import duty on old bike parts??? help!

[retrobikeguy]

Moral of this tale: expect to pay duty, if you don't consider it a bonus

I'd agree, most times it is a bonus, just a bummer when its not.

 

[cherrybomb]

Moral of this tale: expect to pay duty, if you don't consider it a bonus

Yup.

It's still going to be cheaper than buying from the UK with the exchange rate the way it is.

 

[development_cycle]

There has already been a discussion around this before. The bottom line is, they can charge you. If you ask the sender to mark the item as a gift you may get slightly reduced fees, and if it is worth hardly anything then there may be almost no fees.

You must take this into account when buying from outside the EU I'm afraid.

 

[Dr S]

Parcelfarce charge the duty charged by HM Revenues and a 'customs clearance fee' of £8.

Its gone up to £13 now!

 

[Wold Ranger]

Duty

I've imported a stack of gear over the years, some very pricey custom fishing reels included. A lot of sellers will "gift" items to you at sub $36 dollars so no duty applies. BUT if it goes missing U will only get $36 so has its downsides. You will pay 19% VAT on declared value, or the item will not be delivered you have it to pay simple! So an allowance has to be made in with the price. I used to import a lot of Loomis rods from a dealer friend in Boise CA. I could get a £700 rod for around £375 duty paid, a big saving eh? The forex rate is even better now, but the duty still has to be paid?

 

[Geoff]

At the risk of annoying everybody, this is one thing the Aussies have got right. Personal imports on cycling equipment is duty free under AU$1000...

 

[m1kesmith]

i bought a bottom bracket from cambria, got charged £15 duty paid it, they sold the (non existant) debt onto a collection agency and i had baillifs chasing me for £15!!

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

Did you buy them from me?

I ship a ton of stuff to Europe but say in all my listings that, "the buyer is responsible for any tariffs, duty or value added taxes charged upon entry into your country". It's also up to the buyer to figure out what that tax is BEFORE YOU BID so there aren't any surprises like this.

 

[Fat_Bloke]

I ship stuff to my bro in Staffordshire. A 200 UK pound Chris King hub is half the price here ($200) with the crazy exchange rate at the moment. He saves a fortune (i'm in Texas). What I do is on the green customs form that is stuck onto the parcel is put GIFT (as to what it is for) I describe the parts as secondhand bike parts (regardless whether they are 2nd hand or new) and never put a value above $50 (even if its a $200 hub). Works everytime. A bit of a risk though. But it hasn't failed us yet. Mind you if its a large box that might trigger a question about the value. I'll almost guarantee that if you ask the bod in the shipping dept. to complete the customs form as described above they will (folks at the USPO did for me). The risk is loss and the 'claimed' value.

 

[stew-b]

exactly as i said in my post