[LargeFormat] Import duty and VAT ON Ebay purchases

[Clive Warren]

At 11:29 06/03/2003 -0800, Les Newcomer wrote:
>Clive, I believe this is your area of experitise.....
>
>( and the kicker is that 100 pound Tax didn't Add much Value, did it?)
>On Thursday, March 6, 2003, at 11:21 AM, jon press wrote:
>
>>I=EDm based in the UK, and have just received a sinar
>>5x4 camera I bought on ebay, the seller being in the
>>US. The camera cost around =A3400 pounds, I then had to
>>pay a further =A3100 pounds in VAT and duty, upon
>>receiving the package, which I=EDm not very happy about.
>>
>>Could I please have peoples experiences of importing
>>equipment, and if it is possible to avoid paying these
>>fees.
>>
>>Regards,
>>Simon.

Well it is an area of experience I don't know about expertise. Yes, it is=20
very irritating to have to pay VAT, duty and a clearance fee on a piece of=
=20
equipment that was made in some cases over 100 years ago. It is even more=20
irritating to occasionally receive items from the US that have been badly=20
packaged or well packed and still damaged and then to have to pay all the=20
duties on something which is scrap!!

The bottom line here is that you should always expect to have to pay the=20
revenue men and place your bids on ebay accordingly if you are buying from=
=20
the US. At least we no longer have to pay these dues for items purchased=20
within Europe.

There is no way to guarantee avoidance of the fees and to attempt to do so=
=20
is actually illegal. I usually ask the sellers to state the value of the=20
items as the final bid price and not to include the shipping costs in the=20
stated value on the customs form. Believe me, it is a lot more irritating=20
to pay duty on the postage as well as the item!

The worst experience I have had was with one seller who either thought he=20
was doing me a favour by insuring the item for more than the final bid=20
price or believed that the item was worth a lot more than the final bid=20
price and bumped the value up by a couple of hundred dollars - yes I had to=
=20
pay the duties on the stated value!

For private transactions I usually ask the seller to state the value as=20
what they think the item is worth. But remember that you cannot insure the=
=20
item for more than the stated value - well you could but that would be=20
asking for trouble.....

So, to conclude - there is no way around this, it is the law and attempts=20
to circumvent the law, however tempting, will end in tears.

Cheers,
            Clive