I’m contemplating buying sealed product (booster boxes, theme decks) from the UK. I’ve bought singles internationally from Canada, and Australia with no duties to be paid. In this case I’m not sure what to expect. Is there a way to check for additional fees from import prior to purchasing?
www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad
Basically anything over £15, unless marked as a gift, is subject to taxing. The rates are listed above which seems to be 20-22.5% the value of the item. If you haven’t paid taxes on singles it is because there were under £15 or just missed/ignored by customs.
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Is it appropriate to ask a seller to mark the item as a gift in order to circumvent duties?
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You’re in the USA aren’t you? I don’t believe you’ll ever pay any import fees or taxes buying from any country if that’s the case. Someone from the US correct me if I’m wrong.
You’re right.
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I definitely read “from the UK” meaning the OP was from the UK. I can see the ambiguity though and my interpretation was probably wrong.
If you’re from the US, Pierce is correct. My earlier post was only relevant for UK citizens
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I’m as red blooded as a yank can be. Probably for the best though. Last time someone asked me to locate Wales on a map I pointed to the Atlantic.
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Haha…good one:joy:
Wow, this is baffling to me. No import duties or taxes whatsoever no matter the country of origin? Where’s the catch?
High taxes in every other aspect of life
Quite a bit lower income tax rates than most other developed nations. Also very friendly tax rates for long term capital gains and other passive income streams. We do have odd things going on with wildly varying and sometimes high sales tax and property taxes though. Overall I’m not sure how it all compares but it’d depend highly on the individual and how and where they maintain their assets and make their purchases.
Ditto this. Spot on.
Oh wow, thanks for shedding a bit of light on that. I live in the 8th most taxed country in the world where we have 53%-60% income taxes, 5-12% customs duties (depending on the product), 21% value added taxes and to top it all off our bonds and obligations have a rather low 0,75% long-term interest rate. On the flip side we have very affordable and stable health care and higher education so it’s definitely not all bad. No student loans or anything crazy like that here.
That sounds like a socialist rate. Where do you live again?
I’ll let Donald Our honorable president answer that one for me:
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It’s ridiculous how much easier it is to collect from USA man, Europe sucks… I’m from DK, so I feel you bro.
You can do the following things:
Buy locally or within EU.
Buy small items that fit in a bubble mailer (If the seller is kind enough, you can ask them to underdeclare).
If you are buying something expensive and of a large size like a 1st ed vintage booster box, just pay the tax man. It’s 100 times better to have your money ensured by paypal or eBay than risking getting caught or getting your items withheld by customs or paying thousands of pounds f&f to a stranger.
I do that all the time.
Yeah I also do this all the time BUT I do it when making private deals, if you’re buying on eBay and you’re making requests like that to the seller after you’ve won an item you’re going to make a lot of people wary and uncomfortable (worried about a scam) especially if it’s high value. Always message before you win and check they’re ok with it if you’re buying on eBay and want something marked down.
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