New Member saying Hello

[Melanie]

Hello all, i came across this forum while searching for Provident Prospectors... on this forum underneath this title there were about 28 comments regarding how difficult it may be to get these rounds to the UK... one comment even mentioned " getting some considerate American to send them out to the group". Just so happens I am a unsuspecting American... I'm not volunteering for anything but i just don't understand.. why would the cost be so high to get them out there to the uk and Europe?? other then a good shipping charge i don't see why it would be too spendy, probably not .79 over spot but kind of close... anyways... plz i would like to know what is the concern with getting us minted rounds there.

 

Thanks !!!!

Melanie and Quinn.

 

PS... my husband has been stacking for about 20 years and i have recently become addicted. we just a nice couple here in a tiny little town where nothing ever happens. My husband is a painter and i am a home maker. we have 2 beautiful boys, 4 and 2 years old. We recently made contact with a coin dealer in Europe and was sending him smallish orders of Zombucks and Graded and ungraded morgens. He was usually shipping at under 20$ for about 10 ounces. anyways i better cut this off before i start rambling. the old man and i were looking for someone to sell our collected bullion stack to in order to rotate the stock so that's how and why i came across this forum. any info on this would be so appreciated!! i hate the different rules and laws and mints that refuse to send to certain places, WEREALL SILVER SATACKERS JUST SELL US THE DAMN SILVER AND SHUT THE HELL UP!! lol but sadly, it is not that easy. were actually wishing we had someone to get our order from Mexico! but the mint says you needed proof of residency in Mexico in order to get the deal. 2015 Libertads for 15$ we couldn't get the deal or at least we have not yet been able to get it but WISH WE COULD ... THATS A HELL OF A DEAL!!!

[ChrisSilver]

Welcome to The Silver Forum.

Importing silver into the EU incurs VAT and handling charges on the total declared value of the cost of the items + shipping cost. Hence why everything becomes more expensive.

[Oldun]

Welcome. Melanie. Hope you enjoy forum life here. Friendly helpful bunch from my experience :)

[Melanie]

I'm sorry i must sound so silly to you but what is VAT? i have not heard of that.

[Melanie]

2 minutes ago, Oldun said:

Welcome. Melanie. Hope you enjoy forum life here. Friendly helpful bunch from my experience :)

Thank you very much!!

[Oldun]

Value added tax - about 20% in The UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_Added_Tax_%28United_Kingdom%29

 

In The UK, there is none on gold but exists on silver.

 

In Japan, it's 8%

[Melanie]

WOW!!! so you guys are paying about  39-40$ for a one round...??? when we were shipping to the UK before, we were claiming to customs the silver was "collectable Rounds" instead of Silver... and we claimed the value was far less then the actual price.. from what i understand this may have been dishonest but not illegal.. as they were mostly semi-numi... and value changes with each owner. has anyone ever tried this when getting silver from anyone who was not a mint??

[Oldun]

Never had the experience of sending anything to The UK from where I am so i could not help you on that.

[Melanie]

Thanks Oldun. for all yoru help!

[BaldyBob]

Welcome Melanie and Quinn

As a collector of 'other' items, I am pretty sure anything with silver content has to be defined as 'antique' to be VAT exempt.

Have shipped from Canada about 5 times, and been stung by HM customs for VAT and handling fees once. I was able to reclaim this later by quoting the exact code from the rules and regs.

I have shipped numerous times in the other direction with no problem, usually listing the items as 'antique spare parts' or 'historical papers and artefacts' with no problems reported.

Shipping silver is a gamble. Getting caught once will hugely affect your price per oz, unless the sender is imaginative with the customs declaration.

For me, still too much of a gamble when we can get Government issued coins from Germany at 7% VAT...for now.

[HelpingHands]

Hello and welcome!

[MCJ]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

[KevinG]

Welcome. Melanie.

[ifing]

Hi and welcome to the forum Melanie and Quinn :D

[Stu]

Welcome to the forum. VAT is a right pain but we try our best to reduce this as much as possible. To me, investment grade silver bars and coins should be vat free, same as gold.

[Agpanda]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

[SilverSniper]

Hi Melanie,  welcome.

As you've seen above, VAT = Value Added Tax .... which is 20% on silver in the UK (Gold is 0% VAT).  A small Import Duty handing fee is also chargeable with most couriers and the Royal Mail.

In the UK, if we buy silver from outside of Europe, we have to pay the VAT if the value of goods is over a certain threshold.  For normal 'goods' this is £15 (approx $22.50).  For a 'gift' the threshold raises to £36 (approx $54).  This is a very simplified explanation, but you get the idea.

Obviously only importing one item is not cost effective, due to the increased shipping fees.

But don't worry, we do not pay $40 for our 1oz silver, as there is more than one way to skin a cat!!

Cheers, Keith