Buying from the USA

[Revilgo]

A point of interest:

Has anybody in the UK ever ordered any PC components from a US or any other overseas website and what have been your experience, particularly regarding RMA, VAT charges, delivery etc. ?

And is it even worth the hassle?

Mucho Obligato!

[MoonPig]

I've never ordered from a store, but i've got mates to buy things from NewEgg etc. and post them to me.

I get the to test it before it's sent here. Then insurance on the postage so i can claim if it breaks.

Only issue is the week or so wait lol.

[Salazaar]

Anywhere in the EU should be fine, tax is paid in the country of origin and warranties and returns should be upheld (though don't expect them to speak English).

Elsewhere you could be stung by import fees and taxes if you order directly, and it's unlikely that anything except full worldwide warranties would be upheld. If you are going to order from a non-EU country, get someone there to buy it and post it back to you marked as a gift.

[Revilgo]

French, German and a smattering of Spanish is not a problem for me and I'm not too worried about components such as RAM or CPUs since the failure rate of these appear quite low, unless I'm wrong and wiser heads tell me otherwise. It's motherboards, graphic cards etc. that give me pause.

Saw some Taiwanese websites advertising i7 920 DO at anywhere between £50-£100 less than UK! But wary of ordering it myself from the far east unless I get a local mate to do it and bring it over.

[Pob255]

Must admit I've been wondering the same because of this graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...20Video%20Card
Cannot find it outside of the US

[Revilgo]

Pob said

Must admit I've been wondering the same because of this graphics card

Dude your link is kaputt and I wanna see please

[Pob255]

Odd works fine for me, it's the image link from newegg
It's the ECS black series gts 250
Here's the main listing for it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&nm_mc=OTC-RSS

[Domestic_Ginger]

Originally Posted by Pob255

Must admit I've been wondering the same because of this graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...20Video%20Card
Cannot find it outside of the US

Sorry buddy, don't think Newegg sell outside the US.

[Pob255]

Yes I know, but I could ask a US friend to get it for me and send it on.
Or ask my brother in singapore as they sell them there as well.

Which brings me to the next question, how much custom charge would I be looking at?

I've been digging about on the amazingly helpful HM Revenue&Customs website and all I can find so far is
The charges depend on
1- contry it's sent from.
2- what the item is.

But nothing that tell me How much!

[Pob255]

trawling through the EU tarrif web site, I think custom charges will be 2.4%+vat or 0%+vat hard to know as there's loads of catagories.

[GoNz0]

about 20% duty payable is rule of thumb, and depending on who it gets sent by a fixed fee for them to handle it around another tenner.

a Friend sent me a link a couple of weeks ago about a USA company who sell you a shipping addy, you buy goods and get them sent there, the company then forward the goods on for a fee.

if anyone can remember the name of it please post it up

[PeterStoba]

Originally Posted by GoNz0

about 20% duty payable is rule of thumb, and depending on who it gets sent by a fixed fee for them to handle it around another tenner.

a Friend sent me a link a couple of weeks ago about a USA company who sell you a shipping addy, you buy goods and get them sent there, the company then forward the goods on for a fee.

if anyone can remember the name of it please post it up

Not sure if it's the same but Parcel2Go offer a similar service.

https://www.parcel2go.com/Rent-US-Address.aspx

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Pob255

.....

But nothing that tell me How much!

No, because exactly how much you pay depends on exactly what the product is. There are thousands and thousands of "commodity codes". each with an associated duty rate, and the distinction between items can sometimes be fairly minor. For instance, IIRC, a leather handbag has a different duty rate to a non-leather one, and last time I looked, digital still cameras were rated at 0%, 35mm film cameras at 4.9%, camera lenses at 6.9% and camcorders could attract anything from about 5% to 15% import duty. And then you've got VAT on top of that.

Oh, and a monitor only able to take a computer signal had 0% import duty, but one able to play video got clobbered for 15% .... plus VAT.

So to be sure, you'll need to be able to stipulate exactly what the items are, get HMRC to tell you what commodity code they are and then look up the duty rate for that code. IIRC, there's something like 30,000 codes, so you won't get a simple, easy answer from the website.

A very common rate for many things is about 5% for import duty. So if you take the cost of the goods, and in the shipping and insurance charges and then 5% for import duty, you'll get a decent approximation of a likely sum that's VAT-able.. So if you then add (currently) 15% for VAT onto that figure (so yes, so pay VAT on the goods PLUS import duty), you'll get a VAT-inclusive approximation. And you could well then get an "admin" fee by the company organising customs clearance and that can be anything up to £15 or so, on top of the VAT inclusive figure.

But the import duty element could be less than that 5% estimate, or it could be a lot more. Only HMRC can give you a categoric answer.

[Revilgo]

Pob255 said

Odd works fine for me, it's the image link from newegg
It's the ECS black series gts 250
Here's the main listing for it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&nm_mc=OTC-RSS

This is so weird, all I get is a blank page on my firefox browser! But I'm able to access newegg though. Wonder if its OpenDNS?

Yes I know, but I could ask a US friend to get it for me and send it on.
Or ask my brother in singapore as they sell them there as well.

Seems the rule then is that if you order abroad or have friends or relatives buy it for you, there is not return policy and you can forget about RMA. *Major Gulp!* That's pretty iffy for a £200+ i7 motherboard or graphics card!

Up till now the only things I've ever bought by mail from the US has been some Nightwish CDs and a pair of DrMartens. After postage and the squeeze from HM Treasury payable in cash or cheques at pickup from RoyalPainInTheRearMail, the shoes turned out to be only £5 or so cheaper than in the UK! Hence my unease about buying from the US via the internet.

[Revilgo]

But the import duty element could be less than that 5% estimate, or it could be a lot more. Only HMRC can give you a categoric answer.

Groan! My experience with HMRC has so far been less than joyful. But has anybody from HEXUS ever ordered anything from the US for whatever reasons?

OR here's an idea: could HEXUS do a a special feature on the experience of buying from the US or any other country and the process of dealing with HMRC?

Pretty please?

[gabriel]

When you buy from US tell them to send the receipt separate from the equipment you purchase and secondly on the equipment box tell them to write that it is a gift. You will not pay any taxes what so ever. Thats on electronics, for shoes, clothes, books etc bellow 100 pounds (if I recollect correctly) aren't taxed. Hope this helps.