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Buying from the US


ryanwinter73

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19 minutes ago, ryanwinter73 said:

Has anyone had any experience with buying from the US on Instagram? Claims $8 and 48 hour shipping. TIA

48 Hour shipping is a bit suss matey, dont know about the low postage too as this seems too low but hey ho... my experience in buying from the US from about three different sources has always been about 7-10 days and thats with USPS and Fedex.... then you might have customs delays too... 

some might have had quicker shipping..

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

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The shipping was the questionable bit for me. Might take a stab at a smaller amount and risk it just to ease my curiosity. Been speaking to the guy and he appears genuine but might just be good at it. Has some bars on there for $20 an ounce. Might be worth a punt. 

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10 minutes ago, ryanwinter73 said:

The shipping was the questionable bit for me. Might take a stab at a smaller amount and risk it just to ease my curiosity. Been speaking to the guy and he appears genuine but might just be good at it. Has some bars on there for $20 an ounce. Might be worth a punt. 

you might get hit with the VAT too mind. so factor that in as well 

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

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Not for many years now, but beware that there is a difference shipping to a "port of entry" and "door to door".
Once upon a time our US cousins thought they were doing us a great service by prepaying a courier and giving customers a cheap shipping charge. That's what they paid and included in their price.
Once the goods landed in the UK the courier would call and ask for a bunch of fees including shipping to you and that cost even more than you had already paid from the USA.
Many people get caught ONCE when something from the USA looks a bargain.
Perhaps it is, but check and don't always believe the seller.
Maybe times have changed so this account is now total tosh, I don't buy from the USA anymore so really don't know the answer.

Edited by Pete
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An $8 charge for 48 hour shipping is not credible.  
i have received bars from the USA where the seller was able to get it in as a gift. The shipping was $10 - 5 years ago. The overall cost worked out nicely. 

i was buying vintage bars - the sort that are hard to find in the UK and are often at silly prices. 

Looking at TSF selling thread i see "Silver - 500g & 1kg bars (£21.25/oz)" - there are no duties, no VAT, no brokerage fees, no nasty surprises.

Disclaimer: Everything I post is for entertainment purposes only - it is not to be taken seriously. There is no intent to incite violence or hate of any kind, nor do I have any intent to incite any other crime or non-crime in any country in the world. It is not my intent to slander, harass or defame anyone dead or alive. 

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1 minute ago, sixgun said:

An $8 charge for 48 hour shipping is not credible.  
i have received bars from the USA where the seller was able to get it in as a gift. The shipping was $10 - 5 years ago. The overall cost worked out nicely. 

i was buying vintage bars - the sort that are hard to find in the UK and are often at silly prices. 

Looking at TSF selling thread i see "Silver - 500g & 1kg bars (£21.25/oz)" - there are no duties, no VAT, no brokerage fees, no nasty surprises.

Doing a bit more research there does seem to be too many unsure variables to warrant the risk. As you say for a fraction more money you can get safer silver without the hassle in the uk. Leave the yanks to their dodgy shipping I think. Thanks all for the advice 

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1 hour ago, ryanwinter73 said:

Has anyone had any experience with buying from the US on Instagram? Claims $8 and 48 hour shipping. TIA

$8 definitely won’t buy a 48hr service. I have had those express services (and also sent in similar time frames) but thats with ups or fedex and its a $40 (ish) dollar service for very low weight (a sovereign for example). Heavier is more expensive. Could be with usps but that can take weeks or months and $8 still seems cheap.

assuming your seller breaks his own laws (and why would they) and incorrectly declares the item and/or declares them as a very low value amount then you might dodge the duty. certain gold types are classed as investment gold and come in duty free, but bullion silver definitely isn't.

You’ll most likely have to pay 20% of the declared value and if its on a usps type service that will use royal mail on arrival in the uk you get hit with an admin charge, which is about £15 i think - and they wont do anything with it until you’ve paid, but its been a long time since i used rhe cheap services as it works out about the same cost to use UPS / DHL / FEDEX and they are better and quicker. 
 

