>Has anyone out there (UK members specifically) had much experience in
>purchasing MD equipment mail order from the US?
Not MD stuff specifically, but I've imported various other things..
>I have a friend in Arizona who would be willing to purchase an MD Player
>on my behalf and send it to me here in the UK. Is there anything anyone
>can recommend in order for this to be done without 'attracting' customs
>charges, VAT etc? Can anyone shed any light on what the legalities of
>this are?
Right - they'll have to delcare a value and what the goods are on the
shipping label. If they opened the package, broke the seals, etc. then it
would be secondhand so a much lower value can be declared.
There's a limit of 18ukp (goods value, not including shipping+handling)
before you pay any charges. After that it's 17.5% VAT and import duty at
around 10% on the declared value.
What you could try is getting your friend to giftwrap the item and include
a "Happy Birthday" note inside the packaging. Customs will probably open
the package but not the giftwrapping, provided the declared value and
description seem plausible.
At the end of the day though expect to pay VAT and import duty. Getting it
via your friend will reduce the amount that you have to pay, using the
"secondhand" method.
>If anyone has any experience of this I would be interested to hear any
>advice you may have to offer. I assume that me doing it this way would
>be better than purchasing direct from the mail order supplier and
>getting them to ship it?
Yes, but it will take longer to get here. Work out a worst-case scenario of
what you'll have to pay - cost of unit, shipping to friend, shipping to
you, exchange rate & any commission, VAT and import duty (at 40-50% of it's
value), and any new mains adaptors/converters you'll have to buy for it to
be usable on 240v.
Add on an amount of your choice to cover things like the extra time to get
it, the fact that you might get warranty hassles, etc. Then shop around -
Richer Sounds (especially with the What Hifi? magazine ads), Tottenham
Court Road, the online shops (unbeatable.co.uk and av-store.co.uk are both
cheap but I've never used them) and see if you can't get it cheaper over
here anyway.
If it's from the US, I doubt you're looking for one of the latest,
super-funky Japanese models so check out what you can get over here first.
I've considered importing MD stuff in the past, but add it all up and what
seems like a bargain initially can end up more expensive and more hassle
that just buying from an outfit in the UK.
If you go ahead, make sure you're still making a saving at the end - good luck!
--
Simon
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