Import charges from USA

[mrwebb697]

Hi chaps/chapetts

Do any of you know of any sellers in the US

who routinely undervalue or WILL undervalue a coin for the

sake of getting no import charges to the UK?

I'm asking as I buy nearly all my slabs(eagles and PM) from ebay and

find the the global shipping programme to be a bit extortionate!!

It can be almost 40% on top of the value of the slab!

Any help would be much appreciated,ta

 

[Keithoil]

Hi I regularly buy from a guy in the USA and have never had to pay any import charges. I buy the coins from him that you cannot get over here, at least not at a reasonable price. I usually buy 10 ozs at a time and it works out at around £15-£16 / oz delivered.

 

I have ask him and posted his details on here before message me and I will pass them onto you if you want.

[mr-dead]

Flip side is if it goes missing during shipping are you willing to take the reduced amount from the couriers insurance?

 

May not be a problem for smaller orders but something to think about in larger ones.

[mrwebb697]

Yes its a bit of a decision to make," to definitely get conned with Global shipping or risk getting lost in the post" tis a

ponderous question,but as usually  the vast majority of items get from A to B I think it would be a risk worth taking.

[Guest]

I buy from usa regularly and avoid the global shipping program like the plague as it is not only bad value but charges duty on items for which there is no duty.

Mostly I have usa resellers deliver to a usa address and then pick up when I'm in the country.

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[ChrisSilver]

Flip side is if it goes missing during shipping are you willing to take the reduced amount from the couriers insurance?

May not be a problem for smaller orders but something to think about in larger ones.

I think the insured value and the declared customs value are independent of each other.

Obviously depends how the item was shipped though.

Also, I was under the assumption that it was the sellers responsibility until the item was delivered. But that might depend on the country shipped from, and the sellers T&C.

[mrwebb697]

I've often been tempted to message some of the Sellers in the US who don't use global shipping about

being economical with the truth of value for customs documentation, but don't want to come across like Del boy

[mrwebb697]

Ebay stipulates the seller is only responsible for the domestic part of the items journey.

once it reaches the shipping center its no longer the sellers problem!!

[Pete]

The risk you take with undervalued items is they can only be insured up to their declared value - if indeed there is any insurance as some couriers will not compensate for PMs, coins etc. Check their T's & C's. Everything is good until a parcel is lost then you kick yourself.

 

Another consideration is if customs decide to open a package and straight away see a false declaration, they can seize the goods and apply penalties to both sender and receiver.

This is not common BUT there is a risk.

 

What you must always ask yourself is - what am I really saving in landed cost vs buying elsewhere and is the saving really worth the risks ?

[mrwebb697]

Thanks Pete, you've helped me make a decision.

I'm going to purchase my next slab from a dealer who

doesn't use global shipping and wait until it arrives and see what

the ACTUAL import charges + handling are,i'm pretty sure it will be considerably

less than the con that is the global shipping programme.

I'm also sure it will arrive a damn sight quicker as well having not been through

at least 3 different post offices on the way to the shipping centre.

I thank you!

[Baker77]

Hmm does vat get charged if a American sends the coin directly to you?

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[K_theepan]

Hi I regularly buy from a guy in the USA and have never had to pay any import charges. I buy the coins from him that you cannot get over here, at least not at a reasonable price. I usually buy 10 ozs at a time and it works out at around £15-£16 / oz delivered.

 

I have ask him and posted his details on here before message me and I will pass them onto you if you want.

 

Keithoil if you got any contact in USA let me know

[Pete]

Hmm does vat get charged if a American sends the coin directly to you?

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All packages exported require a customs declaration and a value of its contents.

There is a threshold value ( £16 I think ? ) below which goods can be imported free of VAT.

Above this threshold VAT at 20% is charged on the declared value and may include the cost of shipping.

The other killer for a low value order is there is a fixed charge of say £8 for post and sometimes much higher for couriers to pre-pay this VAT on your behalf.

As a back of the envelope calculation a coin valued at $30 = £20 say with $10 shipping charge would incur VAT of approx £5.30 plus handling fee of £8 so your net landed cost for a $30 purchase is actually £40 and you may also have paid an additional fee for sending USD to the seller. Soon adds up !!

[Murph]

I have often put in offers just under the Vat threshold if the price is just a little over the threshold and explained to the sellers why my offer is, perhaps a bit low.  Sometimes they will then let you buy an item for over the £15 but mark it down or put the charge onto shipping.