Buying In The US Discussion Area

Team_Twister

To add to my earlier comments on buying from the US, some later thoughts I forgot to include...

Most - not all - mail order purchasing in the US is free of State Sales Tax (eg 6% or 7% in Florida, varies from county to county). This only has to be charged, apparently, if the mail order company has an outlet in the destination state, or of course if they're shipping within the same state. So if you buy by mail order there's a pretty good chance you won't be charged sales tax, unless you buy from a big store with multiple outlets.

The original article mentions US voltage, which is of course different to the UK, and that some electronic items will accept both. Beware though, if you plan to use a transformer, that the US frequency (of the AC voltage) is 60Hz, and UK is 50Hz, so it's not only voltage that you need to check.

That said, I brought back with me several years ago a power saw that you can't buy here, and it runs just fine via a building site 110v transformer...and US service personnel in the UK have access to 230/115v transformers as a matter of course, so they can use their own vacuum cleaners and so forth.

mccstuff

I fancy this Tag Heuer for $1220.60 on Amazon.com : http://www.amazon.com/TAG-Heuer-Mens-Watch-WJ1110-BA0570/dp/B000E4ARNC/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=jewelry&qid=1195661819&sr=8-5

I wanted to know what are the pitfalls of ordering this from the USA? The same watch on Ernest Jones is £950, using Martin's guide I worked out that it would cost me £800 at the most, is that correct?

Would the watch be well packaged and the parcel tracked when it's sent? Would I have any problems with Customs?

Any help appreciated.

JeandePierre_2

Many US shops are willing to ship things. When I buy things in New York, for example, I try to have them shipped, which means that New York Sales Tax is not payable: what I save in Sales Tax covers the cost of shipping, and I don't have the extra weight to carry in my luggage.

misterspoon

I am a little confused over the duty and VAT. I want to buy a pda on e-bay. From the states its much cheaper, espcecially as I believe there is no duty on a pda. But would I still have to pay the 17.5% VAT?

In Martin's article about buying from the states - In the section under Customs duty and VAT , under Customs clearance charges, it says that if "shopping online from the U.K., if there are duty and /or VAT chargers, the delivery company will pay this on your behalf"

Does this mean that the e-bay seller will cover my duty ( which in this case I don't need to pay) and my VAT charges. In other words, is it covered in the price I pay? This is the part I'm confused about . Thanks

pmdpmd

When a US person leaves the UK, they can claim back the VAT they paid of stuff they bought.

There does not seem to be a similar facility to allow us from the UK to claim back the sales tax when we leave the US.

However, when I investigated this, I am sure I came across some sort of certificate of foreign residency thing you could register for prior to buying anything in the US which you could then show to the retailer so that they need not charge the sales tax.

I can't remember the name of it or anything, but it could be a useful tip to save even more money if we could identify it.

Has anyone come across it?

pmorrison_2

misterspoon wrote: »

In Martin's article about buying from the states - In the section under Customs duty and VAT , under Customs clearance charges, it says that if "shopping online from the U.K., if there are duty and /or VAT chargers, the delivery company will pay this on your behalf"

Does this mean that the e-bay seller will cover my duty ( which in this case I don't need to pay) and my VAT charges. In other words, is it covered in the price I pay? This is the part I'm confused about . Thanks

Hi misterspoon, I think you have slightly misunderstood the article - from what I understand, the 'delivery company', probably Royal Mail, will pay the duty and VAT charges and you will then have to pay Royal Mail these fees before they will hand over the item.

Hope that helps

alfie74

I was looking at this article today and spotted something wrong. Oi! :money:are you there!

(Formerly the article stated "that goods over £7 are liable for customs duty" This has since been corrected). The HMRC site says that is the amount of DUTY is less than £7 then they'll waive it.

Let's say I'm looking at a strobe light. Customs duty is 2.6% on this item. If the item is say £50 then the duty would be less than £7 so this would be waived and only VAT @17.5% is charged and £8 by the Royal Mail.

Do I understand it correctly that the percentages are added on the total cost (including delivery)?

stphnstevey

Sounds like there is no real way of estimating exactly what customs, VAT etc etc you might end up paying - looks like pot luck!

If anyone can work out the extra charges on Lost 3 and Heroes Season 1 from the US, I would be very grateful (I am sure a few other fans would be also!)

misterspoon

Hi pmorrison. Thanks for the explanation.
The seller tells me he uses USPS global prority to post the item. But I wonder if royal mail will take over from this side?
He also said that he puts a lower price on the package and that his customers are very rarely charged any extras.

puneet_g80

Hi All,

I am interested in buying a laptop from the US. If a friend of mine buys it in the US for me and ships it over will I still be charged any VAT ? From Martin's article it seems that there is no duty on laptops.