Shipping to UK

[DanFrank]

Does anyone have experience shipping an Alembic to the UK?  Any advice would be very much appreciated, e.g., best shippers, problems/risks, lessons learned, etc.  Thanks!

[keith_h]

I haven't shipped overseas but I remember seeing posts from some of our European members where it was actually cheaper for them to fly over and pick up the instrument to avoid VAT and other import duties. You also need to be concerned about CITES which requires additional paperwork to prove the words are not endangered or the instrument was made before they were endangered. I don't know when it is required but have heard it can be a real pain in the rear with customs if you don't have it (or even if you do).  
 
Keith

[jazzyvee]

Whoever you ship it to will have the additional charge for import duty and UK Value Added Tax (VAT) which is 20% of the declared customs value ;-)
 
As an example of the costs, I bought a used alembic guitar from a dealer in Texas in 2009 and it was an expensive purchase I have to say but when it arrived here in the UK I got a call from the Customs & Excise department telling me I have to pay ?950 GB in import duty and VAT and shipping charges were included in calculating the taxes!
 
I had not considered the VAT component of the charge when I bought the guitar so it was a BIG SHOCK and no amount of negotiation made any difference to the officer.  I guess my saving grace was that the guitar wasn't subjected to a CITES examination as the inlay contains reclaimed ivory so it could easily have been confiscated too.  
 
(Note to Bill TGO, if you still want it after I finish with it).
 
 
Here are some links to check.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/country-guides/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-the-United-Kingdom/
 
http://www.dutycalculator.com/hs-code-duty-rate-import-restrictions/920790/bass-guitar/9207.90.0080/9207.90.1000/1193/
 
Also the HMRC site
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/9207901000
 
The main point to remember is that the charges are calculated against the declared customs value including shipping.

[keith_h]

I think it is best to declare the actual sales price. I know some people cheat but I can see potential problems if an insurance claim needs to be made or the declared value is obviously much less than the value of the object.  
 
Keith

[DanFrank]

Thank you so much everyone for all the great advice. Is there a particular service that has better reputation for overseas shipping than another or are all the major carriers about the same? So, if I can work out a price, and that is paid for via Paypal, then all I need to add is the shipping and insurance costs out of the US and not worry about the other duties that the buyer would face to retrieve the item from the destination it is shipped to in the UK, do I have that right? This is a 4 string Alembic Persuader with coco bolo and maple and no exotic woods or ivory, etc. I don't think that would be a problem. The person there reached out to me from a post I made on Facebook but I'm not sure if he's serious. Although I told him I would look into the shipping details and let him know. I am concerned with the PayPal issue also because they have been very annoying in holding your payment for up to 21 days until they get feedback or no complaints from the buyer. They leave a lot of time for buyer's remorse to set in and then that could really be a problem, especially overseas. Has anybody used a different payment method that works to bypass that problem?

[keith_h]

Cocobolo from Panama was restricted in 2013 but that from Mexico was not according to what I have found. You will find many commonly found instrument woods are on the list.
 
Here is a link to the US government CITES website that talks about musical instruments and documentation requirements.  
 
Keith