Buying from the US - costs?

vonblack

Hi,

I saw a nice bargin for a set of cookwear costing around $250 dollars. when they can be upto £250-300 over here. Its a 12 piece set of pans so quite heavy id expect.

Does anyone know how much they will actually cost due to import taxes and whatever other tax they might throw at me?


Regards

Enterprise_1701C

Don't know about the pans, but I wanted a nice oak DVD stand from a place in the USA, might have been about the same weight and would have come flat packed, and I asked them about delivery to the UK. They came back with a quote of several hundred pounds! It may well be worth asking them how much delivery would be before even thinking about import duties etc as it already comes to about £160!

bb69

Hi
I asked a a question on here a lil while back heres the link for you to see answers.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2182751&highlight=import+charges

I ended up not buying the item, as I think was too costly for me

Hope this helps

busybee100

I use this calculator to give me an idea of costs
http://www.dutycalculator.com/

Based on $250 + $50 shipping it looks as if you wouldn't pay duty (@3.2%) but would pay VAT (£32.25) and there would also be the handling charge by the PO (£8).

If you do decide to go ahead I would be interested to hear how the calculator compares to the real world. It's always been ok for me but I only use it for small items.

vonblack

*** Update 17-02-10 *** Worth reading but lengthy *** I also had to remove all the http//www. from my links as im a new user ***

After many hours I finally plucked up the balls to buy my US Cookwear. I trolled many sites and found lots of different prices. When I finally found a good price from a US company called Sears link: (sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00898538000P?keyword=Cuisinart+17-Piece+Chef%27s+Classic+Cookware+Set) they came up with the following prices (sears converted into £ as they ship to the UK)...

Cost for the item: £164.84
Cost for shipping: £82.17
Cost for Duty and VAT: 43.63
Total: £290.64

This was using a company called Fiftone who handle international shipping costs and present you with a final 100% price with no hidden extra costs.
Link to Sears international shipping statement...
"Are there any additional costs that will be due upon receipt of my order? During the checkout process our partner, FiftyOne, will calculate and display the order total in your preferred currency. That includes shipping costs from the U.S. to your selected international destination, as well as any applicable duties and taxes as determined by the destination customs and revenue authorities. The order total presented will be the amount that you will be billed. There will be no additional costs due upon receipt of your order." (sears.com/shc/s/nb_10153_12608_NB_CSInternationalShipping?adCell=W3)

*** At this point I thought these prices were way too high so I carried on looking for a cheaper option ***

I then found this website, CHEFS(chefscatalog.com/product/25551-Cuisinart-17-Piece-Chefs-Classic-Cookware-Set-Model-77-17.aspx) - who had the same product and again in £ due to shipping to the UK.

I then went to the checkout again and this was the result (Again using Fiftyone)

Cost for the item: £197.03
Cost for shipping: £24.25
Cost for Duty and VAT: 10.32
Total: £231.60

*** They both present a final 100% guaranteed price and both use Fiftyone to handle the shipping and tax but have completely different prices ***

CHEFS state this on international shipping: "
Are there any additional costs that will be due upon receipt of my order?
No. When you use the FiftyOne global checkout, you will be provided with a guaranteed order total in your preferred currency. The order total presented will be the exact amount that you will be billed. There will never be any additional costs billed upon delivery or due as C.O.D. charges."
(chefscatalog.com/service/customer-service.aspx)

** Maybe Mr M Lewis might find this of interest ***