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RE: OT: Digital camera purchase from US
Title: Message
Keyvan,
I've
done this several times - I'm not convinced that there ARE big savings to
be had
here.
Be
aware that it's not just shipping and VAT. To work out
the
"landed" price of an item:
-
Take
the price of the item
-
Add
the price of shipping and insurance
-
Add
the import duty (yes - you pay import duty on the shipping/insurance
cost!)
-
Add
VAT (yes - you pay VAT on import duty - double whammy)
-
Add
a, normally £10, admin fee from the courier for dealing with the duty for
you.
If you
assume that a camera would attract 10% duty (I don't know whether it does -
check with HMC&E), this could add another £40-50 to your costs. Add a
£10
admin fee, and you have to query whether the savings are really
there.
In the purchases
I've
made, the landed cost has generally been the same (in £) as the sale price
(in
$), so on that basis a $570 camera will cost you £570 after Gordon Brown
has
taken his cut.
Where US imports have been succesful on this
group,
there've generally been so for one of three
reasons:
1: The item in question was not available in the
UK (eg
DDARs, Rios)
2: The item was imported in bulk with many group
members buying en bloc, so shipping as a proportion came
down
3: The item was MUCH lower priced in the States
than a
simple 1:1
I don't want to dis-hearten you, but be aware that
there WILL be unexpected fees, and it WILL take a lot longer than you
expect,
since it'll inevitably end up at Heathrow for about 4 days waiting to clear
customs, and you'll be phoning up the couriers each day, who will lie to
you and
claim it'll be ready shortly...
Finally, most US retailers don't want to export -
it's
a lot of hassle for them, for low-margin goods (electricals margins are
typically about 10%, and the admin cost can exceed this.) Inevitably, their
anti-fraud policies mean that they won't let you buy over the Internet -
instead, you'll have to phone them up (and therefore incur the costs of an
international phone call.)
If you DO decide to go ahead, then get the customs
code
>from
paperwork. This will massively speed up the importing
process.
Regards,
Mark
Hi
I am posting
this
question because I know a few of you buy stuff from US on the
net.
I am
considering
the purchase of a Canon G2 and it sells for about £570.
I have seen it
various US web stores for about $570. Even after shipping and VAT I should
save around £90 on the UK price. I wonder if anyone has experience with
this
type of purchase and can point me to a trusted source.
Many thanks in
advance.
Keyvan
R
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