How to avoid vat taxes in shipping to uk from us?!??

[Butttornado]

I had a trade deal fall through because of customs taxes.
Do you guys have any suggestions on how I can get around it?
It's shipping from Dallas, TX to UK. He is also shipping to me. The value of both statues is about 1000.

The buyer doesn't want to pay high taxes.

Please help!

 

[Life_m2000]

It's hard to avoid tax on these.
You would have to mark the item as a gift.
Or *cough* under declare the value of the item....

 

[Butttornado]

It's hard to avoid tax on these.
You would have to mark the item as a gift.
Or *cough* under declare the value of the item....

Wouldn't I lose the ability to insure it then?

 

[Space Jockey]

It's incredibly difficult. I live in the US, my folks are in England, and one annoying thing is that the UK, even though you put the value as $40 say, Customs will ignore that and treat it as 40 GBP and the person in the UK will pay VAT on 40 pounds rather than 26 which is what $40 roughly is right now.
I've found labeling as a gift or under declaring the value doesn't work.

On such a high value item, to be honest the only way I would send it is if I declared the correct amount to cover me and my insurance and have them pay any duty in their country.

 

[Chronos1919]

Buy a boat:

 

[Life_m2000]

Wouldn't I lose the ability to insure it then?

Yeah you would. That's the risk of doing that.
What's the upper limit of value of items entering the uk? I know for Ireland it's around €180.00 from outside the EU.

 

[Star Puffs]

Foreign buyer should be mature enough to accept the reality of their country. Those who aren't are likely to be a problem, or worse, falsely claim non-receipt.

 

[Frank Jaeger]

^ complete rubbish

 

[Life_m2000]

^ complete rubbish

I agree. Total rubbish.

 

[Life_m2000]

Trying to avoid paying tax is near impossible.
I get hit every single time buying from Sideshow as they are in the U.S. Not only that but I also get hit with the couriers handling fee (this is not shipping cost) on top of the tax.
For example I bought the Snake Plissken figure and it cost about another €65.00 after tax and handling charge.
I'm looking at alternative suppliers to Sideshow as I'm getting hammered with tax.
Trying to find sellers within the EU.

 

[Butttornado]

Wow ok.... Well the deal is off now. Too bad. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Life_m2000]

Wow ok.... Well the deal is off now. Too bad. Thanks for the info guys.

No problem, sorry your deal is off.

 

[gypsycatcha]

Yea its very hit and miss. Iv had lifesize busts come in from the US and sail through. I then had a 1/6 head that I got taxed on which was sent low value. You have to be sensible and realistic. If you feel it can survive the journey, have it declared low , gift and it may get thru or have the minimum to pay ( usually £20 to £30 )

Im sure customs make this stuff up sometimes tho.

 

[67L88Stingray]

Foreign buyer should be mature enough to accept the reality of their country. Those who aren't are likely to be a problem, or worse, falsely claim non-receipt.

I semi-agree with this. Know your laws. Just got through dealing with a nutty buyer who freaked over a small charge on a $20 blu ray set! They said I was "holding them hostage" and all sorts of nonsense. eBay had to step in, but I still don't know if that is the end. I have tried to help buyers of high value items in the past also, but it does not always work and can cause major problems on both ends.

 

[Irvy]

Taxes suck. Government leeches.

 

[SAB]

I don't think sellers should make any compromise in this regard unless the buyer is willing to send the amount as a cash gift via Paypal (with specific comment that it is a gift) or money order and is willing to wait until all funds are cleared and in sellers bank account.

Seller's only responsibility is to make sure things are packaged correctly and tracked correctly.

 

[Ex-Parrot]

People who know what they are doing as a buyer also usually have a good idea of exactly what the real cost of something is to them, and whether they'll have to pay additional charges or taxes, and factor those things into whether something is a worthwhile buy to them, or not, to begin with.

While everyone has to start somewhere, and working with a reasonable newbie who might need certain factors explained to them isn't usually a problem, never deal with someone who tries to haggle over fixed costs that are out of your control to begin with (taxes, insurance, actual shipping costs, etc), in my experience that's a huge red flag right there, and often leads to headaches.

Both sides of any transaction should protect themselves as best they can, while remaining reasonable and realistic as far as what certain costs are, and the way that certain things just have to be done for safety's sake and general peace of mind.

 

[Collectorcol]

Trying to avoid paying tax is near impossible.
I get hit every single time buying from Sideshow as they are in the U.S. Not only that but I also get hit with the couriers handling fee (this is not shipping cost) on top of the tax.
For example I bought the Snake Plissken figure and it cost about another €65.00 after tax and handling charge.
I'm looking at alternative suppliers to Sideshow as I'm getting hammered with tax.
Trying to find sellers within the EU.

Collectibles Direct are reasonably priced also you can open a Fed-Ex account to save on handling fee.
They basically charge you a fee for paying the duty then recovering it from you. If you have an account the V.A.T comes directly from your Credit/Debit card.
Only compromise is it's harder to question any overpayment once they've taken it.

 

[mrchris]

Yeah you would. That's the risk of doing that.
What's the upper limit of value of items entering the uk? I know for Ireland it's around €180.00 from outside the EU.

the limit for import from non EU countries is £18 and £40 for gifts,last time I checked anyway(parcelforce) which sucks.
that should be raised to at least £100 and £150 for gifts.but HMRC need the money it seems.