Info for UK peeps thinking of buying one of the Agile 8-strings

[Svartmetall]

- or, in fact, any other guitars from abroad. I'd been wondering about how much I'd be likely to get stung for Customs duty etc. if I went for one of the Agile 8s, so I rang the Customs & Excise people (very nice + helpful, actually) and found out the following info:

The customs code for electric guitars is 9207901000; more specifically, customs duty is charged at 3.7% on instrument price including shipping, then VAT @ 17.5% is added.

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So, going by current exchange rates and allowing $80 for shipping, for an Agile Pro 8 we get:
$650 + (roughly) $80 for shipping = $730
$730 + 3% = $752
$752 + 17.5% = $912
$912 = £461
...so that works out at £461 all-in for a custom 8-string; a steal, when you think about it.

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Hope this info is useful to people.

 

[Mattayus]

Thanks for the great info man been pondering muchly about this, that is absolutely fuckin disgustingly cheap, even with the customs bollocks

 

[hmmm_de_hum]

Thats sounds awesome, may have to order one as a leaving present to myself before i head off to university. Thanks a lot for finding that info out

 

[DaveCarter]

Thats ridiculously cheap!! I may have to investigate this place...

 

[jibster]

Knew it was something like that but wasn't 100% sure on the order they charged it and the customs rate so thanks a lot.

Also I don't know what the percentage they charge but when I imported my Ibanez I got charged an extra £10 by Parcelforce for handling through customs, not massive but thought people might like to know.

 

[stuh84]

These threads are dangerous for people like me

 

[forelander]

For Australians, it'd be around 80-100 for shipping, and since everything would be under 1000 AUD there'd be no custom fees, so it'd be a straight conversion from American to Aus dollars, which are fairly close.

 

[Papa Shank]

Just beware that parcelforce will slap you with a BS ~£50 holding fee if you do have to pay customs for your packages release. It's what I call ransom money.

 

[Stitch]

They've changed it again; my S7 back in September to January was charged at 3.2%.

Good work though!

 

[DyvimTvar]

Cheers for the info, makes it a bit easier knowing around-abouts what I'll be paying "The Man" haha!

 

[ledzep4eva]

Thats sounds awesome, may have to order one as a leaving present to myself before i head off to university. Thanks a lot for finding that info out

Which uni are you off to?

 

[hmmm_de_hum]

Salford in Manchester, to study conventional classical/popular music.