Buying from Ebay USA - Tax Charges?

bigup

Hi, i am interested in buying a laptop from ebay US which will cost around £700. The seller says the items are shipped as low value. What does this mean and will i have to pay tax charges on the items he sends me, such as duty etc.

Any ideas how much this will be on an item of this value, or does it depend on size and weight etc. And how will this be paid, will i have to go any pay it somewhere to be able to take the laptop?

The item is shipped by UPS or Fed ex. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

Yes you would have to pay tax and duty. Plus the courier charge which is £8+

There is a site which lists the full details for each item.

The monies would be paid for you by UPS or whoever and you would have to pay this to the courier before the item is delivered to you.

custardy

shipping at low value is a risky option,especially if you get into issues with insuranc claims
customs see this every day and will easily spot a laptop and charge on what they deem the laptop to be worth which maybe a lot more thn you paid

Kat_9Lives

I did that with some Ugg boots from the US, it worked fine for me BUT the risk was mine and it was £100-ish compared to £700.

Big risk and not one I think I'd take.

Brooker_Dave

bigup wrote: »

Hi, i am interested in buying a laptop from ebay US which will cost around £700. The seller says the items are shipped as low value. What does this mean and will i have to pay tax charges on the items he sends me, such as duty etc.

Any ideas how much this will be on an item of this value, or does it depend on size and weight etc. And how will this be paid, will i have to go any pay it somewhere to be able to take the laptop?

The item is shipped by UPS or Fed ex. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

If you get caught you'll need to pay import duty, plus VAT on the price, duty and shipping cost. (tax on tax!!)

If laptop gets damaged or goes missing you're in the poo as it's shipped low value.

Where do you stand on warrenty and power adaptors for this thing?

bigup

Many thanks for the replies. Dont think i will bother with the purchase in that case. Thought it seemed a bit too much of a bargain when compared against UK prices.

steviebabes

I am pretty sure there is no import duty on computer equipment from the USA but you would have to factor in handling and VAT. Remember their mains voltage is half of ours too!

Jedster

steviebabes wrote: »

IRemember their mains voltage is half of ours too!

Most laptops have a power supply that can handle 110V-240Vac as an input, so the power souldn't be a problem, just buy a new mains lead with a British plug on it :beer:

Cute_'n'_Quirky

Complete list of categories and charges applicable


http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_009989&propertyType=document

martindow

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

If laptop gets damaged or goes missing you're in the poo as it's shipped low value.

Isn't this the seller's problem as they are responsible for delivering it to you? I would only consider buying something of such value if I had done all the sums if it did get charged for VAT etc. and paid by credit card or Paypal backed by CC so that you can do a chargeback if necessary.

steviebabes

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

Complete list of categories and charges applicable


http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_009989&propertyType=document

Great link thanks!