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Buying parts from the US?


smo

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Does anyone have experience in buying parts from the US and importing them, the reason i ask is the exchange rate is magnificent at the moment and i can effectively get 2 for the price of 1 on many parts.

In particular i have been wanting a decent hydraulic winch setup, Milemarker 12,000lb front and 10500lb rear - which totals just $1298 = £657!!! excluding shipping (and tax) - less than the cost of a single unit in the UK!

It seems daft to pay over the odds but i also dont want to be shafted by import tax and the likes so any advice is welcome :)

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Does anyone have experience in buying parts from the US and importing them, the reason i ask is the exchange rate is magnificent at the moment and i can effectively get 2 for the price of 1 on many parts.

In particular i have been wanting a decent hydraulic winch setup, Milemarker 12,000lb front and 10500lb rear - which totals just $1298 = £657!!! excluding shipping (and tax) - less than the cost of a single unit in the UK!

It seems daft to pay over the odds but i also dont want to be shafted by import tax and the likes so any advice is welcome :)

Your answer is in the last line of your post....add on import duty and VAT, say good bye to your profit margain. If your seller marks your package "gift of no significant value" just great. As long as the average gorilla/monkey employed in HMS customs does not decide to take an interest you are home and dry........ however if he/she smells something,whether it be a bannana, pineapple, mango, you are truly stuffed............

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I've done weasels with import duty in the past, and succeeded. I somehow think a bunch of hyddraulic winches on a crate weighing in the region of 80-100lbs EACH might just make them wonder whats inside so i shall be legit.

The thing is not everything is subject to import duty, some items are NIL rated and others vary from 1-2% upto 20% so it varies massively and i still believe there are huge savings to be had.

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"A friend" :blink: has just imported 4 king shocks and springs worth $2800 from California. "He" told me that they arrived on 29th December and there was no duty to pay, only VAT on the declared value which worked out at £47 + Parcelfarce handling fee. I.. er.. "he" expected to pay some duty. but they were declared at $100 per shock, so I don't know how they work it out?

$1.92 / £ at the moment...

I'd just like to add that these were large heavy items in 4 large boxes clearly marked with the contents.

Does anyone know what items are not liable to duty?

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There is a BIG list of 16000+ categories and sub-categories of import duties.

If i have worked it correctly, and a winch could be classed as:

8708 Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705

- 8708 10 Bumpers and parts thereof

- - 8708 10 10 For the industrial assembly of:

Vehicles of heading 8703;

Vehicles of heading 8704 with either a compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine (diesel or semi-diesel) of a cylinder capacity not exceeding 2 500 cm³ or with a spark-ignition internal combustion piston engine of a cylinder capacity not exceeding 2 800 cm³;

Vehicles of heading 8705

- - 8708 10 90 Other

I think the TARIC code (import duty code) would be 8708 10 90 whihc is a mere 4.5% Import Duty, then the dreaded VAT of course.

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check the supplier will ship out of the US as not all will

after shipping/tax etc etc will the saving be worthwhile?

will warranty issues will be down to you or

return to base for repair?

The shipper will definatly ship to the UK.

I rekon on the final price being approx £650 (winches) + £100 (shipping) + £33.75 Import + £137 VAT = £920 all in, delivered duty paid. Now compare that to £927 PER WINCH in the UK and all of a sudden it seems worth while :D

As for warranty - Milemarker are international so i cant see it being a problem, also (touch wood) the hydraulic winches are so reliable i cant see it breaking within the 4yr warranty period anyway without me doing somthing silly, which wouldnt be covered.

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I found shipping could be very expensive- Astro Al put me on Steve at Moving Parts who really seems to know his stuff and has made shipping very easy.

It's the VAT which has been the real killer for me although if you "negotiate" a good price then VAT can drop significantly.

Thanks for the link - looks like its worth considering.

As for shipping charges, £100/$200 is a lot of shipping and should easily cover it, and my sums above cover import duty, shipping and vat on the whole lot :)

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This is a subject that has interested me a lot as i am travelling to the US at easter, assuming i purchased the items cash in the states could i then deliver them to moving parts and therefore pay no VAT? Or have i got this all wrong?

Lewis :)

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This is a subject that has interested me a lot as i am travelling to the US at easter, assuming i purchased the items cash in the states could i then deliver them to moving parts and therefore pay no VAT? Or have i got this all wrong?

Lewis :)

Vat and import duty are paid upon import to the UK, not purchase in the USA. Also dont forget VAT is added to everything, purchase price, import duty, shipping...the lot!

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Vat and import duty are paid upon import to the UK, not purchase in the USA. Also dont forget VAT is added to everything, purchase price, import duty, shipping...the lot!

But if i already own the parts and i am merely shipping them back to england do i still pay Vat on the purchase price?

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Correct.

If i buy the winches from the UK using any payment method i like, when they are shipped they are mine....but i still have to pay ID and VAT. You wont be able to sneak them in as somthing you just happen to carry around all the time, its the same with digicams and the likes, many times you have to prove you already owned it before leaving otherwise they will try and charge you ID and VAT assuming you bought them abroad.

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yes

edited to add:

HMCE will look at the transaction as an attempt to cirumvent VAT and will still charge you accordingly. you could bring the parts back in your luggage if they were small enough and not declare them when coming through customs- if stopped you say they are test items or something similar!

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yes

edited to add:

HMCE will look at the transaction as an attempt to cirumvent VAT and will still charge you accordingly. you could bring the parts back in your luggage if they were small enough and not declare them when coming through customs- if stopped you say they are test items or something similar!

So basically, i could bring back a couple of ARB's and Great Basin R&P's in my case and just wing it?

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prety much- if you don't get stopped through customs and you "forget" to declare it then job done.

What are the ramifications (nice word) assuming i get caught having forgotten that i'm carrying most of 2 diffs?

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So basically, i could bring back a couple of ARB's and Great Basin R&P's in my case and just wing it?

Lewis, do you know of a good place to get 24 spline ARB's in the US, because if i am getting winches shipped over i might as well chuck some ARB's on the pallet too!!!

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Lewis, do you know of a good place to get 24 spline ARB's in the US, because if i am getting winches shipped over i might as well chuck some ARB's on the pallet too!!!

Not yet, this is just my preliminary research. Does anyone else know?

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What are the ramifications (nice word) assuming i get caught having forgotten that i'm carrying most of 2 diffs?

If you are lucky you pay the duty and VAT and get told off, unlucky you get them confiscated and if you get shafted, well...the sky is the limit with customs.

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Lewis - Prelim quick search indicates ARB lockers available for $698ish = £355 (add import & vat and you are looking at approx £435 each). I'm sure there are cheaper places so it seems like a reasonable price. I rekon on saving about £100 on each locker imported, and about £350+ on each winch!

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