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Buying parts from USA, for UK is customs an issue?

A

AndyZero

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I want to buy a spare valve or 2 from USA to be posted to UK. Will I have any customs/legal issues as its for an Airpistol? (UK Legal… 2 to 3 footpounds ssp 😁)
Picture of part for illustrative purposes.
Thanks in advance.
 

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That hurts said:
Will the company actually send them to the the UK as many won't ?
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It seems so, the postage charge is there and..
It looks like the VAT is collected by Ebay too.
“Goods shipped to the UK from abroad
Effective 1 January 2021, eBay is required to collect VAT on certain orders delivered to UK addresses:

  • Orders up to £135 sent from outside the UK
  • Orders of any value where the item is located in the UK, but the seller is not a UK seller
For higher value items, VAT and duties are also likely to apply. However, VAT on purchases valued at over £135 will be payable directly to the UK customs authorities by the buyer.”

That text in the quotes was linked from the postage info. And its loads less than £135 so no import taxes?

@flatrajectory good point.. the Gents got 100% positive reviews for 2000+ ebay sales.
He reshapes a newer valve to fit my old gun. Theres only the wrong newer part available in UK and he's charging about the same for a modified one.
 

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Ben Hur said:
The only place I could find to match a 4mm extension socket that I lost was in the USA. Cost me £12 but no probs getting it.
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Im just concerned an over zealous customs officer might err on the side of caution when seeing a small shaft, spring and o-rings with “gun parts” or something written on the customs form, and confiscate my plinker bits 😉
 
AndyZero said:
Im just concerned an over zealous customs officer might err on the side of caution when seeing a small shaft, spring and o-rings with “gun parts” or something written on the customs form, and confiscate my plinker bits 😉
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That is always a possibility unfortunately, but at least you are under the £135 duty limit
 
A declaration is needed and deliberately declaring something may have you in the poop especially the sender if its found to be declared as something its not . I don't think it would be in the sellers best interests to do it but some may . If it is for airgun then it will have to be declared as such .

Mundilair sent pellets as fishing weights and they were seized at customs .
 
I have been dealing with John Groenwold for many years, he understands both U.S. and U.K customs very well, and will list the parts appropriately without put himself in trouble with U.S law.
I have never had any spares confiscated or been charged import fees in over 20 years of dealing with him.
Pete.
 
flatrajectory said:
I have been dealing with John Groenwold for many years, he understands both U.S. and U.K customs very well, and will list the parts appropriately without put himself in trouble with U.S law.
I have never had any spares confiscated or been charged import fees in over 20 years of dealing with him.
Pete.
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How do I contact him ?
 
i bought reloading dies and primer reamers off amazon.com it was half the price of uk sellers, it took 3 weeks and no probs what so ever
customs fees etc was all done by amazon.
 
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It may be different here, but we ordered from the UK and it was delivered without problems. Large heavy item, so £30 plus £35 postage. Four weeks later and we received a customs duty invoice which was based on the total cost, so part and delivery. At that time it was 50%! Needless to say we haven't done that again.
 
flatrajectory said:
I have been dealing with John Groenwold for many years, he understands both U.S. and U.K customs very well, and will list the parts appropriately without put himself in trouble with U.S law.
I have never had any spares confiscated or been charged import fees in over 20 years of dealing with him.
Pete.
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Hi Pete, Just wanted to say thank you for spreading the good word about us! Thought you would like to know that John (my Father and business partner) has been semi retired for about 7-8 years. But he still works hard supporting me by making parts for me and making improvements to our website and he is an AWESOME knowledge base for me. Now we are mostly focused on parts, rather than repairs, since John is turning 80 this year and understandably wants some time to focus on his own collection. But we really appreciate that you've been with us for so long! Thank you.
 
Hi John jr. ??
Thank you for your kind words. I wish John sr. a happy semi retirement .. He has servrd me well ove the years. My first dealing with him was back in1996, when our UK firearms law regarding co2 powered airguns was relaxed. Until then they were classed as fierearms and required a Firearms Certificate to purchase, which was both costly and difficult to get clearance. So as soon as co2 powered airguns wer re classified as normal airguns I purchased 5 American co2 pistols from your father ( in 3 lots ) and all were received in great condition and with no problems from customs. From memory , the pistols were ..
1 . Crosman model 600
2 . Crosman model 150
3 . Crosman S.A. 6
4 . Crosman mk. 1 target
5 . S&W model 78g
And since then I have ordered quite a few spare parts for American co2 airguns.
I have always received excellent service , so please accept my thanks to you and your mom and dad for keeping us UK collectors happy.
Long may you continue. I am 77 years old myself !
Pete.
 
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