Ebay US to UK?

I looked at this a while ago for a new guitar just as an exercise to see if it would be cheaper to import. VAT will be charged at the standard rate of 17.5% on importation and an import duty of between 3.2 and 3.7% will be levied. Add to that your shipping and it doesn't look quite such a bargain anymore. Not sure whether the rules apply to secondhand goods on ebay though. Probably.

This information was obtained from the HMRC website.

Don't you just love rip off Britain. :twisted:

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Thanks, I have been caught before, but I know stuff sometimes 'slips through' unnoticed and wondered if people had good or bad experiences with Ebay and guitars.

I have seen some SGs that work out at £350ish with shipping but before import (so looking at £420ish) and it seems a decent deal compared to £600

Sounds like a good deal indeed.

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I am from the US living in Hungary and had one sent via DHL. Some countries allow for gifts without any tariffs. The package just needs to be sent stating that it is a gift. not sure about the UK, but worth looking into. If so, just ask the seller to put gift on the international shipping invoice.

Another word of warning. Ask the seller to loosen the strings (if acoustic) because those inspectors love to look inside to check for contraband. Some idiot tried to take the bridge pind off mine with a pliers and left some pretty ugly marks.

I've shipped a ton of stuff to the UK through eBay. Mostly smaller stuff (pickups, a neck) but there seems to be a few points to consider...

#1, exchange rate... I imagine the second-hand stuff on eBay is WAY cheaper for the UK and European Union than it is for Americans. For example, a Seymour Duncan pickup (second hand) goes for $50 US.

#2, availability... don't know for sure, but it seems like the availability of guitar goods are plentiful in the USA, but not so much in Europe. That is the impression I get from the inquiries I receive from the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, and Spain.

#3, shipping... I've found that shipping isn't actually all that much more than domestic (USA) shipping. A small package to the UK is about $10, it would be $3 in the USA. The real issue is the eBay sellers who charge super high shipping fees to Europe because they figure that they can...

#4, tax... I don't know too much about the import tax other than I've been asked numerous times to say that the value of an item is 1/10th the actual value for tax purposes. I won't do it... I'm not putting myself at risk for an unknown eBayer.

With all that said, I'd be happy to help out a GN member in getting something shipped at a reasonable price. Let me know how I can help out.

Thanks guys, it seems to confirm what I thought.
Guitars seem to ship for $100 according to a few sellers which doesn't seem to bad to me, it's just the extra 20% I could get in import duties that worries me.

Suppose the guitar arrives and turns out to have a warped neck due to shipping problems. Then what? Don't buy online unless there really is no way. Just safe up and buy one with a proper setup, some strings and whatnot. The price difference will be minimal and the risk much lower.

Just done some further reading on this subject and came up with this article.

It explains the ins and outs of importing quite well and has a useful example.

On the bright side we do have the exchange rate in our favour at the moment. Hope it lasts as I'm off to the states for my holiday this year. 8)

Hope this is helpful.

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