importing

[McCardle 1]

on the little google bar at the bottom is advertised a lighting manufacturer based in china i sent them an email and they have sent back some prices which i have got to admit are very attractive - does any one know anything about bringing stuff in to the country and the costs i did read on the ebay user forum about people buying stuff in from america and being taxed by the customs will this apply to china as well? perhaps we could all get together and buy something and share the cost http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/tongue.gif

[Gary 0]

I once collected a £1200 disco item from the States because, even with the bucket seat airfare taken into account, it was a darn site cheaper to spend 10 hours each way on a plane - 6 hours in Boston Airport (loads of time to read the manual) - and 9 hours (tailwind? Earth Rotation?) flying back with item to UK.

 

I probably wouldnt do that again though.

 

I too have been "interested" in some of the Chinese imports that =-appear-= to be good value - especially LED Color Pickers (effectively a Pinspot which you can make turn ANY colour using 3 channels of DMX). However...just before (better than after) the sale appears to go through the tranaction gets cancelled by the other party. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

[spinner 0]

When I've bought stuff by mail order from US shops I've been charged customs duty ( by the UK carrier making the delivery ). No doubt the same will be the case from China.

 

Is there not a minimum number of units that have to be ordered at any one time?

[wizard 0]

I have imported a couple of lasers (via e-bay) and yes you may get stung for import tax and VAT. I was charged £69 on a Laser that cost £300, which then didnt make it quite so attractive, although still cheaper than uk price.

 

The first one however Customs obviously didnt bother with so I never got charged for it.

[norty303 0]

I recently bought a load of QSC amps from the states and saved a fortune. You can find out what you're likely to get hit for on the import duty by checking the TARIC database. Every item will fit into a category and then will have an associated duty rate attached to it depending on where in the world your buying from.

 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs...tarchap?Lang=EN

 

All taxes are applied after the shipping charges have been added.

 

I used DHL as they pay any taxes up front and bill you for it afterwards meaning you get your goods quicker. I also used their up to 30kg service and had a number of parcels sent as its cheaper than pallets or other freight services.

 

As has been said already, they do have a habit of missing items or misreading the consignment ticket so sometimes you get lucky and undercharged or not charged at all.