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COLLECTORS in here.. - buying from the US


Baggieboi
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slightly off topic so please forgive me..

I have a question for all you collectors out there..

Buying things from the U.S. Good idea or not? Iv heard you need to pay taxes and duties?

Would somebody mind educating me on the subject.

Thanks

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Iv ordered a number of star wars models from the USA, and also a sons of anarchy leather jacket, I never got hit with any taxes or duties on the models the jacket I had to pay £15 for a customs charge it does seem to be a bit pot luck though as the models I ordered cost more than the jacket but yet no charge, I do no the hot toys figurines or something similar come with a fairly hefty charge due to the weight although its not something iv ordered personally

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I've moved this to General Chat as this is a question not really centered on LFACC. I've also adjusted the thread title a bit to make your question a bit more clear.

 

Speaking from my experience with German mail: yes, it is pot luck. I've seen big mailings go through which should have been held through customs in any case, and Friday I had to go and pick up one letter which contained one small item worth less than 15 Euros.

 

As far as I know UK fees are pretty hefty because you also pay a "handling charge" for the provider getting the items through customs. I've found an overview of UK customs charges here: https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

 

Good idea... it depends on what you want to buy. There's some stuff that just never makes it to Europe, or only makes it to Europe through speciality vendors who sell it even more expensive than you'd have to pay with buying in the US, shipping plus taxes. It can be worth it, but you need to do the math before.

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I buy autos and photos from US on a regular basis.

 

I got a signed 10 x 8 delivered yesterday- air mail postage was $12.

 

Be aware that some US sellers do not ship to Europe; check the details before committing to buy!

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I've ordered comics from the US and had screen worn costumes delivered in the past to the UK and from what I remember it was pretty random what got charges on and what didn't.

 

I'd say that you should factor in having to pay customs charges on anything you buy and then if you don't get charged great, and if you do you factored it in.

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Basically:

Import duties = If the item value, shipping and insurance comes to less then £135 you pay nothing, if it's over £135 you pay Import duties based on what the item is (usually between 2.5% and 8%.) that being said, even if the total comes to more then £135, if your charge is less then £9, they wave the fee...

VAT = If the item is worth under £15 you pay nothing, if the item is worth over £15 then you pay 20% on the total of the value, shipping, any insurance and any Import duties combined.

Edited by Zahariel
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