.

To qualify as a gift:

    * the customs declaration must be completed correctly
    * the gift must be sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
    * there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly
    * the gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary.

Note: if you purchase goods from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold is £18 (paragraph 2.3 refers).

[ED209]

So... on balance... is it worth taking the risk and to avoid the sting over here put the value at $25 dollars and as a 'gift' on the customs declaration ... put 'Bike frame for 40th Birthday' or something

Obviously then you can't insure it for more than $25 as its illegal to insure it for more than the cost you put down on the customs form.

But paying for the postage on a credit card might have protection on for lost items?

...or should I insure it for what I paid for it ( $250 ) to cover myself, still mark it as a GIFT and accept the Import VAT? ( and PostalFarce charges )

 

[brettypeeps]

The customs charges are loaded with other fees IE parcel force handling fee Etc.  These are anothe £8 + on top of any fees.  Only you can decide what is the right thing to do. 

[WINI]

I've just been quoted $280 (£173) to ship  a whole bike from the USA.
Does this seem to be about right or would I be paying over the odds?

Cheers.
Steven

A few weeks back I found a bargain on ColouredTuffs/PlanetBMX in the states.  It was a retro Quad, the last one, and was half price at $399.  Bought and paid for it and heard nothing at all for 2 weeks until I contacted them via FaceAche.  The guy said it was gonna cost $400 in shipping alone, so was stopping sending complete bikes overseas.  I think someone somewhere has just realised there is a shed load of money to be made out of people like us.  Be cheaper to go pick it up via Virgin.

[ED209]

Only you can decide what is the right thing to do. 

big help Jedi Brett 

I'm insuring the fooker to the hilt and will pay whatever charges  I'm not losing this one.

[ED209]

what is it?  Hope its not a fookin GT?   

you know what it is... you want a go on it to slide the bashguard 

[bobafett]

I tend to balance it in between and have expensive items marked at half the value (but still mark as gift for duty purposes) I'll be honest though, this is more to protect me from the seller pulling a fast one than anything else (not the case here with you and Rob Ed). If it's a seller I use on a regular basis, or a mate I always get it marked $50 and gift and everything flies through.

I can honestly say I have imported Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit loads of stuff from the states using USPS priority international service and NOTHING has ever not turned up 

Always get the seller to give you the customs form number - it will be in the format CP1234567US or similar - with this you can track the item vis www.track-trace.com 

At the end of the day it's up to you Ed - I've done it different ways for different reasons - usually because of who I'm buying from more than anything else 

 

[hotdog]

I had a 24" cruiser (full bike) shipped over last October  using USPS and it was $191 with tracking and a marked value of $100/gift. I tracked it from the senders local post office in New York,every step of the way until it arrived at my door. The import/vat etc totalled just under 50 quid. Total shipping time was 6 days.

[ED209]

I tend to balance it in between and have expensive items marked at half the value (but still mark as gift for duty purposes) I'll be honest though, this is more to protect me from the seller pulling a fast one than anything else (not the case here with you and Rob Ed). If it's a seller I use on a regular basis, or a mate I always get it marked $50 and gift and everything flies through.

I can honestly say I have imported Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit loads of stuff from the states using USPS priority international service and NOTHING has ever not turned up 

Always get the seller to give you the customs form number - it will be in the format CP1234567US or similar - with this you can track the item vis www.track-trace.com 

At the end of the day it's up to you Ed - I've done it different ways for different reasons - usually because of who I'm buying from more than anything else 

 

cheers John... good science in your posts.

The only stuff I've had from the states has been trainers 

... I think I just accepted that there will be some more to pay and that, once the frame is in my hands, I'll be happy enough to pay it 

[bobafett]

Yep - I've told myself the same thing in the past on occasion as well Ed - sometimes you have to say if it was an extra £50 (or whatever it works out at) in the first place would I still have bought it and if the answer is yes then away you go