Buying from USA

[pipesmoker]

I want to purchase scope and airgun accessaries from America, CHEAPER , just wonder how many of you had done that before and if there is any hidden charges, tax VAT, etc...?
Also how did you pay for the goods? Cheques, PayPal, MoneyOrder, Postal Order and Credit Cards?
Many thanks in advance for your advice

Miki

[hareng]

There are numerous places that will not export, but there are ways round this, mine is probably going to take an extra 4 days to arrive when it is made and modified.
Almost certain you would get copped for import and vat if sent to a business address plus couriers fee (Parcel Force, UPS, etc) approx £10 to £15.
Add export shipping charge.
Pay by card as the transfer from sterling to $ is done for you plus there is a degree of insurance as the goods are not yours until you pay the bill! So in effect if it goes missing in transit and reasonable steps were taken, you will be ok.

[pipesmoker]

There are numerous places that will not export, but there are ways round this, mine is probably going to take an extra 4 days to arrive when it is made and modified.
Almost certain you would get copped for import and vat if sent to a business address plus couriers fee (Parcel Force, UPS, etc) approx £10 to £15.
Add export shipping charge.
Pay by card as the transfer from sterling to $ is done for you plus there is a degree of insurance as the goods are not yours until you pay the bill! So in effect if it goes missing in transit and reasonable steps were taken, you will be ok.

Hi Hareng,
So paying by Card is better than PayPal? How do we know how much the import&VAT be?
Cheers

[enigma]

let you know when my scope gets here very soon i hope......asked for a quote on shiping when i ordered the scope now theres only the damn VAT to go on....(like i dont pay enough already)

mmmm wonder if i could claim it back through business???

btw it still works out half the price than buying here......suppport local shops,
yeah when they support us. There all sourced from the same places just greed here in rip off UK.....

[AirgunStan]

I've just orered a hide from a company in USA, even with the customs and excise and VAT it works out between £40 and £50 cheaper for the product than it would have done if I purchased this in the U.K.


I believe there could be a charge however if customs decide to open your delivery for a look. Don't know how much this is but it can't be very much.

(I'm using a credit card).

Stan.

[Mike95]

I looked into the import of an air rifle from USA. You need an import permit from the DTI (find the DTI website and download form.) In addition to VAT at 17.5%, there is an EU import tax on airguns at 3.2%. Consignia (Royal Mail?) do all the work on behalf of the Customs & Excise, but I was not able to get details of costs of Consignia. The parcel will arrive from USA with a customs declaration on it, and I imagine that Consignia open so many parcels to check that you are not being sent a firearm or other banned item.The USPS (US Postal service) have a great website which enables you to calculate postage on line. I calculated $38 for a 6lb gun sent on a slow plane! I have recently found USA sites that a) will not use paypal b) will not accept a credit card issued by a non USA bank!! Cash seems to be popular, if not advisable. The CO-op bank uses "Intranet" which costs about £5 but you need the banking details of the recipient, who may not be willing to provide them.

I will be interested to see what other thoughts or experiences forum members have.

Mike 95

[lucky trigger]

I've just imported a bushnell elite 4200 mill dot 6-24x40 for my mfr. I payed by Paypal,it took two weeks to get here...Total cost £239!!
I will not be buying any more scopes from 'rip off' Britain..

.177 mfr/ bushnell elite 4200 milldot 6-24x40

.22 bowkett spitfire/ simmons 3.5-10x40 wtc