ordering from ebay - international tax stuff

[johnbhoy]

was thinking of buying something from ebay that ships from nevada us. would be paiying £249 plus shipping at £50 approx. it still seems a good deal but i am concerned about the tax thing you get hit with when it arrives.

Does anyone know how to calculate this or what it is ???

 

[Munkey]

Some items are exempt (like LCD based technology). Normaly its around 5% customs with 17.5% VAT.

Ask them to ship and mark the item as a gift and not to include any invoices etc. Also they have to put a value on the customs declartion so make sure its something like £10.

Never ever use UPS. USPS and FedEx would be my preffered shipping option.

If you want to really save on shipping use BAX Global for freight shipping. Its cheap and you hardly ever pay tax (I never have with them) but it will take 2 weeks to get here and you would have to pick the item up from a nearby airport.

 

[johnbhoy]

Thanks Munkey.

Think Fedex is an option. Was not sure about the customs duty but presumed i would pay the 17.5% vat.

They are unfotuneatly quite clear on the " we dont mark this as a gift" policy, but to be fair would want to make sure it was properly insured for transit etc.

still thinks it works out ok. IE better than buying here.

cheers