I posted an ad for some bass gear on a website and quickly got a response from somebody in the UK wanting to buy my gear. Has anyone shipping gear over seas like this? How much of a hassle was this? How would I even go about doing this?
Good question. I ship from Canada to the US all the time and it is real easy through Canada Post or UPS. I would be wary of buyers claiming to be from the UK, especially if they start talking about 'best prices' and paying more for the item and then having you refund the difference. I would only ship overseas if the item is traceable ( like by Fed Ex or UPS). I would also ask the seller to send you a bank draft in C$ or Paypal payment. Do not ship the bass until the bank draft clears.
I'd imagine that shipping a full bass stack to the UK would be very expensive, and there's insurance and what happens if it gets damaged in transit to consider as well. You're probably best looking at the Fedex and UPS websites for more information. The way the exchange rates are just now, maybe the buyer is factoring all that in (and the import duty and VAT that'll be due on it) and it's still working out cheaper than buying something in the UK. However, if you feel that it's going to be a lot of hassle for you, you're probably best to give it a miss. And like Purfekt Stranger says, be wary of anything that looks like a scam.
Please make sure that your buyer is legit. As soon as I posted a bass for sale on bassgear, I got 5-6 responses from scammers. "Please, what is your final asking price. I will pay $150 extra for you to hold it. I will ship with my shipper, and payment will be made through a different account from somebody that owes me money," Bull.
It's going to cost a lot... http://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home?cc=US&language=en The rack by itself will be around $400. Then there's import duty and VAT paid on the value of the goods and on the shipping costs. Maybe they expect you to under-declare the value. Don't do it... it needs to be insured for the full value. Then there's the cost of having the amp converted to 240V. Talk about a headache. What sort of rig is it?