Cost to "import" laptop from abroad

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I know this might not be the right forum to ask, but I will just in case somebody has done something similar before.

A friend of mine wants to send me a laptop from abroad as a gift.. It is brand new, but can be passed as second hand due to the age of that model (nx7400) to reduce any cost I might incur. Question is, how much would I (potentially) have to pay to have the laptop shipped over? The value is probably around £150-200.

If its too much I'll get him to hang on to it until somebody comes to visit. :)
 
you will have to pay 17.5% of the cost for VAT, as well as £10 or so for customs charges, and you may also have to pay an extra £10-£30 to the courier due to some couriers charging extra for the time and effort it takes them to take your package through customs.

To get the item through customs faster, your friend should send it to you with a customs declaration attached to the package, saying the contents of the package, the value, and if its a gift of a commercial product.

And dont lie about the value to try and pay less tax, if customs think the item is underpriced, they wont let it through.
 
So potentially we are talking (depending what custom thinks the list price for the laptop is) well over £100 (assuming they say its worth £400 + £30 + £10).. Its cheaper for me to fly there and pick it up then (it really is.. lol)..

OK, thanks.. I might get my parents to bring it with them next time they come to visit.
 
I was just looking back over one of my old UPS invoices to double check i got the charges correct, and when i orederd some stuff worth $626 (about £320 at the time) i got charged £70.67 duties, £10.18 insurance and £11 'Other Governmt. Charg.' so £91.85 total VAT for £320 worth of stuff.

Its not all bad though, ive had 3 packages from overseas, 2 from the states and 1 from hong kong, the first one from the states i got hit with that VAT i mentioned, and paid it on delivery to my house, the one from HK i also paid similar VAT, but the 2nd one from USA didnt get checked by customs, and i recieved it without any VAT or customs charges :)
 
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