• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Shipping knowledge

Z

ZachGoldie

Nov 24, 2007
11
0
London
#1
Hey there

Basically, I am considering buying a second hand bass from america and shipping it back here to the UK, due to the obvious initial price savings. So I just wanted to know if anyone knew what kind of price increases i'd get due to shipping and taxes.

I think that shipping is about £60 ($120), but I have no idea how the import duties would apply to a second hand bass from the US. If it's any help for a point of reference, I'm interested in something round the $900 region.

On a last note, would I have to pay taxes on a bass made in the EU, e.g. warwick, if I bought it from the US?

Thanks in advance
 
#2
Hi
I imported a second hand bass to Switzerland which I bought from a TB-fellow.
Unfortunately the shipping costs were very high!!! Sit down first.
Shipped by UPS it cost me 417$.
But I have to say, if I would have bought this bass here in Switzerland, it would have been more expensive than what I have payed for all.
I hope for you that for the UK the shipping costs are little less than for Switzerland. Another problem will be to find someone who sells overseas!!
Good luck
 
#4
You'll pay import duty on anything that comes from the outside of the EU, if it has some kind of value.

What I would do is ship it in parts in a wooden crate, without insurance. Mark the box "Old instument parts, no commersial value". Then you don't have to pay import duty.
If you're buying a Warwick, I would suggest that you buy it from germany, check their ebay. Then you don't have to pay import duty and taxes.
 
#6
If you order from outside the EU, import duties is your local VAT - something like 17% for UK I think? - and some duty costs which is a few percents more. So yeah, you're looking about +25%. However, since the USD is so low at the moment, it probably will be worth it, and the prices for certain basses are already lower in the States because of better availability. Roughly speaking, you can expect the instrument to arrive at your door for USD=EUR price or a bit less, taxes and shipping included, so a bass costing $1500 would probably cost you something like 1400€ total.

Notice that the Customs can and probably WILL check the contents of a large shipping crate if it's marked as parts or a gift, so you can expect to pay the duties. However, you can ask if the seller is willing to mark the value below the real price on the receipt, so you might cheat a few bucks from the Customs that way. Just remember that the Customs has a way of checking the real prices, so you probably won't be able to pass a MM Bongo with a $300 price tag.
 
#7
ZachGoldie said:
Thanks Bassybill. Does that mean you paid about 25% tax? seems very steep, would still be cheaper though. Interesting suggestion Stuggi, would definately be possibly with a bolt on neck
Click to expand...
VAT is 17.5% I think, but then there's import duty and handling/admin charges. But you're right, you can still save quite a bit of money, especially at the moment with the dollar so weak against the pound.
 
#8
dasto said:
Hi
I imported a second hand bass to Switzerland which I bought from a TB-fellow.
Unfortunately the shipping costs were very high!!! Sit down first.
Shipped by UPS it cost me 417$.
But I have to say, if I would have bought this bass here in Switzerland, it would have been more expensive than what I have payed for all.
I hope for you that for the UK the shipping costs are little less than for Switzerland. Another problem will be to find someone who sells overseas!!
Good luck
Click to expand...

FWIW I just got a quote on shipping a bass in its case from the US to Sweden using the US post office and it was $115 insured.

Dave
 
#9
Tsal said:
If you order from outside the EU, import duties is your local VAT - something like 17% for UK I think? - and some duty costs which is a few percents more. So yeah, you're looking about +25%. However, since the USD is so low at the moment, it probably will be worth it, and the prices for certain basses are already lower in the States because of better availability. Roughly speaking, you can expect the instrument to arrive at your door for USD=EUR price or a bit less, taxes and shipping included, so a bass costing $1500 would probably cost you something like 1400€ total.

Notice that the Customs can and probably WILL check the contents of a large shipping crate if it's marked as parts or a gift, so you can expect to pay the duties. However, you can ask if the seller is willing to mark the value below the real price on the receipt, so you might cheat a few bucks from the Customs that way. Just remember that the Customs has a way of checking the real prices, so you probably won't be able to pass a MM Bongo with a $300 price tag.
Click to expand...

In Finland, yes. The Finnish customs aren't really that careful. I had a 2000 dollar package that came through customs without anybody checking it, and it said "value: 2000 dollars" on the box. You do get lucky sometimes.

BTW, if you ship a bass as pieces, with value marked as zero, you're probably going to get it through without duty.
 
#10
Last time I shipped a guitar to Europe (Ireland) I paid I think $60ish with USPS. I shipped a Mesa Boogie 400 of some sort to Norway for $90ish (what a deal, it weighs a ton) with UPS.

First you should shop around, and then of course you can declare whatever value you want if it's reasonable. If you're a big naughty cheater you could send a tube amp as defective with a low declared value by removing some tubes and things (even sending them separately?). Same thing with the bass: even if it isn't a bolt-on you could send all the electronics separately if you really wanted to, or just set the declared value a little lower.

Definitely check with USPS because their rates are lower than you might think. I just calculated that a 15 pound box would be $70ish to ship to Greece. The only thing you might have trouble with is the size: I know I got away with it for a guitar, but a bass MIGHT break the limits (usually 46" max length and 108" all dimensions combined). If the case isn't too long etc. you could probably do it for $70 or so.

NOTE: This is a 6 to 10 day shipping option, not barge shipping which is wayyyy toooo slowwww.
 
#11
Stuggi said:
In Finland, yes. The Finnish customs aren't really that careful. I had a 2000 dollar package that came through customs without anybody checking it, and it said "value: 2000 dollars" on the box. You do get lucky sometimes.
Click to expand...

Laughs, I got a replacement for a broken Whirlwind instrument cable worth €40 and I had to go pick it up from the Customs office :p
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back