Buying from outside the UK

Flyonthewall

There's an item I want, but it's expensive to buy it in the UK and there's only one seller selling it.

I can buy the same item from ebay from Greece, France, the US or Canada cheaper.

However, will buying from any of these countries mean extra charges or handling fees?

The item is less than £15 from Greece and France (P&P included) and just over £15 once P&P is added for the US and Canada.

There is also a second item I want from the US which says the item will be sent through the Global Shipping Programme which I believe means the import charges are within the cost shown, but are there likely to be any other charges or handling costs? Item is worth just over £16 with P&P included (less than £10 without P&P).

Just want to make sure I won't end up paying more after charges/handling than what it would cost in the UK.

Also just to double check, do the payments go through in Pounds or Euros/Dollars and is there a charge if in Euros/Dollars?

Thanks.

GabbaGabbaHey

Both Greece and France are in the EU, so there will be no further charges involved on importation.

I think that £16 may be below the threshold on duty/VAT for imports from the USA, but if the seller is using the rip-off Pitney Bowes system then you'll have to pay whatever they say, even if there wouldn't normally be a liability for duty or VAT.

I always fund my PayPal payments through my credit card (rather than my bank account) and I get a choice whether to pay in Sterling or in the foreign currency. It has ALWAYS been cheaper to pay in the foreign currency and pay my bank's conversion rate than to pay in Sterling and pay PayPal's very hefty conversion charges.

Flyonthewall

GabbaGabbaHey wrote: »

Both Greece and France are in the EU, so there will be no further charges involved on importation.

I think that £16 may be below the threshold on duty/VAT for imports from the USA, but if the seller is using the rip-off Pitney Bowes system then you'll have to pay whatever they say, even if there wouldn't normally be a liability for duty or VAT.

I always fund my PayPal payments through my credit card (rather than my bank account) and I get a choice whether to pay in Sterling or in the foreign currency. It has ALWAYS been cheaper to pay in the foreign currency and pay my bank's conversion rate than to pay in Sterling and pay PayPal's very hefty conversion charges.

Thanks.

Ah right.

I don't have a credit card, it would be from my Paypal balance or bank account. So what's the best option, sterling or foreign currency?

I had a Paypal payment in dollars a couple of weeks ago that's showing as dollars and was automatically accepted. Before Paypal changed the layout I always had to accept and say whether to keep it in dollars or convert to pounds. Does it automatically convert now or stay as dollars?

If I had a payment in dollars could I then use that on a US item without the charges for converting it?

TKPeters

Flyonthewall wrote: »

There's an item I want, but it's expensive to buy it in the UK and there's only one seller selling it.

I can buy the same item from ebay from Greece, France, the US or Canada cheaper.

However, will buying from any of these countries mean extra charges or handling fees?

The item is less than £15 from Greece and France (P&P included) and just over £15 once P&P is added for the US and Canada.

There is also a second item I want from the US which says the item will be sent through the Global Shipping Programme which I believe means the import charges are within the cost shown, but are there likely to be any other charges or handling costs? Item is worth just over £16 with P&P included (less than £10 without P&P).

Just want to make sure I won't end up paying more after charges/handling than what it would cost in the UK.

Also just to double check, do the payments go through in Pounds or Euros/Dollars and is there a charge if in Euros/Dollars?

Thanks.

Greece & France are within the EU, so no custom charges.

US & Canada will add VAT to the price, unless its covered under the Global Selling Program where the total delivered price including all taxes is charged & paid by Pitney Bowes to the HMRC

Flyonthewall

TKPeters wrote: »

Greece & France are within the EU, so no custom charges.

US & Canada will add VAT to the price, unless its covered under the Global Selling Program where the total delivered price including all taxes is charged & paid by Pitney Bowes to the HMRC

Thanks. And there's no handling charges or anything? Regardless of value or item size?

Flyonthewall

For an auction on an item with the Global Selling Programme how do you know what the import charges will be before bidding?

I found one item with no bids and it's saying import charges are $0 based on the current bid. Even with a low start price I don't want to bid and find the charges jump to something stupid and I wouldn't have a clue what my maximum bid could be. Is there any way of knowing?

Flyonthewall

Anyone know?

GabbaGabbaHey

I fear that the answer is "you can't".

Both import duty and VAT are levied as a percentage of the selling price (including postage). So until the auction ends and the selling price is known, it is not possible to calculate how much this will be.

Flyonthewall

GabbaGabbaHey wrote: »

I fear that the answer is "you can't".

Both import duty and VAT are levied as a percentage of the selling price (including postage). So until the auction ends and the selling price is known, it is not possible to calculate how much this will be.

Yeah, I thought that may be the answer Ah well, guess I won't be bidding on any as it's not worth the risk.

campdave

Look at other items that offer GSP at around the price you expect to pay to get a rough idea.

Flyonthewall

campdave wrote: »

Look at other items that offer GSP at around the price you expect to pay to get a rough idea.

Other of the same item or just any item at that price? Will it vary depending on what the item is?