Laptop From USA....

rscosworth · 4 Sep 2006 at 12:20

Guys,, please forgive me if this is in the wrong sub-forum, and please feel free to move it if required.

I am currently on the prowl for a laptop. I have a fetish for IBM stuff so will be getting a T60,Z60 or similar, core duo blah blah blah blah.

I have found an auction seller who is reputable (over 7k feedback) who does worldwide shipping. His prices are less than 1/4 of the usual UK stores and the machines i am looking at will come with a 3yr international warranty.

Anyway, onto my questions...
* If i purchase from this guy, pay his fed-ex shipping, should i expect any problems with customs & excise wanting duty/tax on this laptop? If so, does anyone have any real life experiances i can mull over?
* If i purchase from this guy, pay his local shipping and have it sent to my Aunt who stays in NYC, and have her bring it over in her luggage in october (her annual holiday to UK). If i get her to unbox the laptop, bag it in a laptop bag and pack it amoungst her cloths (for protection) does anyone see any problems with this or have any experiances?

Cheers....

iViper · 4 Sep 2006 at 12:28

Whatever you do make sure its labelled as a gift, we got stung £100 in tax from UPS when we imported one.

Was still a bargain after that though tbh.

4T5 · 4 Sep 2006 at 12:30

On the news yesterday were reports of lots of laptops that have not been collected from Heathrow after the owners were Not allowed to take them onboard.
How this relates to your situation i don't know mate but it does sound to me that lappys as hand luggage are a no no.
Needs serious investigation before buying, personally i would just buy here.

semi-pro waster · 4 Sep 2006 at 12:38

malc30 said:
On the news yesterday were reports of lots of laptops that have not been collected from Heathrow after the owners were Not allowed to take them onboard.
How this relates to your situation i don't know mate but it does sound to me that lappys as hand luggage are a no no.
Needs serious investigation before buying, personally i would just buy here.

The issue with that is you are required by customs/security team to take your laptop out of it's carrying case so that they can scan it and then lots of people forget to pick them up again. Why they cannot scan it in the laptop case is something that has never been adequately explained. You are allowed them as hand luggage though, I've just come back from Canada with a laptop I bought there and had no issues other than having to remove it from the bag for the numpties. That said I believe the situation is slightly different flying from the UK to elsewhere so maybe you aren't/weren't allowed to take them for a brief period, for once we are more restrictive than the States about what you can take on board.

I can feel myself about to rant on these 'security measures' so in an attempt to bring it back onto topic

I bought a secondhand laptop in Canada recently and brought it back to the UK with no problems, I didn't declare it and just had it as hand luggage so your auntie can probably do the same as long as she remembers to pick it up after scanning. I don't know about the whole shipping from the US business but I think you might have more leeway if you get it declared a gift.

4T5 · 4 Sep 2006 at 12:40

^^ Thanks for clearing that up.

conuk · 4 Sep 2006 at 12:56

a quick question - how do they decide how much tax to charge ?

rscosworth · 4 Sep 2006 at 14:14

she also wouldnt be carrying it through as hand luggage onto the plane, it would be in her main luggage in the hold,

if i get the company to ship it as a gift, it might still be taxed, but id be interested to know what the tax banding is etc...

all other opinions/suggestions welcome

Alex_L · 4 Sep 2006 at 14:56

Even if you get it marked as a gift, its unlikely to get passed customs, as the gift limit is about £40, and i don't think customs will believe a brand new laptop is worth less than £40.

In general when i've imported things from the states VAT/duty has generally ended up being about 20% of the purchase price for various things, but you'd be best to check with customs directly for a definitve answer, as duty rates can vary quite a lot from what I remember when I last checked.

Wrathamon · 4 Sep 2006 at 15:04

Customs will charge VAT (17.5%) if the item is over £18.00, or over £36.00 if marked as a gift. There is occasionally a few % extra depending what it is for import duty, but with electronic equipment i've important its just been the normal VAT that i've been charged.

The carriage company will also add their own fee (£8 to £12 typically for the likes of Royal Mail, UPS etc...) for customs handling.

County · 4 Sep 2006 at 15:08

i bought a Canon Elura 100 Camcorder from the USA (think they are called something else over here) for $300 which compared to the UK selling equivilent of £359.99 was a bargain....

i did pay duty and VAT on it of about £40....which was paid direct to Parcelforce when i picked it up....

still worked a major bargain....and now for ALL my electrical goods search the USA market first....

cheers

FunkyCowie · 4 Sep 2006 at 18:05

This is a while back but... I lived in the US for 6 years as a student. Blah blah <insert long story here> blah blah. When I came back to the UK I brought back two complete systems and a lap top (the lap and one system was new) I declared them as personal belongings and I didn`t have to pay any tax... amzing what spreading around a little dust, to make it look used, will do