Wanted, Advice on Buying and shipping of a turntable from CANADA!

[p147]

Hi,
I have for the past 2 years been looking for a specific turntable to come up for sale and Lo and behold I have just had notification that one is being advertised, But it is located in Canada therefore can anyone advise me on the following:-
a) As it is an Item I would purchase from a private individual (not a business) and as it is second hand, would I have to pay any import taxes or duties to ship it back to the UK?
b) If I flew out there for say a short holiday/break say a week, when I return back to the UK, I could put it in a suitcase (Yes it would fit and be well boxed), upon return would I have to declare it at customs both on departure and return back to the UK?
c) Do we have any trusted members (or friends of members) in the vicinity ( Ontario
Toronto Markham / York Region)Who would be willing to call on the seller (Once I had made the arrangements)to view, take photos and report back to me via e-mail? I would be happy to pay a small agreed fee for this.

Thanks in advance.
Paul

[struth]

Yes it is taxable on value. Falsifying the documents accompanying is an offence and can be serious if caught. among other penalties the goods can be seized. The way suitcases are handled I would be reluctant to go that way anyway. Get a big company to handle the whole thing.(insured etc)

[SPS]

I once sold an amp to a guy in Canada.. he tried to plug it their 120vt mains... his mate told him he would just need to change a fuse and it would work...
it also cost a fair amount to ship but it got there ok
I would guess the import costs is all about declared value... ?

[Pharos]

Two years ago I bought a bicycle front fork made from titanium via Ebay from a guy in Canada.
It took ages to arrive, being held up at many stages, and the tracking was delayed and poor - latency?

From memory anything over a value of £100 is liable for customs charges, and they hang on to your item until you pay, which is all done via the net.

Transit for a turntable, very problematic, but insurance essential I would have thought.

In the 80s I had a replacement woofer sent from California, and they wrote value $0.00 on it which may have been illegal, but I don't think I paid charges on that one.

[Macca]

UK Duty and Tax is payable on any item over $50 usd

You are required to declare it at customs on entry to the UK and pay VAT and duty. You don't need to declare it when you depart Canada.

You could just hope that they don't bother and you can just walk through with the suitcase without saying anything, although this is smuggling and therefore technically a criminal act.

[p147]

Thanks to your reply's, What I cannot get my head around is that there are to many if's and but's and nothing appears to be certain, for instance if I go to collect the item (At least I will know it exists) when you come back into the UK your are asked to go to either into the green channel or the red to declare channel, but I have been on the ukgov.website and nowhere can I see anything that relates to electrical goods for personnel use, I can only find the obvious items such as cash, drinks and cigs. am I missing something?
Note I have not travelled for a while so things may well have changed.

[struth]

Might not let it on plane without being checked too. they are pretty safety conscious these days.

[Barry]

Yes - it will be X-rayed and they might not like what they see.

I believe there is a limit to the cost of items that can be brought into the UK as 'duty free'.

[Barry]

Yes - it will be X-rayed and they might not like what they see.

I believe there is a limit to the value of items that can be brought into the UK as 'duty free'.

(Just checked, the limit is £390. https://www.gov.uk/duty-free-goods/a...outside-the-eu)

[Macca]

Thanks to your reply's, What I cannot get my head around is that there are to many if's and but's and nothing appears to be certain, for instance if I go to collect the item (At least I will know it exists) when you come back into the UK your are asked to go to either into the green channel or the red to declare channel, but I have been on the ukgov.website and nowhere can I see anything that relates to electrical goods for personnel use, I can only find the obvious items such as cash, drinks and cigs. am I missing something?
Note I have not travelled for a while so things may well have changed.

If you didn't take it out with you then you are supposed to declare it when you come back in, value withstanding. I know someone who had to pay VAT plus duty on his watch. He bought it in the UK and wore it on his way out, on his way back in they insisted he had bought it overseas and made him pay because he couldn't prove otherwise. The alternative was to let them confiscate a £5K watch.