used car parts, from england to usa? duties? customs? currency conversions?
 

I'm considering buying two (specialty) =used= car carburetors from
england; the deal's 'all agreed to' but awaits my payment. meanwhile I
have no CLUE where to investigate wether or not 'duty' or 'customs'
applies to the transaction (google searches are no help, either), and,
if duty/customs DOES apply, who pays it at what end, when?

I have a paypal account, and I've bought stuff over ebay before (this is
not an ebay transaction, however). I understand paypal will do the curr
conversion at some (what I read is 'exhorbitant') rate, and/or that
possibly mastercard will also do it for me (at some lesser percent
additional???) Are there other options?

I also have no CLUE how it would work with currency conversion (I mean
the 'ratio of conversion' part is straightforward enough, but who pays
the additional 'percent' for converting my dollars to UK pounds, where,
and when, ordinarily?

and, what'd be the cheapest way for seller to send ("mail") two used
carburetors to me? time is "NOT of the essence" for my needs...by boat?
would that normally take a month or two? more? then they "get tied up in
customs" somewhere along the line? or possibly get mistaken for bombs by
the x-ray inspectors?

thanks for tips and education,

tool box

>Subject: used car parts, from england to usa? duties? customs? currency
>conversions?
>From: dave
>Date: 07/01/2005 21:35 GMT Standard Time
>Message-id: <LgDDd.69410$Jk5.54850@lakeread01>
>
>I'm considering buying two (specialty) =used= car carburetors from
>england; the deal's 'all agreed to' but awaits my payment. meanwhile I
>have no CLUE where to investigate wether or not 'duty' or 'customs'
>applies to the transaction (google searches are no help, either), and,
>if duty/customs DOES apply, who pays it at what end, when?

Morning Toolbox

Saw your post on the newsgroup and I can only tell you what has happened from
personal experience. I'm in the UK and often sell things on Ebay and buy
things from all over the world.

When I send car parts over your side of the pond I put on the Customs
declaration that they are vintage second hand recycled car parts. 95% of the
time they pass through american customs without any hassle and don't attract
any duty. If there is any duty payable it's done your end. You should get
notification by letter of any amount and you have to pay before or at the point
of delivery.

The cheapest way for them to be sent is Parcel Service Surface Mail. Should
take 5 to 6 weeks and far cheaper for heavy stuff.

Of course it all depends on the Customs Officer that deals with your parcel and
all you can do is suck it and see.

Oh and at today rate 1 british pound is worth about 1.90 dollars. XE.com do
currency conversions but don't forget that the person you are sending money to
has to pay commission to convert to their currency so you usually have to add
2% to the total.

Hope that helps

Regards

Andy

I have had a few experiences in placing mail orders with companies in England
(or rather, the UK). I live in the USA, and for me the simplest method is to
choose a vendor which accepts Mastercard / Visa. You simply make the purchase,
and the vendor charges, let's say, 200 Pounds UK against your credit card.
Your bank will handle the currency conversion, and your statement will show a
credit card purchase in the amount of around $300 or $350 US Dollars. Your
credit card bank may issue a transaction fee of a few dollars, but that won't
be much to worry about. As for duties & customs, I have no idea. You're at
the mercy of the Government. Now in my experience, there was one occasion in
which my package came to me by my local FedEx carrier, and I received a bill
from FedEx a short while later for something like $20 for customs fees. On the
other occasions, I never received any such invoices from anyone, so
apperantly, no one cared.
Go ahead and choose a vendor who will process a mail order purchase by credit
card, and don't worry about the details.
Dale Wein

TeleDale Key Service,
http://www.angelfire.com/wizard/teledale
1811 Saratoga Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44109 U.S.A.