Mail order from the US

I don't think you should assume that Customs are unaware of newsgroups. You
might want to think about how much you say re. VAT and duty.
Owen Brazell wrote in message
...
I have used OPTCORP and they are uniformly excellent in handling and
delivering stuff. You will always get hit by a handling charge to clear
customs by the shipper, even the Post Office. On a larger order it never
sems as bad :-)

John Ruddy wrote:
At a recent meeting of my local Astronomy Society, conversation turned
to the relative merits of ordering from the US. It seemed attractive, at
least for the smaller items such as eyepieces and CCD cameras and so on.
However, after a quick look at a few web sites, the requirements for
shipping internationally seemed quite onerous - it seems you need to fax
a copy of photo ID and the credit card to them! I was wondering if
anyone on the newsgroup had ordered from the US, and if so, what were
their experiences?

John

Graham wrote:

John Ruddy wrote:

I was wondering if anyone on the newsgroup had ordered from the US,
and if so, what were their experiences?

John


John,

I frequently order stuff from the US for delivery here for one of my
other hobbies, and have never had to supply additional ID. I did order
some astro kit from a supplier in the US for delivery to the hotel I
would be at before I went on holiday, and it was delivered by the
supplier without question.

Which company were you looking at, and what kit?

G.

I was actually looking at the new Meade Deep Sky Imager - its list price
is $299 - it seems to be £299 over here. A rough calculation from
www.xe.com suggests £185 would be closer to the equivalent rate. Focus
Camera seems to require things such as faxes of ID and so on - plus they
charge $35 for shipping.

pete lynch wrote:

In article , John Ruddy wrote:

At a recent meeting of my local Astronomy Society, conversation turned
to the relative merits of ordering from the US. It seemed attractive, at
least for the smaller items such as eyepieces and CCD cameras and so on.
However, after a quick look at a few web sites, the requirements for
shipping internationally seemed quite onerous - it seems you need to fax
a copy of photo ID and the credit card to them! I was wondering if
anyone on the newsgroup had ordered from the US, and if so, what were
their experiences?

John

My first-hand experience of Scopetronix is that they treat "overseas"
sales just like any other. They take internet sales of phoned in orders
I have bought EPs and other accessories from them on three or four occasions.
They ship USPS (postal service) which takes a week, maybe less to arrive -
about the same as second class parcel post within the UK.
Yes, you have to pay VAT & duty plus a clearance fee but that's life!

Is there any easy way to work out what the duty/VAT would be on any item?

It's still cheaper, and sometimes quicker than buying from UK outlets

regards
Pete

John Ruddy wrote:
I was actually looking at the new Meade Deep Sky Imager - its list price
is $299 - it seems to be £299 over here. A rough calculation from
www.xe.com suggests £185 would be closer to the equivalent rate.

With an exchange rate of 1.83 USD/GBP ?...which landed, vat-ed and
dutied amounts to around 230 quid.

Steve

John Ruddy wrote:

Is there any easy way to work out what the duty/VAT would be on any
item?

You can look it up on a Euro tax web site - but that's not fun! - a general
rule of thumb is 4-4.5% duty on the goods + P&P + Insurance (if you pay the
seller for the insurance), then add VAT at 17.5% on top of that total. One
exception is digital cameras they are zero rated for duty for some reason but
you still have VAT.

Mark

Mark Crossley wrote:

One exception is digital cameras they are zero rated for
duty for some reason but you still have VAT.


Would that include CCD cameras though? And would customs / post office
know the difference?

In message , John Ruddy
writes
At a recent meeting of my local Astronomy Society, conversation turned
to the relative merits of ordering from the US. It seemed attractive,
at least for the smaller items such as eyepieces and CCD cameras and so
on. However, after a quick look at a few web sites, the requirements
for shipping internationally seemed quite onerous - it seems you need
to fax a copy of photo ID and the credit card to them! I was wondering
if anyone on the newsgroup had ordered from the US, and if so, what
were their experiences?

Yes. Though it is easier for smaller items to buy in person if you can.

Photocopies of credit cards and ID are typically requested by fax by
some of the larger vendors. Fraud against vendors using international
credit cards is not unknown so they tend to be more sceptical if they
have been stung once. Your choice is to accept their terms of sale or
not.

My card is midnight blue and the gold lettering has long since worn off
so you can imagine how little info makes it through the fax process.

Paypal can be useful for small amounts if you really trust the vendor.

B&H photo have some interesting unusual photo gear at very good prices.
The best deal I ever managed was a matched multiplier £300+ and 6 weeks
on special order in the UK and remaindered ex-stock for $50 US by return
of post. Be sure to allow for cost of shipping, import duty and VAT.

Closer to home. Markus Ludes in Germany has some interesting gear and
bits and pieces at reasonably keen prices. Worth a look at...

Always check the credentials of any overseas dealer you use very
carefully. It could be rather tricky to unwind an international
transaction if the goods are not as advertised or the web site owner is
a con-merchant harvesting credit card numbers and ID to use for
nefarious purposes.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

here's one for the pot,

if the item being brought in from the US is available here, ie. through a
local dealer then I think the tax, duty and handling fee is fair enough as
your trying to save the money. However, When the item isn't available here
(Which hapens a lot with astro T Shirts and Other Clothing, such as that
from S&T) then I think its a real scam that we get stung for all the extra!
for something we cant buy here in the first place.

Cheers

Andy
"Mark Dunn" wrote in message
...
I don't think you should assume that Customs are unaware of newsgroups.
You
might want to think about how much you say re. VAT and duty.
Owen Brazell wrote in message
...
I have used OPTCORP and they are uniformly excellent in handling and
delivering stuff. You will always get hit by a handling charge to clear
customs by the shipper, even the Post Office. On a larger order it never
sems as bad :-)

John Ruddy wrote:
At a recent meeting of my local Astronomy Society, conversation turned
to the relative merits of ordering from the US. It seemed attractive,
at
least for the smaller items such as eyepieces and CCD cameras and so
on.
However, after a quick look at a few web sites, the requirements for
shipping internationally seemed quite onerous - it seems you need to
fax
a copy of photo ID and the credit card to them! I was wondering if
anyone on the newsgroup had ordered from the US, and if so, what were
their experiences?

John

"John Ruddy" wrote in message
...

I was actually looking at the new Meade Deep Sky Imager - its list price
is $299 - it seems to be £299 over here. A rough calculation from
www.xe.com suggests £185 would be closer to the equivalent rate. Focus
Camera seems to require things such as faxes of ID and so on - plus they
charge $35 for shipping.

Hi John,

If it's a Meade item I would doubt that any dealer would sell to you
internationally. Under the terms of their franchise agreement, Meade dealers
are only permitted to sell within their "region".

Regards,

Chris

"Mark Dunn" wrote in message
...
I don't think you should assume that Customs are unaware of newsgroups.
You
might want to think about how much you say re. VAT and duty.

Why? Nobody, as far as I've seen, is planning to do anything illegal here;
all that's being asked for is information on what duties are payable when
buying an item from overseas. What's the problem with that?

My personal experience when having items shipped through the normal post
from the US is that I get hit for VAT about 50% of the time, on average.
Customs seem to intercept about half the parcels that enter the country
entirely at random. If, on the other hand, the package is shipped via a
courier such as DHL or FedEx, they will pay all duties on your behalf, and
then send you a bill for the duties plus an administration charge of £10 or
so. I would suggest therefore that you try to get packages sent through the
post rather than using a courier.

Regards,

Chris