KVR Audio

tonymead · Post by **tonymead** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:10 am

Hi.

Well, after scuzzphuts post on that lovely guitar that he bought from the US I've decided that I've gotta have one, in blond too

.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 43#1110543

So, because of the favourable US/UK exchange rate at the moment is it worth me buying from the US (found it for $239.00)if I get a good shipping cost. Are there any other costs that I have to pay before or after the product has arrived - or should I just get it from the UK and if so any recommendations for the best price.

Cheers, gotta' have that guitar!

tonymead

Derek up North · Post by **Derek up North** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:24 am

You'll get hammered for import duty when it hits Customs and Excise (there is a small chance that they won't charge you (it seems a bit random) but I suspect that you'll get hit just because of the size of the package) - I don't know what the charges are for sure (I think it's the standard 17.5% VAT) but you could check their website.

You then pick up an additional handling charge from the Post Office for processing the payment you have to make to C&E (I think this is about £10 but I'm not sure).

I don't know how much these guitars sell for in the UK but if it were me I'd want to be saving a lot to justify the risk of getting a duff guitar at the end of all this!

Regards,

Derek.

Ja.x · Post by **Ja.x** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:55 am

As far as I remember when I bought my keyboard from an US site, shipping prices for Europe already included VAT. Haven't paid anything else.

Derek up North · Post by **Derek up North** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:06 am

Ja.x wrote:As far as I remember when I bought my keyboard from an US site, shipping prices for Europe already included VAT. Haven't paid anything else.

It's very variable as far as I can tell. I think part of the complication is that in the UK VAT (Value Added Tax for those lucky enough not to know!) is classed as a "duty" (and, therefore, collected by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise) rather than a "tax" (which would be collected by the Inland Revenue). I don't think it is possible for a non-EU source to pre-pay the VAT for the UK.

Given the huge number of items coming into the UK fromthe US every day there are plenty which pass through customs without the charges being picked up (DVD's will often, but not always, come through OK) and you don't pay anything if the item is worth less than £18 (I think - could be $18).

Basically - it's a lottery

Regards,

Derek.

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:14 am

and when you insure an item you get 'taxed' on the insurance amount as well.. of course

and if the packaging is fancy you get charged luxury fancy packaging tax, because in the UK only rich people should get fancy things and normal people should be deterred from getting luxury goods as much as possible.. imagine!!

btw.. I got taxed £50 once on a £160 insured package containing 1 CDRom, and got taxed £55 on Project 5 I got from audiomidi.com (I had that one coming of course.. what was I thinking bying P5)

you are warned

tonymead · Post by **tonymead** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:27 am

spaceman wrote:
you are warned

Yeah, going off the idea pretty quick actually - cos what happens if I needed to send it back (another can of worms no doubt).

Thanks for the info here guys

Tony

Philly · Post by **Philly** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:52 am

I pretty sure you don't have to pay duty on second hand stuff. So I you have a buddy in the States you could ship to his address. He could give it a play than ship it to you. It's a bit convoluted, and maybe not worth it on a $200 guitar. But for a Gibson LP you could save a fortune.

grillo · Post by **grillo** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:32 pm

No i think you still have to pay duty on 2nd hand stuff if it's 'sold' to you, taxes are collected as soon as item enters the country, friends of mine ended up paying awful loads of money for ebay gear bought from the us, i will not fall in the trap.

but the buddy route works anyway if he's sending you as a gift or something, if it's made to look like you aren't paying a dime for it, then it's all right i guess.

All in all the best solution for me is still the die hard approach, take a vacation there, enjoy it, and if you happen to bring back stuff with you you've done a deal.

scuzzphut · Post by **scuzzphut** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:42 pm

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=11623

If you don't live near GAK, maybe you could show your local music shop the page and ask them to better it???

When I bought mine, I had played it for a while and knew that
it suited me
it had no flaws
the sound was good
it played well
all before I bought it and took it home to blighty.

For those reasone, I'd be reluctant to mail order a guitar from the UK, let alone the USA.

Good luck in your hunt

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:54 pm

[british customs officers please ignore] I sold my reaktor to amused who didnt have to pay duties AFAIK.[/british customs officers please ignore]

I gave reaktor to amused and he didnt have to pay duties AFAIK.

Derek up North · Post by **Derek up North** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:03 pm

Software is a whole other issue (and one where I have even less of an idea on what the formal position is!). The interesting thing with software is that you never actually "own" it, you just buy the right to use it (i.e. a licence) and, unless you take delivery of a manual or CD/DVD, there is no physical entity being imported into the country.

I suspect that when it comes to the legal downloading of software (e.g. most VST's these days) the Customs people turn a blind eye and probably don't even want a test case to go before the courts in case they were to lose!

Regards,

Derek.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:08 pm

But I still shipped a box to the guy...

tonymead · Post by **tonymead** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:13 pm

**UPDATE**

Found this guitar in stock in the UK for £199.00 just 50 miles from where I live so I'll be buying locally as the price for just the guitar in the US is (converted) £125.00.

Thanks for all the replies though, gonna' get the guitar this weekend

Tony.

diverdee · Post by **diverdee** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:23 pm

don't gifts have to be valued at under around £35-£40 in order to be exempt from duties & vat? I remember checking all this shite out in the past as I was going to buy some stuff from the U.S., but the initial huge saving soon evaporated after i'd worked all this crap out (& the customs & excise web pages weren't much use at the time - I had to ring up to 'enquire about certain goods etc. etc.).

scuzzphut · Post by **scuzzphut** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:55 pm

Tony - take a print of that GAK page where they have it for £175.
It might get you a tenner off if you haggle

Buying Instruments in the US and Shipping to UK