Flashaholics In The UK And The Expense

[fluke]

Got myself a Surefire 6PBK £43 shipped = $86
Had one go missing whilst in transit from a US based member of this forum, djblank87 who was good enough to give me a refund and chase USPS for reimbursement, so I got one over here in the UK from an Ebay trader.

Regalight WT1 £89.99 + shipping $180 + shipping But got one via lighthound and DatiLed for a lot less.

I want a Z49 clickie £42 Shipped = $84
I want an Arc AAA DS £62 shipped from Germany $124

You guys in the US are spoilt I know I can get them shipped over, but sometimes the dreaded Value Added Tax (17.5%) and Import Duty (Dependant on price of item) kill the cheaper purchase price.

Just my $0.02

 

[MikeSalt]

Fluke, I feel your pain, it does get expensive.

However, check out www.lummi.co.uk , based here in the UK - so not import tax and no handling charges.

 

[Nyctophiliac]

Yeah, me too.

Recently bought an Auctioned ARC for Appx $40. Add on FED EX fee of $22 appx. Total GBP £34.90 - so far so good. Then a whopping £18 for VAT and FED EX 'processing fee ( I think about £6-7) because the shippment cost is averaged at £36 if not stated on the various forms!!!

So basically an expensive thing to import from certain sources in the US. With shipping costs more than doubling the price of the product!!

My ARC blue/green cost me £52.90. I'm not really complaining because I was expecting the extras, but thank God the torch was superb or I would have felt like a right Charlie!!

Has anyone gone to the US and bought a load of torches had any problems with customs on return to UK???

Much fondness for the aforementioned Lummi and in the US, Lighthound.


Be lucky...and poorer!

 

[nerdgineer]

How does customs in the UK distinguish between a £100 Surefire and a £7 DX light? What would they charge for a cheap light? Just curious...thanks.

 

[gallagho]

I tend to think any purchases below a certain threshold 'slip under the radar'

I have ordered many cheap items (<£25) from all over the world and never had a customs bill. However a freind ordered £75 worth of cds and got a bill straight away. I guess it's a matter of the cost recovering tax(paperwork) vs tax recovered, anybody else had experiences like this? Or any idea what this threshold is?

Owen

 

[dulridge]

I tend to think any purchases below a certain threshold 'slip under the radar'

I have ordered many cheap items (<£25) from all over the world and never had a customs bill. However a freind ordered £75 worth of cds and got a bill straight away. I guess it's a matter of the cost recovering tax(paperwork) vs tax recovered, anybody else had experiences like this? Or any idea what this threshold is?

Owen

£18 including postage but if the Customs are going to hit you for less than £7 (I believe) then they don't bother.

 

[fluke]

Yep below £18 all in.
You can get senders to declare a lower value, and mark as a gift, but kinda screws up the insurance you have.

I have used (Tom) Unforgivens service, its very reasonable considering the time involved, also used other members for the same (For remailing).

 

[kooter]

Its £18, or if its a gift then its £36. You gotta tick the gift box on the customs declaration. Lots of people are willing to put a value below £18 on the customs declaration to save the expense of the customs and excise man. Others aint, so before you buy its best to ask if they will do this for you. I have been caught out with big bills twice now, it hurts. But have also got away with it lots too. My biggest being a Surefire M6. :naughty:

 

[across the pond]

I'd be having kittens not knowing if I was going to get charged duty on some of the big ticket lights.

It doesn't help that the post office slap on their own charge too. And it's frankly criminal that they include the postage cost in the value of the item!!!

 

[steel]

got to agree with u all on this one. think its a rip off that they include the shipping charges i didnt realise that till i ordered a torch from the states using fedex and had a 20 pound bill through the post.
not ordered anything from lummi yet! i cant seem to get on there site ever.

 

[276]

that really sucks....... its kind of the same going my way like for a lummi light thats around 150 pounds is $297.01 i just looked it up on a currency converter just to see how much one of ther lights is

 

[jumpstat]

Yep you guys in the UK have the same problems we Malaysians have also, expensive Surefires!
Getting them from members or online cpf members would be ideal. Shipping it is another matter altogether. I lost a package (G2L) but thats the risks involved

 

[AvPD]

That's terrible that you are charged VAT on overseas purchases.
We have a similar tax in Australia but that has to be paid by service providers not the customer themselves.
I had always wondered why there were disproportionately few reviews from people from the UK on DealExtreme, now I think I have the answer.

 

[fluke]

That's terrible that you are charged VAT on overseas purchases.
We have a similar tax in Australia but that has to be paid by service providers not the customer themselves.
I had always wondered why there were disproportionately few reviews from people from the UK on DealExtreme, now I think I have the answer.

DX have always been OK marking the packages correctly for duty vat

 

[iSleep]

As a neighbouring country to Malaysia, SIngapore also suffer from the "expensive surefire" syndrome ... I remember a thread here containing the prices of surefire in certain countries ... By far, the A2 is my biggest steal ...

 

[zipplet]

Customs charges really do bite. I recently ordered 2 packages from fenix-store - one had a fenix T1 + batts + diffuser, the other had an L2D-RB100 + P1D Q5. The T1 came through the door no problem, but the other one got held up by customs and I had to pay a stinking £18.77 charge to collect it!

It wouldn't be so bad if the postal company (royal mail) didn't add a £8 "screw-you" fee - sorry but I can't think of any better description for the fee!

Ah well, I've only ever been bitten once.

 

[ifor powell]

I have not had to pay anything yet but thought I may have to a couple of times. On both occasions the sender looked to know what they were doing and marked the paperwork suitably to get things through. I suspect the less professional the packaging loooks the better as well!!! I do get things from the EU though normal if they are avalible and reasonable priced.

Ifor

 

[dougie]

Plainly some of you guys have been able to avoid paying import tax on some of the stuff you've received and are comfortable with the risks involved. I don't want to get involved with morals here or whether you are right or wrong to do so but think it is wrong to be discussing it on a public forum like CPF.

HMRC take a dim view of avoiding paying duties on imported goods and if they could identify you or the person who was aiding you by making a false declaration on the value of the goods imported would almost certainly investigate the matter further.

'If' you have to discuss this matter in an open forum may I suggest that you don't mention any names of the US retailers who are helping you by making public postings? If you are trying to 'advise' anyone it might be better to take it to a pm or better still not get CPF involved at all and 'assist one another by email.

Using commonsense avoids implicating CPF and or dropping the US retailer in a whole pile of s**t. Also you will keep the transaction off the HMRC radar and prolong the ability for other members to benefit from this facility.

Doug

 

[zipplet]

Without going too much off topic, so you know Fenix-Store always declare packages properly and I'm just *lucky* that I avoided it with my T1 - some packages slip through because the charge is too small or just by accident.

However I do agree with your warning dougie, and it's for good reason.

 

[cat]

'If' you have to discuss this matter in an open forum
... don't mention any names
... Using commonsense

Yes, can we stop this now. There's already a long thread about what Surefires cost overseas and we managed to avoid mentioning names.
I did wonder why so many guys in the UK didn't have a clue about where to buy.
Some appreciation and tact is needed.

If anyone new to the forum can't figure out by doing some searching, then they should ask someone in a PM.