Tbh, personally I wouldn’t bother. However, If it is genuine he’s got his shipping cost wrong and you should prepare to pay 20% on top plus fees and have a long wait. If you dont have too, take it as a bonus, but more than likely you will. 

good luck and take care

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3 minutes ago, SilverMike said:

$8 definitely won’t buy a 48hr service. I have had those express services (and also sent in similar time frames) but thats with ups or fedex and its a $40 (ish) dollar service for very low weight (a sovereign for example). Heavier is more expensive. Could be with usps but that can take weeks or months and $8 still seems cheap.

assuming your seller breaks his own laws (and why would they) and incorrectly declares the item and/or declares them as a very low value amount then you might dodge the duty. certain gold types are classed as investment gold and come in duty free, but bullion silver definitely isn't.

You’ll most likely have to pay 20% of the declared value and if its on a usps type service that will use royal mail on arrival in the uk you get hit with an admin charge, which is about £15 i think - and they wont do anything with it until you’ve paid, but its been a long time since i used rhe cheap services as it works out about the same cost to use UPS / DHL / FEDEX and they are better and quicker. 
 

Tbh, personally I wouldn’t bother. However, If it is genuine he’s got his shipping cost wrong and you should prepare to pay 20% on top plus fees and have a long wait. If you dont have too, take it as a bonus, but more than likely you will. 

good luck and take care

He’s dodging my questions about what courier he uses and being generally vague now. Think I’ll give that one a miss. Stick to home soil I think. As you say $40 ish seems to be the going rate for a relatively small weight. $8 is a red flag. 

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  • ChrisSilver changed the title to Buying from the US
15 hours ago, ryanwinter73 said:

Has anyone had any experience with buying from the US on Instagram? Claims $8 and 48 hour shipping. TIA

I see this is posted under

So I guess, you are referring to silver.

You would probably elicit more and better responses by giving more detail, such as:

What sort of thing, presumably silver, but what? 1 x 1 ounce American Silver Eagle, a monster box of them? A kilo bar?

From whom? Who the seller is would probably give more clues than anything else. 

Is the $8 for fully insured 48 delivery?

By what service?

How are you being expected to pay?

As others have already said:

Don't forget you may be liable for VAT on import.

You may also be charged an import / customs handling fee. This could exceed the cost of the purchase.

Is there some particular reason you want to buy / import from the USA?

Would it be simpler, cheaper, and safer to buy from the UK?

😎

Chards

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34 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

I see this is posted under

So I guess, you are referring to silver.

You would probably elicit more and better responses by giving more detail, such as:

What sort of thing, presumably silver, but what? 1 x 1 ounce American Silver Eagle, a monster box of them? A kilo bar?

From whom? Who the seller is would probably give more clues than anything else. 

Is the $8 for fully insured 48 delivery?

By what service?

How are you being expected to pay?

As others have already said:

Don't forget you may be liable for VAT on import.

You may also be charged an import / customs handling fee. This could exceed the cost of the purchase.

Is there some particular reason you want to buy / import from the USA?

Would it be simpler, cheaper, and safer to buy from the UK?

😎

Yes the conclusion I (with help) came to is that it’s much easier to buy from the uk. He didn’t give many details about the shipping hence my suspicion. Payment was PayPal. Think I’ll avoid it and give all my money to someone on here 🙃

Edited by ryanwinter73
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2 minutes ago, ryanwinter73 said:

Yes the conclusion I (with help) came to is that it’s much easier to buy from the uk. He didn’t give many details about the shipping hence my suspicion. Payment was PayPal. Think I’ll avoid it and give all my money to someone on here 🙃

If you tell others on here who the potential seller was / is, they may form an opinion as to whether he / she was a probable scammer, which could be very helpful to others.

@Darr3nG was right when he recently mentioned me in connection with the word "didactic"!

😎

Chards

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